Telecommunications firm O2 and media group Bauer Media have jointly created a £5m programme named GoThinkBig, through which they will offer up to 30,000 work experience and skills opportunities schemes for 14-25-year-olds in the UK over the next three years.

GoThinkBig research finds that 41% of UK 16-25-year-olds feel that going to work with a family member is currently the easiest route to securing traditional work experience while 26% believe that employers only value formal work placement opportunities supported by schools and colleges.

Meanwhile, 69% of businesses say they do not formally publicise work experience opportunities for young people, and 34% say skills gained working for a charity or activities undertaken supporting their community are just as valuable as formal work experience.

O2 chief executive Ronan Dunne says: “All businesses, big and small, have a role to play in helping support these young people on their journey to work and each of us can benefit by bringing fresh thinking into our organisations.”

Dunne’s counterpart at Bauer, Paul Keenan, adds: “Our editors and programmers have seen a shift in what youth audiences are concerned about. They are now talking as obsessively about their careers – and about how to start them – as they are about their social lives and relationships. They’re anxious about the future, asking for help and looking for encouragement and inspiration.”