Getting ready for work

Published: 24 Apr 2026

We're playing our part in supporting people for the future of work

Everyone remembers their first job. Whether it was bar work, office admin or a shift at a call centre, that initial step into employment is a big rite of passage.

But right now, it’s sometimes hard for young people to get on the ladder. Cadan, who was studying a BTEC at Sheffield College said, “in my experience, getting things like office jobs were considered pretty rare. I was starting to feel the pressure of what am I going to do? How am I going to make that next step?”

As a major employer, with strong connections in communities around the country, Aviva is playing our part in supporting young people to get ready for the future of work, both within our business, and beyond.

A perfect storm

Finding that first job can be a real challenge. The unemployment rate for 18- to 24-year-olds stands at 14% at December 2025¹. Almost a million 16- to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training². This is a problem for the individuals themselves, and for the UK economy at large.

But there are opportunities out there. Aviva is acting both within our own workforce and by teaming up with others to try and help new entrants to the job market get their foot in the door.

Opening doors: internships with impact

An obvious place to start for recent school leavers or graduates is an internship.

Aviva works with upReach and the Taylor Bennet Foundation to make it easier for young people from diverse or low social-mobility backgrounds to experience life at a FTSE100 company.

Aviva interns spend around six weeks in paid placements in our offices from York to Norwich, Bristol, Sheffield and London, getting a taste of professional life in business areas like Legal, Brand and Corporate Affairs, General Insurance or Aviva Investors.

The idea is to prepare them not just for a job, but for a career. Jazmin, who interned in our Brand team said it helped her “understand how the business works day-to-day and build my confidence in the workplace.”

A similar approach informs our Supported Internship Scheme, designed as a transition-to-work programme for young people with autism and an Education, Health, and Care Plan.

Running in York and Norwich in partnership with local councils, colleges, and charities, it is now entering its third year and expanding to Sheffield too. The scheme has already made a difference. 80% of the 2024 interns are now permanent employees at Aviva after successfully applying for roles.³

One of them, who works as an analyst in our cyber security team explains what difference it made, “Thanks to my experience as an intern, I had the confidence to take the first steps in my career at Aviva. I’m really happy to be able to continue working in an environment where I feel supported to learn, grow and contribute every day.”

Solus: Apprenticeships built for the future

Another entry point, both for graduates and for those who didn’t go on to higher education, is an apprenticeship.

Last year Aviva had over 600 apprentices on a range of courses from sales and insurance to future-focused areas such as data and GenAI. As of February 2026, over 95% of our apprentices are still at Aviva within two years of finishing their course.

It’s pretty cool repairing a customer’s car and then getting it back to them because you know, you’d want your car repaired to the best.

Reece, apprentice technician from Solus Sheffield

As well as giving opportunities to people, it’s good for our business too, as Danny Harmer, Aviva’s Chief People Officer, puts it, “Apprenticeships are a brilliant way to invest in future skills and the communities where we are based. Offering apprenticeships also enables us to attract a broad range of talent and support our colleagues to develop their skills across our business.”

One part of Aviva where apprenticeships are important is Solus, our network of 22 vehicle damage repair centres across the UK.

A shortage of skilled labour is the biggest threat to the industry and technological development is outpacing training for servicing, maintenance, and vehicle repair. The UK faces a potential shortage of 25,000⁴ EV vehicle technicians by 2035, just as the shift to electric vehicles accelerates.

Solus is helping tackle this. Since 2012, they have been developing the skills of the next generation through an apprenticeship programme and work experience opportunities. They supported 78 apprentices in 2025 in EV and regular vehicle repair.

When you walk into a Solus site like Solus Exeter, Aviva’s first fully electric repair centre, you’re met with a clean, busy workspace. Apprentice technicians are each given their own toolkit, so they have the right equipment to do their jobs effectively, and supported by experienced technicians who specialise in paint, panel, or MET (mechanical, electrical, and trim).

Reece, a multiskilled apprentice technician from Solus Sheffield says the best bit is, “learning new knowledge, working with my mentor, working on cars, helping get them back on the road. It’s pretty cool repairing a customer’s car and then getting it back to them because you know, you’d want your car repaired to the best.”

Raising aspirations: in Sheffield

That sense of achievement and personal self-worth is a hugely important element of work, which is one reason why getting young people into jobs is so important. Many face multiple barriers, not least of which is a lack of exposure to and understanding of what’s possible.

The good news is that there are solutions. Young people who have four or more employer encounters while at school are up to 86% less likely to end up without employment, education, or training.⁵ They also earn more money as adults once they are in the workforce.⁶

This is why we’re involved in initiatives like ‘See it, Be it’ run by Sheffield City Council. Over 100 Aviva colleagues have volunteered their time to run sessions at 25 schools across the city, and over 3,000 students have heard about working with us, gone through mock interviews, visited our offices or had mentoring (Sept 2024 – June 2025).

These practical experiences help the students feel more confident and ready to navigate work. As a Founding Place Partner for Business in the Community, we’re helping extend similar approaches elsewhere too

I’d never had a job interview before. I think it helped me massively, gave me a lot more confidence about what I knew and what I needed to say.

Cadan, on his experience of the CV and interview workshops

But raising that awareness and aspirations about what’s possible is only half the battle. There also need to be clear, accessible pathways into a job, which is why Aviva also worked with Sheffield College to design the next step.

We ran a series of events including CV and interview workshops, mock interview sessions and an assessment centre day. Cadan explains the difference it made for him, “I’d never had a job interview before. I think it helped me massively, gave me a lot more confidence about what I knew and what I needed to say.” He’s one of the 10 young people who went on to get a job with Aviva in 2025.

The experience has been so successful, both for the young people and for our business, that we’re extending the same approach to other cities with Aviva offices around the country, including Norwich, York, Bristol and Perth.

Building skills: Aviva Investors’ Social Value Label

The nature of our business, and our scale across the UK means we can help open up opportunities for young people with big aspirations into other sectors beyond financial services.

Take the construction sector, a powerful engine for growth. The Office for National Statistics points to 35,000 job vacancies across the industry with employers saying they can’t find always people with the skills they need.⁷

At the same time, many development projects use Social Value to bring benefits to the surrounding area beyond the new buildings themselves, and finding the best way to help people from the local community gains skills and jobs is a big piece of that puzzle.

To help meet these needs, Aviva Investors has embedded a social value strategy across its real estate portfolio. Since 2023, the programme has offered opportunities for more than 5,000 students nationwide, including employer engagement, education outreach and skills development initiatives.

We also introduced the Social Value Label in late 2025, a recognition scheme that defines what “good” looks like and supports our supply chain to deliver employment, skills and training that have the greatest impact in local communities.

In practice, this often means that we work via partnerships with the Department for Work and Pensions, the CITB and local schools, colleges and training providers to identify support to help companies offer jobs for those not in employment, education or training, or apprenticeships and relevant training.

The Social Value Label is accredited by the CITB National Skills Academy for Construction and was recently awarded Social Investing Initiative of the Year 2026 by the Insurance Asset Risk Awards UK & Europe.⁸

Unlocking growth: The BCC Planning Skills Fund

Another opportunity for unlocking UK growth is to tackle a shortage of trained planners. Without the skilled individuals needed to approve plans and get projects underway, investment stalls and costs can spiral. It is estimated that fixing the planning system could unlock £70bn in economic value.⁹

This is why Aviva has contributed £500,000 to a British Chambers of Commerce initiative to help train more planners, giving local councils the capacity they need to get projects off the ground.

Jaap, one of the students benefitting from the programme at Westminster University explains the benefits for the country, “having more skilled planners in the field will help speed up the process to help solve problems like the housing crisis.”

“I wanted to take part in the Planning Skills Fund because it offers financial support and offers a clear pathway into local government planning which aligns with my goals in working in the local authority in the future.”

Creative opportunities: Factory Academy

[Factory Academy gave me] the confidence to talk about my ideas and projects within interview settings, which directly led me to getting new roles.

Natalie, Factory Academy graduate

The UK’s creative industries are another sector of critical importance to UK plc, and an area where we are a world leader, contributing over £120 billion to the UK economy^.10 Our sponsorship of Aviva Studios, home of arts organisation Factory International, in Manchester means we can support young people finding their way into this exciting growth sector.

Natalie, a former Factory Academy student, explains: “Aviva is the Principal Partner of Factory Academy, which runs professional development, skills-based workshops, and courses at Aviva Studios. These courses really help to increase the accessibility of opportunities into the creative industries. Whether it is training the next technician or the next events producer, they offer a range of free professional development opportunities and experiences.”

Natalie benefitted from free Factory Academy courses, which gave her “the confidence to talk about my ideas and projects within interview settings, which directly led me to getting new roles.”

“The investment in Manchester, Aviva Studios and Factory Academy is creating a pathway that makes the arts feel more accessible, while helping to put Manchester on the international map.”

Get Ready for more

Of course, we don’t have all the solutions to help young people looking for work. But we can and will keep doing what we can to help.

It is good for our business, good for our customers and good for the nation’s economy. But most importantly, it changes lives, improving young people’s prospects today and long into the future.

As Hamzah, who also went through the jobs pathway with Sheffield College puts it, “I’m more than happy working for Aviva. So I’m very optimistic for the future, definitely excited to see what’s in store.”