Youth x Employer Forum: Designing the world of work we want to see

We partnered with the Social Mobility Leaders’ Forum (SMLF) to do something different - bring together young people and employers as equal partners to imagine a fairer world of work.

Over 60 young people and employers from across the UK joined us at AXA XL’s office in London for the Youth x Employer Forum - a day dedicated to bridging the generational divide and co-creating solutions for a fairer future.

Our CEO and SMLF Board Member Felicity Halstead set the tone for the event: this was a valuable opportunity not just for young people, but for everyone. When discussing social mobility, employers and young people must be on equal footing.

Paul Modley, Managing Director, DEIB at AMS and Chair of the SMLF shared why this event was so important. Paul started his career in recruitment with a “phone and a rolodex” - clearly a lot has changed since then. With technology and AI posing new challenges in the world of social mobility, engaging young people is essential in achieving real progress.

Intergenerational thinking

For the first time in history, UK workplaces are seeing four generations - Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z - working side-by-side. And yet, only 6% of organisations believe their leaders are adequately prepared to lead a multi-generational workforce.

In our first workshop, our expert facilitator Lucie Coudret asked participants to condense their identities into five words on a post-it note and stick it on a board for their respective generation. Gen Z notes featured ‘matcha’, Millennials referenced ‘MySpace’, and Gen X mentioned ‘free university’. The activity revealed commonalities and helped bridge the gap between employers and younger attendees.

Belonging, inclusion and recruitment

Lynne Barrow, Director of Student Recruitment at the University of Salford Business School, opened this session by considering inclusion and belonging at work. She explained the importance of embedding belonging and inclusion throughout the recruitment cycle -”when people belong, they stay, lead and deliver impact”.

In mixed groups, employers and young people mapped out inclusion and belonging at each stage of the talent cycle - recruitment, pre-boarding, onboarding and ongoing work.

Co-creation lab: rethinking recruitment

We got our creative hats on for this co-creation workshop, using LEGO, colour pens, Play-Doh and more to push past traditional thinking and explore what a truly inclusive recruitment process could look like. New ideas included using puzzles and VR to assess candidates instead of CVs and creating ‘day-in-the-life’ video content to replace traditional job descriptions.

Reimagining the future of Work

We wrapped up the day by thinking about what the world of work in 2040 would look like. Responses ranged widely: some envisioned AI freeing up time for us to tackle bigger societal issues using human creativity, while others predicted a return to the five-day work week.

We also asked young people and employers who attended the event to make a pledge for progress, sharing them with attendees one month later.

What’s next?

The event kicks off the SMLF’s new advocacy work and ongoing youth engagement. This is only the beginning of the SMLF’s work to create a fairer world of work and drive social mobility.

Want to find out more? Follow the Social Mobility Leaders’ Forum on LinkedIn for updates.

Thank you

This event wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our brilliant sponsors - a huge thank you to AMS, Diageo, Springpod and The University of Salford, as well as to our hosts AXA XL, and So-Motive for helping us capture a fantastic day.

We’re also incredibly grateful to our expert facilitators: Lucie Coudret, ACC, Paul Modley, Nina Slingsby, Jon Hering, and Team GoodWork.

Thanks also to the youth organisations who helped us bring a diverse group of young people together from across the UK, The Talent Tap, Young Enterprise, Zero Gravity, novi FUTURES, Youth Consults, MyBigCareer, The Social Mobility Foundation, St Giles, upReach, and East Norfolk Sixth Form College.