Sainsbury’s creates 10,000 work experience opportunities for young people
Sainsbury’s will offer young people across England, Scotland and Wales around 10,000 work experience opportunities over the next year, providing opportunities to gain experience in the retail sector.
The UK supermarket will begin delivering its KickStarter programme in October, prioritising areas where young people face greater barriers to employment. This includes communities where a high proportion of schools offer free school meals, as well as young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
KickStarter will run alongside a separate industry pilot involving The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) and other retailers. The pilot aims to help shape a broader work experience approach for 14- to 18-year-olds and support Sainsbury’s plans to extend opportunities through its store network from 2027.
The model will give participants ongoing opportunities to engage with employers through workplace visits, practical sessions and meetings with colleagues. Activities will explore careers in stores, logistics, technology and food, alongside providing support with CVs, applications and interviews.
The opportunities
KickStarter Explore, designed for 14- to 18-year-olds, will combine school-based learning with practical workplace experience. Co-designed with The School Outreach Company, it will provide more than 5,000 places and introduce participants to careers at Sainsbury’s and across the retail sector.
Through regional employability workshops, KickStarter Insights will provide more than 200 places for people aged 16 to 24. The programme was developed with Movement to Work, a charity focused on youth employment. Its sessions will cover communication, interview preparation and applications.
Following its support for the CEC and IGD pilot, Sainsbury’s will deliver a further 5,000 opportunities through its own programmes.
Simon Roberts, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “With a quarter of our colleagues under 25, we see every day how much a first job can change lives.”
The programme launches as the number of NEET people aged 16 to 24 exceeds one million, or roughly one in eight young people. Office for National Statistics figures previously covered by TheIndustry.beauty showed that 1.01 million young people were NEET in the three months to March 2026, the highest total since late 2013, although earlier data used a different methodology.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said retail provides a first step into employment for thousands of people each year and called the Sainsbury’s initiative a starting point for wider industry action.
Programme promotion will begin in September through The School Outreach Company and Movement to Work. Schools can register their interest in KickStarter Explore, while individuals can contact Sainsbury’s Early Careers team about KickStarter Insights.
