TUC launches new “WorkSmart” pilot – an online career and workplace coach for young workers.
Almost 3/4 of trade union members are over the age of 35. In 2022, only 3.7% of trade union members were aged between 16 and 24.
Nearly 90% of under 30s on low to median incomes work in the private sector — but just 6.3% of them are in trade unions.
As the nature of employment in Britain has changed – because of de-industrialisation, privatisation, and the growth of insecure work – Unions have failed to get a foothold in the places where young people work.
Unless things change, there is a possibility that trade union organisation and culture will die away – literally.
We know that work really isn’t working for too many younger people in the UK. Young workers are more likely to be employed in industries that have seen huge increases in casual work over the last decade. Retail, hospitality and social care employ large numbers of young workers.
Zero hours, temporary contracts, agency work, all mean it’s getting harder and harder to balance your working life with your personal life. That’s doubly the case for young parents, trying to balance unpredictable shifts with costly and inflexible childcare. Low pay makes it hard to get by and plan for the future.
The General Assembly of the European Youth Forum has said that these are features of life for young people across Europe (in a motion adopted in May this year):
“According to Eurostat, around one-third of young workers in the EU are employed on temporary contracts, a rate far higher than among olderworkers.1 Unpaid and underpaid internships continue to limit equal opportunities, particularly for those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. At the same time, around 1 in 10 young workers are at risk of in-work poverty.
“The expansion of platform work and other emerging non-standard forms of employment has further blurred employment relationships and access to rights. In parallel, the housing crisis – characterised by rising rents, speculative dynamics, and insufficient investment in affordable housing – undermines young people’s autonomy, access to employment, and ability to build an independent life”.
UNI Youth Global President Crisnalda Nhamucale, a member of SINECOSSE in Mozambique, commented, on this years World Day for Decent Work (7th October), that: “Young people should join a union because that is where they will find a source of hope and collective struggle for fairer social and working conditions. This is especially true once they realize that their future depends on employment and that, together, they can push for better working conditions, for training and professional qualifications and for more effective use of today’s tools for mobilizing young people”.
We have run our local “Young Worker Survey” over the last couple of years because we want to try and keep up to date with what young workers are feeling.
We are currently running the Survey for 2026, and we hope that people in the 16- 35 age range will use it to pass on their views to us. You can access it here: https://forms.gle/vvxuwQrTzstpsTQ2A
In last year’s survey, “fair treatment and respect” came out as the top thing that respondents wanted to see a Union achieve in their own workplace. In its work nationally, the TUC has found that the hope of progression and having a sense that employers were invested in workers’ career development were also big concerns.
One response from the TUC has been to pilot a new service called “WorkSmart” – WorkSmart: The career coach that works for everyone.
The TUC says that this is “a way for young workers to make plans to build their careers, or to tackle problems at work, and then make real steps towards those goals.
“Working together with them as they seek to improve their working lives, we can help build their own confidence and their career skills. Just as importantly, we can help them learn from each others’ experiences, and find out what’s working for other groups of workers like them.
“Where we find groups that could benefit from working with unions to address their problems together, we’ll be able to offer them that help. Where we can provide tools for them to win change with their colleagues, we’ll aim to do that too”.
WorkSmart is still in the development phase, so those who we invite to participate from the waiting list will get access to everything for free. WorkSmart will always be free to get started with, and to use the basic tools. For those who want to go further, there will eventually be paid plans for advanced training and tools, or a chance to join trade union for the help and protection at work that would offer.