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As opportunities for young people shrink, employers are questioning
whether the next generation is ready for work. Young people, meanwhile,
are questioning whether employers are willing to give them a chance.
The Project
Bridgework explores the tension between what the evidence shows, what employers believe and what young people actually experience, to understand where the relationship is breaking down and what it will take to mend it.
Behind the numbers is a relationship under strain. We need to understand what’s driving the disconnect between employers and young people, and where perceptions, experiences and reality are pulling them further apart.
The 2026 Young People and Work interim report , led by Alan Milburn, highlights a labour market that’s leaving young people behind. Entry-level routes are disappearing, while employers raise concerns around work-readiness, confidence and the support younger workers may need. Even apprenticeships are drifting away from the young people who need them most. But opportunity isn't disappearing equally. Where a young person starts, the networks they can access and the barriers they face can fundamentally change their route into work.
Research themes
Bridgework brings employers and young people into the same conversation to explore what’s really happening between both sides: how perceptions translate into decisions, how those decisions are experienced, where expectations and reality don’t align, and what’s driving the growing divide. Because behind every headline about ‘young people’ are different starting points, different levels of access to opportunity and different experiences shaping their routes into and through work.
These themes give us a place to start, not a box to stay within. As the research progresses, we'll follow the stories, tensions and questions that emerge, allowing the project to explore new themes where the evidence, employer perspectives and young people's lived experiences take us.
Why are some employers hesitant to take a chance on young talent?
And how does that hesitation affect the opportunities available to young people? We’ll explore the perceptions, experiences and business pressures shaping employer decisions, how different starting points and experiences might influence those perceptions, and what the evidence tells us about the perceived risks.
What does "work-ready" really mean? We'll explore what employers expect
from young people entering the workplace, what young people believe they need to succeed, and where differences in skills, confidence, expectations and support could be widening the divide.
What happens when a young person does get the opportunity? We'll explore
the relationship beyond recruitment, from onboarding and support to belonging, performance and progression, looking at what young people need to thrive and what employers need to make early talent work.
What would it take for employers to feel confident taking a chance on young talent?
And for young people to feel there is a genuine place for them in the workforce? We'll explore what both sides need from each other and where practical changes could help rebuild trust, create opportunity and strengthen the future talent pipeline.
The purpose
Beyond the stats are real experiences worth hearing.
We’ll bring the perspectives of young people and employers
to life, using HIYA’s storytelling approach to turn what
we learn into content that reaches both audiences and
opens up the conversation between them.
Then comes the bit the HIYA team knows best: storytelling.
Through video, we want to capture the people and experiences
behind the findings and turn insight into stories people actually
want to watch, share and talk about, taking the research beyond
the page and into a much wider conversation.
Listen directly to young people and employers to understand the reality on both sides.
Identify where evidence, employer perceptions and young people's lived experiences align, and where they don't.
Turn insight into practical recommendations employers can act on, identifying where change could create better outcomes across how young talent is attracted, assessed, supported and developed.
Our commitment is to work with organisations that want to be part of the conversation and help shape what comes next, without shaping what the research finds. By bringing employers and young people into the research together, we want to better understand the tensions between them and uncover practical ways to create opportunity, strengthen the future talent pipeline and invest in the next generation.
Built with young people
The Bridgework Collective will give young people seeking their first professional experience a meaningful role in bringing the project to life, and they'll be paid for their contribution. Working alongside experienced professionals, they'll help shape the research and bring the stories behind it to life, while gaining practical experience across five areas:
Campaign planning, content creation, audience engagement and distribution.
Research design, interviews, focus groups, analysis and ethical practice.
Visual storytelling, report design, social assets and data communication.
Media storytelling, press materials, outreach and stakeholder communications.
Programming, logistics, audience experience and launch event delivery.
The young team will leave with paid, real-world experience, published work for their portfolios, new skills and professional connections, creating a route into the kind of first opportunity that can be difficult to access without already having experience or a network to open the door.
Timeline
Finalise partners and form the young project group.
Project kickoff, theme confirmation and research design.
Participant recruitment, research preparation and quantitative survey design.
Interviews, focus groups and deeper exploration of lived experience.
Thematic analysis, interpretation and storytelling development.
Quantitative validation and testing of the emerging themes.
Recommendations, report development, design and launch preparation.
Research release and an industry event designed to connect, share and discuss.
Conference season, speaking engagements and wider insight sharing.
Organisation-specific workshops for teams ready to act on the findings.
Publishing the research is only part of the job. The real value comes from the conversations, decisions and changes that follow.
Beyond the report
Publishing the findings is only part one of The Lost Generation. The real opportunity comes when those findings leave the page and start showing up in the rooms, conversations and decisions that shape young people’s experience of work.
The launch event
Employers, young people, educators and industry voices will come together to explore the findings, challenge assumptions and discuss what needs to change.
Industry sharing
Conference talks, industry sessions and partner content will take the findings into new spaces, reaching the people and organisations shaping the future of work.
Strategy workshops
Collaborative sessions will help teams identify the insights that matter most, challenge current assumptions and agree practical actions.
Partner options
You can read another generic NexGen report for free. Bridgework is the one where your questions get asked, your sector gets covered, and your team gets in the room with the people behind the answers.
Partner numbers will be intentionally limited per sector, giving each organisation meaningful opportunities to be involved. Partners help shape the questions and areas of focus, while the research process and findings remain independent. That independence is what makes the findings worth having.
All prices exclude VAT.
£5,000
For organisations that want to support the project and be part of the conversation.
£10,000
For organisations that want their own questions answered.
£20,000+
For ONE lead organisation that wants to champion the project and activate the findings.
Founding Opportunity
The first organisation to join Bridgework at Research Partner level or above will become our Founding Research Partner.
This includes permanent recognition as the organisation that helped make the project possible, priority input into research themes and questions, and announcement alongside the project launch as a founding supporter of the initiative.
This opportunity is available to one organisation only. Help shape what comes next.
Bridgework combines qualitative and quantitative research to build a richer picture of the relationship between young people and employers, running from September 2026 to May 2027.
The project begins with interviews and focus groups with young people and employers, before using quantitative research to test emerging themes at a wider scale.
Research is designed and delivered alongside the Bridgework Collective, a young project group who will be trained and supported by experienced researchers and practitioners to play an active role throughout the project.
All research activity follows established ethical standards, including informed consent, anonymity, safeguarding and responsible data handling throughout.
THE IMPACT
Success isn't just publishing another report.
For Bridgework, success means creating a clearer understanding of
what's happening between employers and young people, then making sure
that insight has somewhere to go. Into conversations, decisions and
practical change that can improve young people's experience of work, providing hope,
purpose and direction for The Lost Generation.
Get closer to what’s really happening
Bring evidence, employer perspectives and young people’s experiences together to reveal the nuance behind the headlines.
Turn insight into action.
Equip employers with insight to challenge assumptions, inform decisions and identify where change could make a difference.
Create opportunity while researching it.
Give young people paid experience, new skills and professional connections through an active role in bringing Bridgework to life.
Change the conversation.
Create momentum beyond individual organisations, turning new ideas and initiatives into examples that can influence wider industry practice.
HIYA
creates employer brands, recruitment campaigns and social-first content that help
organisations connect with talent in a way that feels human, not corporate.
Storytelling sits at the heart of how we work, turning insight and lived
experience into stories that make people stop, think and see things differently.
We turn insight into stories people actually want to hear.
This isn’t new territory for us. The HIYA team brings experience developing
talent research and insight-led reports, taking projects from the first research
question through to the stories and content that bring the findings to life.
Bridgework brings that experience into a project we care deeply about:
understanding what’s happening between employers and the next generation of talent,
and helping create a world of work where more young people have the opportunity to
find their place.
Partner conversations are open
We're currently bringing together our founding partners and Bridgework Collective members ahead of the September 2026 kickoff. If you'd like to help shape the conversation around young people and the future of work, register your interest and let's explore what involvement could look like.
Express your interest