Opening Shift
The Retail Work Experience Programme for young people not in education, employment, or training.
Opening Shift
Opening Shift is a retail work experience programme, launched in September 2026, aiming to help thousands of young people take their first step into employment.
Developed by the BRC, the Department for Work and Pensions, and a working group of leading retailers, it is focused on overcoming one of the biggest barriers facing young people looking for work: getting a job without previous experience.
Many retailers offer work experience, but we at the BRC wanted to create a programme that overcame the barriers individual businesses had to scaling up their own programmes (e.g. the need to engage locally with multiple job centres around the country).
We achieved this by creating a national programme that is managed centrally by DWP in conjunction with retail businesses.
This partnership with DWP means each participating retailer has a central contact point within DWP who will manage the candidate pipeline and referral, matching eligible candidates not in education, employment or training (NEET) to appropriate Work Experience opportunities.
Participating retailers offer part-time or full-time two-to-four-week placements to people aged 18-24 who are NEET based on what would work for their business.
Every participant needs to be paired with a Buddy to support them and offered a practice interview at the end of their placement with the goal of moving as many people as possible into a role within the company if one is available.
More than 40 retailers helped to develop and launch Opening Shift, pledging over 11,000 placements. The programme helps support a wider ambition to get 100,000 young people who are NEET into retail jobs by the end of the Parliament.
BRC and DWP launch Opening Shift
Retail targets 100,000 jobs to tackle youth unemployment
The BRC and the Department for Work and Pensions have launched Opening Shift, a scheme targeted at young people not in education, employment or training to help break the 'no experience, no job' doom loop.
Retail Job Champions
Political stakeholders support our 'Buy into Retail Jobs' campaign at our Parliamentary Reception.
Media Coverage of Opening Shift
The launch of Opening Shift gained wall to wall media coverage. BRC CEO, Helen Dickinson and DWP Secretary of State, Pat McFadden, both did broadcast interviews while the story also featured in national papers and the trades.
Flexible, entry level work case studies
Retail is uniquely placed to tackle the NEETs crisis given the number of entry level, flexible jobs it provides. Check out some case studies of younger workers who got their first steps into work through retail.
Why was Opening Shift created?
Almost one million young people in the UK are currently not in employment, education or training (NEET). This could rise to 1.25 million over the next five years.
Six in ten young people who are NEET have never had a job, with many trapped in a “no experience, no job” cycle.
Opening Shift was created was created because retailers wanted to play a meaningful role in breaking the 'no experience, no job' cycle for NEETs through a retail specific work experience programme that offers high-quality work experience at scale in a way that works for participants and retail employers alike.
How will Opening Shift's work placements help to create jobs for NEETs?
Opening Shift is designed to turn work experience into a pathway to employment. Placements give young people practical experience, workplace skills and confidence, while allowing retailers to identify potential future talent.
Every participant will be offered an interview at the end of their placement, with the aim of moving suitable candidates into available jobs, apprenticeships or other employment opportunities if available.
Which retailers have pledged their support for Opening Shift?
Retailers currently involved are: Aldi, AllSaints, Amazon, Ann Summers, Asda, B&M, B&Q, Bensons, Booths, Boots, Costa Coffee, Currys, Dobbies, Dr. Martens, Dunelm, Fishpools, Greggs, Holland & Barrett, House of Bruar, Iceland, JD Sports, John Lewis Partnership, JoJo Maman Bébé, Lakeland, Liberty, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Mountain Warehouse, New Look, Next, Our Co-op, Pets at Home, Pret, Primark, Savers, Screwfix, Superdrug, Tesco, The Perfume Shop, The Works, Very Group and Wickes.
I'm interested in offering work placements through Opening Shift
We would love to see more retailers involved with Opening Shift. Download the full details below, or keep reading to see the details of the programme at a glance.
I'm a potential applicant for Opening Shift - how do I apply?
Opening Shift is open to young people aged 18-24 who are classified NEET – not in education, employment or training, are in receipt of Universal Credit, and resident in England, Scotland or Wales.
Eligible participants apply at their local Jobcentre Plus.
Work experience through Opening Shift is a route to a possible job. Our ambition is that as many placements as possible convert into jobs for young people not in education, employment or training.
18-24 NEETs in Great Britain, not the UK as DWP doesn’t have relationships with Job Centres in Northern Ireland.
To provide young people with little or no work history, the opportunity to gain an understanding of the working and retail world.
The best employment outcomes post-placement are when opportunities are 4 weeks (but there is flexibility for the retailer to decide)
16-35 hours per week, typically in 4-7 hour shifts. Working hours between 8 AM and 10 PM, with participants not working Saturday and Sunday in the same week.
Via DWP - DWP co-ordinate the pipeline of candidates, ensuring they fit the NEET criteria and have the right to work.
Universal Credit claimants retain benefits during their placement.
Travel costs are covered by the DWP if required. Lunch can be provided by the retailer.
Provided by retailer if required - employers should not expect participants to purchase (not subject to tax).
All candidates must be paired with a Buddy, providing candidates with support and existing staff the opportunity to develop leadership and management skills.
Required post-placement interviews provide the employer with the opportunity to identify talent to address upcoming resourcing gaps - if no opportunities are available, this provides candidates with live interview experience.
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