Talent Unlocked
Talent Unlocked
In partnership with Youth Futures Foundation, Talent Unlocked focuses on the role of businesses to inspire, hire, and support ethnically diverse young people to thrive at work.
Unlocking Opportunity for Ethnically Diverse Young People
Amid a skills crisis, an ageing workforce and tight budgets, nearly a million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET) — with Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi young people disproportionately affected.
This is a vital opportunity for employers to tap into an untapped talent pool and unlock a generation of talent. Youth Futures Foundation, the national What Works Centre for youth employment, and Business in the Community (BITC), the UK’s largest responsible business network, are urging and equipping employers to create pathways for ethnically diverse young people to secure, sustain and succeed in work.
Together, we are equipping employers to turn knowledge into action – cultivating workplaces where Black, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Mixed, and other ethnically diverse groups of young people can thrive.
The challenge
Young people from Black, Asian (including Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and other Asian backgrounds), Mixed, and other ethnically diverse backgrounds continue to face significant barriers to gaining and sustaining meaningful employment.
Through Talent Unlocked, we help employers create fairer recruitment and retention strategies, driving real change in workplace policies, processes, and behaviours to ensure ethnically diverse young people can access and sustain good jobs and tackling the ethnic disparities in youth unemployment rates head on.
of young people from Black Caribbean backgrounds are currently NEET.
have reported experiencing discrimination when seeking work.
cite discrimination as the biggest barrier to finding employment.
Our approach
Transform opportunities for marginalised young people
Your organisation can make a real difference. Commitment One of the Race at Work Charter urges employers to proactively recruit and retain NEET ethnically diverse young people.
Commit to: offering structured work experiences, developing apprenticeship programmes, ensuring transparent bullying & harassment processes, supporting employability skills development, and helping line managers co-create career plans with young employees.
Why it matters: We’re equipping employers with guidance and recommendations on how they can meaningfully engage and empower this group of young people. Every step opens doors, nurtures talent, and builds a more inclusive future.
The King’s Seeing is Believing Visits
Through The King’s Seeing is Believing Programme, senior business leaders visit communities where race-based youth unemployment is high, such as Brent and Burnley. These immersive experiences, shaped and co-facilitated by young people from the local area, provide first-hand insight into the real challenges young people face and inspire action from some of the UK’s largest employers.
The Pioneer Programme
We are partnering with 15 leading employers over two years to design and implement inclusive recruitment and retention strategies for ethnically diverse young people, particularly those who are or have been NEET.
Our goal is to identify and remove barriers, create clear pathways, and establish best practices that can be scaled across industries.
Sustained Employer Engagement
We support businesses through a multi-stage process, helping them build inclusive hiring practices and demonstrate the business case for diverse talent. Our work aligns with:
“An equitable society for all is the goal, and it’s only through collective commitment and action that this will become a reality.”
How to get involved
If your organisation is ready to unlock the potential of ethnically diverse young talent, express your interest today.
“We have a unique opportunity to galvanise employers into meaningful action – to break down barriers for young people from ethnically diverse backgrounds who are not in education, employment, or training. This is about more than access, it’s about fairness, progression, and lasting change. When we invest in potential, we unlock a future that benefits us all.”
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Talent Unlocked is a three-year partnership between Business in the Community (BITC) and Youth Futures Foundation. It supports employers in creating fairer recruitment and retention strategies to help ethnically diverse young people access and sustain good jobs.
Evidence shows that ethnically diverse young people face higher levels of discrimination in recruitment, as well as disparities in education, skills, and employment opportunities. This programme helps employers break down these barriers and drive systemic change.
These visits allow senior leaders to witness first-hand the challenges ethnically diverse young people face in the job market, helping to inspire action and policy change within their organisations.
The programme reinforces the Race at Work Charter’s commitment to improving employment outcomes for ethnically diverse individuals by providing employers with practical tools, insights, and support to drive long-term change.
BITC provides strategic guidance, best practice insights, training, and data-driven recommendations to help organisations create inclusive workplaces where ethnically diverse young people can thrive.