Press release: CMI response to the Chancellor’s Spring Forecast 2026 Tuesday 03 March 2026 Petra Wilton, CMI Director of Policy and External Affairs, said: The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) welcomes the Chancellor’s commitment in the Spring Statement to ensuring a generation of young people are not left behind. However, for the Youth Guarantee and apprenticeship pathways to be successful, the government must address the primary driver of workplace retention: the quality of day-to-day management offered to young people. The Chancellor noted today that the number of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) has increased by 113,000 over the last five years. To reverse this trend, the government must look beyond the “offer” of a job and focus on the quality of the experience once a young person arrives. Efforts to help these young people find a path into work will only succeed if the people managing them have the skills they need to get this right. We continue to urge the Government to consider the vital role that management apprenticeships play. Employers are using these apprenticeships to develop line managers across the country who will then have the know-how to support young people, making sure they don’t just get short-term job placements that tick a box. - Ends - Media contact: CMI Press Office 07753844875 press.office@managers.org.uk Notes to editors About the Chartered Management Institute (CMI): The Chartered Management Institute is the professional body for managers and leaders. We have a membership community of over 230,000 aspiring and practising managers and more than 150,000 people are currently studying on one of our management and leadership programmes. Our Royal Charter defines our charitable mission as increasing the number and standard of professionally qualified managers and leaders.
