More young Jersey jobseekers struggle to find work

The number of young people in Jersey unemployed and accessing government support has increased by more than 20% compared to two years ago, official figures have shown.

The Government of Jersey said it was supporting 136 people aged 16 to 24 through a scheme called Back to Work - which provided career support and application guidance to people looking for jobs.

It said 112 people accessed the same scheme in 2024.

The government added the increase in the number of young people searching for work "demonstrates the continued need for targeted intervention".

Stella Black is currently unemployed and has been looking for a job for the past three years.

She said: "I think job-seeking is very difficult, especially when you don't know what you're doing wrong, if you're doing anything wrong at all."

Black said she applied for hundreds of jobs and only received responses from a few employers.

"If you're doing everything right and you're still not getting any sort of feedback or responses or anything, it is really difficult to keep going when all you've got to look forward to is another week of nothing," she said.

Veronica Da Costa, a recruitment manager from Park Personnel Recruitment Agency, said: "I think they [employers] get inundated with CVs.

"A lot of the time there's no context, they can't see personality, they can't see initiative.

"A lot of the time what they look for, and when you speak with them, they want initiative and they want that personality."

Some businesses also said they had seen an increase in the number of young people accessing schemes to help them into careers.

Geraldine Evans, from the Institute of Directors, said she had seen a record number of applicants for their Future Leader scheme, which offered work experience opportunities to students.

She said: "I think students are very aware of what's happening and it doesn't take much to read the news about the introduction of AI [artificial intelligence] and the reduction of graduate roles.

"I think they're looking for every opportunity to be able to just make their CV stand out," she said.

The Government of Jersey said it provided a range of support, which included one-to-one CV guidance and access to training to help young people into the workforce.

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