Thousands of young people will be offered work placements at companies including McDonald’s and B&M as the Government battles to control a welfare bill forecast to reach £333.7bn this year.
Working-age benefits including universal credit already account for £145bn of that total, according to data from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) – a figure ministers hope to shrink by moving long-term claimants into paid work.
Without intervention, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts total welfare spending will exceed £408bn by 2030-31.
The push comes as the number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) reached 981,000 between April and June this year, according to the Office for National Statistics – around 13 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds, and three per cent higher than the same period last year.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said 90,000 fully-funded jobs for 18- to 24-year-olds will be created by 2029 through the Government’s Jobs Guarantee scheme. It is part of the Youth Guarantee, a £2.5bn drive to tackle youth unemployment, which will also include the creation of 150,000 work experience placements with major brands.
What exactly is the Jobs Guarantee scheme?
The scheme gives 18 to 24-year-olds guaranteed paid work if they’ve been on universal credit for 18 months or longer without work or training.
The Government pays the company the equivalent of 25 hours a week at the minimum wage for six months, plus pension contributions.
It was piloted in six areas last year – Birmingham and Solihull, the East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire and Essex, central and east Scotland, and south east and south west Wales – and is due to roll out nationwide from November.
The i Paper understands that there are no specific sanctions for refusing jobs offered to benefit claimants as part of the Jobs Guarantee scheme.
Refusing a placement is treated the same as turning down any other job offer under standard universal credit rules. Claimants who turn down a job without a good reason can have their standard allowance – the main part of universal credit that all claimants get – cut for a set amount of time.
This can be 13 weeks on a first failure, rising to 26 weeks for a second failure within 36 weeks, according to Government guidance.
The Jobs Guarantee falls under the Youth Guarantee scheme, which the Government set out in November 2024. This is a national strategy which aims to ensure that every young person aged 16 to 24 has access to employment, training, or education, and is backed by £2.5bn in funding over the next three years.
Other parts of the scheme include the Youth Jobs Grant, launched in June 2026, which gives employers a £3,000 bonus to hire young people who have been looking for work for six months.
Employers hiring through the project
More than 400 employers are involved with the scheme, The i Paper understands, with participating companies ranging from small local businesses to multinational corporations.
They include Boots, which has taken on its first cohort of recruits in warehouse, customer service and administrative roles at its Nottingham headquarters.
Mitchells & Butlers, the pub and restaurant group behind All Bar One and Toby Carvery, has committed to 12 placements through the scheme’s first phase.
Merlin Entertainments, which operates Legoland Windsor and Alton Towers, has pledged 300 roles, with the DWP saying most will be delivered through the Jobs Guarantee.
OCS, a facilities management firm, has also committed to taking on staff through the scheme in roles such as cleaning, security and catering.
Work placements, apprenticeships and careers support
Several employers are supporting the wider Youth Guarantee by expanding their own work experience, internship and apprenticeship offerings, rather than through Jobs Guarantee placements.
Sainsbury’s is offering 10,000 internships for young people, which are set to include workplace visits, career workshops and hands-on placements across England, Scotland and Wales.
The roles will focus on communities with high levels of free school meal eligibility and significant numbers of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet).
McDonald’s has also launched a 2,500-place work experience programme spanning restaurant and head office roles, with a guaranteed interview at the end.
Pinewood Studios – one of the UK’s largest film and TV studios – is also supporting the Youth Guarantee. It runs the Behind the Screens programme, which gives six-month work placements in the sector for young people out of work.
The Premier League is supporting the expansion of Youth Hubs across Great Britain, offering young people access to CV advice, skills training, careers guidance and mental health support, according to the DWP.
Tui, B&M, JD Group, Home Bargains and Leonardo Hotels are among the 66 employers that had indicated to the DWP they would take part in the scheme, The i Paper reported in January, though none of these commitments have since been confirmed.
Hence then, the article about mcdonald s to boots where 18 to 24 year olds will be offered work to cut benefits bill was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( McDonald’s to Boots: Where 18 to 24-year-olds will be offered work to cut benefits bill )
Also on site :
- ‘I’m a Hepatologist, and This Is the One Thing I Tell Every Patient With Fatty Liver To Start Eating’
- 36 Years Ago Today, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Final Concert Ended in an All-Star Jam—Then a Helicopter Crash Changed Everything
- ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Cast and Crew Held a ‘Funeral Screening’ After the Movie Was Shelved: ‘Was Emotional in So Many Ways’