UK retailers have joined forces with the Department for Work and Pensions to create up to 100,000 short-term work placements over the next three years for young people who are not in employment, education or training (Neet). The scheme, called Opening Shift, aims to give 18- to 24-year-olds a foothold in the job market by offering practical experience and support, addressing warnings that Britain's Neet population, currently around 1 million, could rise to 1.25 million within five years without intervention.

More than 40 retailers have signed up, including Marks & Spencer, John Lewis Partnership, Asda, Tesco, Pets at Home, New Look, Wickes, Currys and Greggs, with 11,305 placements already pledged. Participants will work between 16 and 35 hours a week for two to four weeks, keep receiving universal credit throughout, and be paired with a workplace "buddy", with a guaranteed interview at the end. The initiative, developed with the British Retail Consortium, follows the appointment of former M&S chief executive Marc Bolland to lead a taskforce on youth unemployment, and has been welcomed by Alan Milburn, who is reviewing the crisis after finding six in ten Neets have never had a job.