Marks & Spencer, the high street retailer with a legacy of knickers and Percy Pigs, has announced a traineeship programme for 1,000 young people. The company calls it a pledge to tackle the youth job crisis. But let’s not pop the champagne just yet. This is the same M&S that has shuttered dozens of stores and cut thousands of jobs over the past decade.
The scheme, branded as ‘M&S Works’, will offer six-month paid placements in stores, warehouses, and head offices. Participants will earn a salary and receive mentoring. The official line: a chance for 16-24 year-olds to build skills and confidence.
But here’s the kicker: 1,000 places sounds like a lot, but with youth unemployment hovering around 500,000 in the UK, it’s a drop in the bucket. Analysts point out that M&S will benefit from cheap labour and a pipeline of potential workers. Meanwhile, the government’s own Kickstart scheme ended in 2022, leaving a void that companies like M&S are now filling, but only on their own terms.
Sources close to the retail sector suggest the move is partly driven by a need to improve the brand’s image after years of declining sales and criticism over supply chain ethics. The timing is convenient: just as the company posts a 10% increase in profits.
Critics ask: why not fund apprenticeships for permanent roles? The traineeship offers no guarantee of a job at the end. It’s a trial period for M&S, a chance to cherry-pick the best without commitment.
The real impact remains to be seen. If M&S is serious, it will need to invest in training beyond the basics and ensure these are not just temporary fixes. But for now, the announcement smells more of reputation management than revolution. The youth job crisis is not solved by 1,000 placements. It demands a rethink of how we value young work and treat them as more than cannon fodder for the retail machine.
