Employment tsar Alan Milburn says the decline of the Saturday job has left young people ill-prepared for work, but is it true? We put two experts head to head in this week’s Debate
YES: Many young people are reaching early
career without any practical experience
Holding a weekend job at a local cafe or shop during your school years may appear inconsequential when viewed against the span of an entire career. Yet early roles often provide a young person’s first exposure to the realities and pressures of the workplace – experiences that formal education can’t replicate.
Saturday jobs are where many foundational skills are first developed: dealing with customers, solving problems in real time and taking responsibility for outcomes – transferable capabilities which prove pivotal throughout a professional career, regardless of seniority or industry. As AI, automation and rising costs hit sectors like retail, it’s vital these opportunities remain available to prepare young people for the future.
Their value also extends beyond employability. Spending time each week in a new environment helps young people to broaden the world outside of the classroom and develop a critical self-awareness and independence. Learning how to turn up on time, respond to feedback and contribute consistently to a shared goal are key forms of personal development.
These positions don’t come without challenges. Burnout and overwork are real risks and should be managed by parents and employers through placing appropriate limits on hours and expectations. However, removing these opportunities altogether creates a far greater long-term problem. For those of us working within the recruitment industry, it is already evident that many young people reach early career stages without the practical experience businesses are looking for on top of their academic achievements.
Both in CV screening and interviews, employers consistently value real-world examples and experiences to demonstrate candidates’ capabilities and impact. Younger people are already at a disadvantage here; a complete absence of work experience can be a decisive factor in highly competitive selection processes. This is particularly damaging at a time when entry-level roles are contracting and competition for junior positions remains intense.
When young people miss out on formative work experiences, the consequences can hinder them throughout their early careers. Encouraging age-appropriate work isn’t outdated or about rushing children into adulthood; it’s about equipping them with the right tools to succeed.
Chris Eldridge is CEO of Robert Walters UK&I
NO: Employers are not short of people who can complete repetitive tasks at the weekend
Bringing back Saturday jobs is a comforting idea, but it is not the solution today’s labour market needs. When people talk about Saturday jobs, they picture paper rounds, milk floats or other simple entry points that once helped young people get started. In an economy shaped by automation and changing consumer behaviour, many of those roles are now inefficient or simply gone. Trying to revive them risks policy theatre: a symbolic gesture that looks reassuring, but does not reflect how young people move into meaningful long-term work.
Our understanding of what ‘work-ready’ means has changed. Employers are not short of people who can complete repetitive tasks at the weekend. They are short of people who can adapt quickly, think critically, communicate well and work with others on real-world problems. Those capabilities are built through high-quality learning connected to live challenges, not by adding more low-skill hours to already crowded weeks.
There is also an equity question. For some students, weekend work is optional. For others, it becomes an economic necessity that competes directly with study time, rest, caring responsibilities and mental health. If we are serious about social mobility, we should not promote pathways that risk widening attainment gaps or normalising burnout.
If the goal is readiness, there are better levers to pull: embed project-based, problem-led learning into education; create paid, time-bounded micro-placements with real supervision; and involve employers in setting briefs, giving feedback and opening doors. That is how students build the ‘glue skills’ of judgement, teamwork, systems thinking, and digital and AI literacy.
Employability comes from doing work that looks like work, not mistaking nostalgia for preparation.
Ed Fidoe is founder and CEO at London Interdisciplinary School
THE VERDICT
The Saturday job has been in long decline. While nearly half of 16 and 17-year olds were in work at the start of the century, today fewer than one in five are. This, according to employment tsar Alan Milburn, has led to a “lost generation”, with young people no longer work ready when leaving education. But is the loss of the paper round really responsible for today’s labour market woes?
In the Yes corner, Mr Eldridge makes a pertinent case. Saturday jobs aren’t just for earning a bit of pocket money, but for learning key professional skills. But Mr Fidoe is right to warn against nostalgia: today’s marketable skills are not the same as they were in the nineties. While City AM would certainly welcome the need for more paper rounds, we should recognise that many teens have replaced Saturday jobs with other, arguably savvier income streams that are just as worthy of celebration. Whether it be selling clothes on Vinted or posting videos on Tiktok, young people haven’t lost professional skills, they’ve redefined them.