Young workers in
Greater Manchester
Exploring young people’s experiences of work and barriers to getting into work
Research Summary
January 2021 to December 2022
Young People and Work in an Age of Uncertainty (2021-22). Funded by the British Academy.
The research explored more about young people’s experiences of work. Economic and political uncertainties, growing inequalities, and the technological transformation of work have far-reaching effects on the labour market. The research occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused a shock to the labour market and increased concerns about young people’s experience of work and employment.
This project focused on those working in insecure jobs in Greater Manchester. Participants included young people working in the gig economy, the self-employed and those on temporary and short-term contracts. We also spoke to working students.
Our research explored the personal, social and economic consequences of such working conditions, but also considered how young people are responding to and resisting uncertainty. It illustrated the resourcefulness of young people in responding to precarious working lives and how responses were influenced by the availability of individual and social resources.
We produced recommendations from our research – for young people, employers and politicians – about what can be done to improve young people’s working lives.
Evaluation of Greater Manchester’s Hidden Talent Project (2022). Funded by GMCVO.
This research conducted a detailed evaluation of an employment support project designed to provide assistance to young people in the city region who where not in education, employment or training (NEET). Young people, talent coaches, project partners and Advisory Group members were included in the research.
The Hidden Talent project (January-June 2022) was managed by GMCVO. It was funded by the Community Renewal Fund of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) acted as the lead authority for the project.
Alongside young people registered as unemployed or receiving disability welfare benefits, the project included ‘hidden’ young people, ie., those who are not recorded in official DWP statistics.
The evaluation illustrated the considerable impact of community-based, personalised support in reaching and supporting young people. This was particularly important in recognising issues of mental health and disability.
There were positive outcomes for all young people, as well as for partners in collaboration with each other. Notably, hidden young people made more progress than some of their peers in certain domains, eg., engaging with job searching.
An important limitation the Hidden Talent project was its shortness and the evaluation supports calls for such support to have longer-term and sustainable funding.
Research team
Adele Swingewood
Research outputs
Articles
- Decent and Indecent Work, Careers Matters, Career Development Institute (CDI), April 2022
- Christie, F., Robertson, P. J., & Swingewood, A. (2025). Young people and precarious work in England during the Covid-19 pandemic: a psychology of working perspective. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 1–16.
Blog posts
Presentations
- Social Change, Inequality and Mental Health: Shifting the Narrative Conference at Kings College, London (March 2021) Young People and Work: Disrupted Dreams and Lives in Limbo
- Work Employment and Society Conference (August 2021) The impact of COVID-19 on Young Workers: a Qualitative, Longitudinal Study.
- National Institute of Careers and Educational Counselling (NICEC): Careers in a post-Covid World (September 2021) The Impact of COVID-19 on Young Workers
- Career Development Institute (CDI) National conference (December 2021) Young people’s perspectives on decent and indecent work: implications for careers work
- Cannexus Career Development conference (Canada) (January 2022) COVID-19 and Young Workers in the UK
- Christie, F. (2023) ‘The Evaluation of a Youth Employment Project (Hidden Talent).’ In National Careers practitioner Research Conference (CDI/AGCAS/NICEC) 2023. Virtual, 16/2/2023 – 16/2/2023. Career Development Institute, Hyperlink here.
Reports
- The impact of Covid-19 on Young Workers in England. Young people navigating insecure work in Greater Manchester during the Covid-19 pandemic
- Christie, F., Swingewood, A. (2022) Greater Manchester’s Hidden Talent: final evaluation and assessment. Manchester: GMCVO.
With funding from
Contact us
For project enquiries, you can contact Dr Fiona Christie.