Three ways to improve transitions into work for young people

Over the past decade, BREAKOUT Founder Roman Dibden has worked with tens of thousands of young people navigating the transition from education into employment.

That experience has not only shaped the vision behind BREAKOUT , but also a growing belief that many of the challenges young people face are not individual failings, but symptoms of systems that often fail to reflect the realities of modern life and work.

This article, originally featured in Children & Young People Now, explores three key areas where the transition into employment can be strengthened and why building better pathways into employment requires a more joined-up, human approach.

Originally featured in Children & Young People Now.

The rise in youth unemployment reflects a system problem and the solution is brining employers, young people and communities closer together, says Roman Dibden, founder of a new charity.

Roman Dibden is founder of charity BREAKOUT.

There is a lot of noise right now about “almost one million young people” not in education, employment or training.

New funding announcements. New initiatives. New promises.

Today, as BREAKOUT launches, I’ve been reflecting on what actually needs to change.

Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege of supporting tens of thousands of young people as they navigate the transition from education into employment. What I see consistently is not a lack of ambition, but a system that struggles to convert effort into opportunity.

I meet young people that have applied for up to 200 jobs to absolutely no avail.

At the same time, employers are telling a different story. They want to engage but they are navigating rising costs, competing demands and a lack of clarity around how to effectively support early-career talent.

The result is a system that does not join up.

Education sits in one place. Employment sits in another. Support is fragmented.

When those parts fail to connect, it is young people who are left navigating the gaps.

This is why the transition from education into employment has become so fragile. And yet, when outcomes don’t materialise, the narrative often shifts towards the individual. We reach for labels like “disengaged”, “hard to reach” or worse.

We start asking what is wrong with young people, rather than what is wrong with the pathway they are being asked to navigate.

In my experience, young people are not the problem. The system around them often is. That is why additional investment, while welcome, will not fix this on its own. We have seen time and time again that funding can be absorbed at scale without fundamentally improving outcomes.

If we are serious about improving transitions into work, three things need to change.

1. We need to start with the journey, not the intervention. Young people do not experience policy in silos, so our solutions cannot operate in that way. The pathway from education into employment needs to be designed end-to-end, with clear handovers, consistent support and shared accountability.

   
   

2. We need to properly support employers. If we want employers to bring young people in, we need to reduce friction, align expectations and create structures that make engagement practical, not burdensome.

   
   

3. We need to rethink what success looks like. A job start is not the finish line. Sustained employment, progression and confidence is what ultimately drive long-term outcomes.

These are not new ideas. What is missing is a system that connects them in practice. This is the gap that BREAKOUT has been created to address. By bringing together young people, employers and communities, and building structured, sustained pathways into work.

This is not about a lack of potential. It is about a system that is not yet designed to realise it. Until that changes, we will continue to lose talent at the point it matters most.

BREAKOUT exists to help rebuild the pathway between education and employment by bringing together young people, employers and communities to create routes into opportunity that actually hold.

If this resonates with you, whether as an employer, mentor, supporter or young person. We’d love to hear from you.

We’re building something bigger than a programme. We’re building a movement around the belief that young people deserve better pathways into work, opportunities and long-term success.

Your Move.