Former health secretary Alan Milburn wants employers to deliver careers talks and taster sessions to primary school children, as part of his government-commissioned review of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet).

His interim report, published in May, put the cost of the Neet problem to the UK economy at about £125bn a year and called it the most significant challenge facing the country. His final recommendations land this autumn.

For HR teams, the proposals translate into a bigger pipeline role: workplace experience extended to 14 to 16-year-olds, delivered in real workplaces with employer feedback, and the idea of work introduced to children while still at primary school.

What does Milburn want employers to do?

Speaking to the BBC, Milburn set out the ask in concrete terms:

• Employers give talks in primary schools and offer taster sessions to children.
• Key stage 4 pupils — aged 14 to 16 — get experience in a real workplace with employer feedback.
• Work experience becomes mandatory rather than optional.

"In primary school, it's really about opening their eyes and giving them a sense about what is possible," Milburn told the BBC.

He argued that despite apprenticeships and work experience being options in Years 10 and 11, for many children the journey towards becoming Neet starts well before their 16th birthday.

How big is the work experience gap?

Milburn quantified it. "There are about four in 10 people aged 14-16 who aren't getting any work experience at all," he said.

"In other schools, students are told to go off and find their own work experience and that often relies on the network of Mum and Dad."

That finding points to an equity problem employers can influence directly: placements sourced through family networks skew access toward children of connected parents, while those without such networks fall through.

"Work experience needs to be mandatory. It makes a big difference," Milburn said.

What changes under the current rules?

The recommendations apply only to England. There, careers guidance must currently be offered to students aged 11-18, and work experience is not statutory.

Scotland and Wales already require career-based learning in schools for students as young as three, which gives English policymakers — and the employers Milburn wants mobilised — an existing model to benchmark against.

Milburn also said dedicated space in the curriculum to "broaden horizons" should be freed up early in children's school life.

What resistance can employers expect?

Teaching unions have welcomed the idea of career-based learning at a younger age, but flagged capacity concerns.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, warned of the "significant pressure" already facing primary schools.

"Whenever new mandatory requirements are proposed, it is important to be clear about what might have to give way to make room for them," he said.

For employers, that tension matters. If schools must carve out curriculum time, the volume and quality of employer-provided activity — talks, taster sessions, structured placements with feedback — will determine whether the policy succeeds or adds another under-resourced obligation.

HR and CSR leads planning youth engagement should watch the final report this autumn, when Milburn's full recommendations will specify what government may ask of employers in England.