Supporting Young People in the Workplace

The outlook for young people in the UK is increasingly concerning. Mental health diagnoses among this age group are rising, and almost one in seven young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET). These challenges are closely connected. According to the Department for Education (2025), young people aged 16 to 24 who are NEET are twice as likely to have a mental health condition or learning difficulty compared to their peers.

Ironically, we know that meaningful employment is strongly linked to higher life satisfaction and improved emotional wellbeing (Pendal 2022). This suggests that helping young people into work, where the work environment acknowledges and adapts to their individual needs is not only good for them, but it may also help break the cycle of NEET and poor mental wellbeing.

As young people-focused business owners, one of our core missions at The Wellbeing Community is to disrupt this cycle. Our aim is to ensure that young people are supported to find purpose, connection, and opportunity through inclusive education, training, and employment. Not only does this benefit the young people themselves, but it also strengthens the workforce and contributes to a healthier, more sustainable economy.

While both government and socially driven funders are investing in youth-focused initiatives to improve access and retention in work, training, and education, it’s clear that much more still needs to be done. Through our direct work with young people, we’ve seen first-hand the psychosocial pressures they face, from academic demands to the often abrupt and unsupported transition into working life. Too often, the broader context surrounding their experiences is overlooked. Take relationships, for example, research shows that the quality of social connection among young people has steadily declined since 2006. Compounding this, many young people hold a perception bias, underestimating how supportive, empathetic, or helpful others will be (Pei and Zaki 2025).  This distorted expectation intensifies feelings of loneliness and drives socially avoidant behaviours which inevitably surface in the workplace. A recent study found that only 56% of 18–24-year-olds feel confident speaking to their manager about workplace stress (Mental Health UK 2025).

Legal developments increasingly highlight the importance of recognising mental health in the workplace and how it can impact business operations. Recent cases suggest that work-related stress may meet the threshold of disability under the Equality Act 2010 (Herbet Smith Freehills Kramer 2023), increasing the urgency for employers to make reasonable adjustments for vulnerable employees many of whom are young people.