‘A job is like finding a needle in a haystack’: how Dudley became centre of UK’s youth jobs crisis

<p>Almost one in five school-leavers in West Midlands town are not in education, employment or training and chancellor is under pressure to deliver promised ‘youth guarantee’</p><p>It is a rainy day in Dudley and Alex Jones and his friends are taking shelter under some trees in the car park of the college of technology. Clad in blue overalls on a mid-morning break, the students are hopeful their automotive qualifications will stand them in good stead for finding work.</p><p>Here in the heart of the Black Country, however, that is not always guaranteed. “Trying to find a part-time job is like trying to find a needle in a haystack,” says the 17-year-old trainee mechanic.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/07/dudley-uk-epicentre-youth-jobs-crisis-unemployment">Continue reading...</a>