News & insights

A running timeline of UK news on work and hiring, newest first. Each entry links to its source.

2 November 2026
2 November 2026Young people
The Prime Minister to young jobseekers: “It’s not you. It’s the system.”
The amazing Holly Hobbs, founder of urfuture.io, sat down with the Prime Minister to ask how government is helping young people into work. He pointed to the Youth Guarantee, which helps employers give young people a guaranteed opportunity, called for “wholesale change” in support going right back to school, college and the early years, said mental health support “just isn’t there in the way that it needs to be”, and confirmed Alan Milburn’s review reports next month. His message to young people facing rejection after rejection: “You are good enough. You will get there. It’s not you. It’s the system... sifting CVs by AI and all of that... it’s the unfair way in which things are.” He also praised Holly’s work rethinking recruitment and matching young people to employers.
Holly Hobbs (@howtogetajobuk, founder of urfuture.io) on TikTok · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Even the Prime Minister says AI CV-sifting is unfair to young people, and admits he once sent thousands of CVs and lost his confidence.
What PitchID will do
PitchID puts a QR code on a candidate’s CV that links to a short personal video, so recruiters see attitude and personality, not another AI-polished CV. Free for candidates.
2 November 2026Over-50s
On air: over-50s, AI and the ‘bot to bot’ job hunt
BBC Radio 5 Live looked at how people over 50 are faring as employers turn to AI in hiring, with Dr Andrea Barry of the Centre for Ageing Better. Caller Tarek Assi, in his fifties, said he had retrained in IT, had one interview in a year, and had one application rejected within 45 minutes – describing “a bot to bot job application process”. Jackie Pay spoke about redundancy and job clubs, and recruiter Helen Wright of 9 to 3 Jobs described a “tsunami” of applications and growing suspicion of AI-written cover letters.
BBC Radio 5 Live (broadcast) · Broadcast – no link available
Why it matters
When both sides use bots, nobody meets anybody. A short video puts the real person back in front of the recruiter.
What PitchID will do
Candidates add a QR code to their CV that opens a short video, so a real person is seen before any bot says no.
2 November 2026Over-50sYoung people
‘We can’t fix the youth jobs crisis at the expense of older workers’
The Telegraph’s Employment Editor, Lucy Burton, argues that the push on youth unemployment must not leave older workers behind. Her case is that keeping over-50s in the workforce is key to cutting the social security bill and closing skills gaps.
The Telegraph (comment, Lucy Burton) · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Young and older jobseekers hit the same wall: screened out before anyone meets them. It’s one problem, not two.
What PitchID will do
PitchID works the same at any age: a short video on your CV lets your experience come across in your own words.
2 November 2026Hiring & AI
Bosses fear they’re interviewing AI, not people
A CMI poll of 928 UK managers found 58% of hiring managers have noticed or suspected candidates using AI during online interviews, and 90% say candidates are using AI to help write CVs or cover letters, up from 79% in November 2024. More than half (54%) say AI-assisted applications leave them without a true sense of the candidate, and 92% say AI should support, not replace, human judgement.
Chartered Management Institute (press release) · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Employers are saying it plainly: polished applications are hiding the person they actually want to meet.
What PitchID will do
A short video of the candidate, linked from their CV, gives a manager a true sense of the person before the interview.
1 November 2026
1 November 2026Young people
Milburn youth jobs report due this month, with a local drive expected
The Independent, citing The Times, reports that Alan Milburn’s long-awaited Young People and Work report will be published this month. It is expected to propose a ‘participation’ programme run by local and combined authorities, a youth-guarantee model offering a job, training place or apprenticeship to young people who engage with support, and career conversations from age 14. Milburn’s review has said the crisis costs Britain £125bn a year.
The Independent · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
New schemes still end at a job application. Young people need a way to be seen as people, not just filtered as CVs.
What PitchID will do
Whatever scheme gets a young person to an application, a PitchID on their CV lets a recruiter meet them, not just their keywords.
1 November 2026Young people
Chancellor: a million young people ‘written off’ is ‘a moral shame’
In an interview broadcast on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Chancellor John Healey called a million young people “written off without any prospect of being helped into work” “a moral shame on this nation”. He also suggested that equalising the minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds could be delayed, pointing to trade-offs between jobs and wages.
BBC article first published 31 Oct 2026, updated 1 Nov 2026; interview broadcast 1 Nov 2026.
BBC News – Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
The scale is now acknowledged at the very top of government. The problem is real, and it keeps coming back.
What PitchID will do
PitchID gives young jobseekers a simple way to be seen as a person, not a name in a pile of CVs.

Earlier context

29 October 2026
29 October 2026Hiring & AI
Three in four UK recruiters think AI writes most CVs
TestGorilla surveyed 483 UK talent professionals and found 75% believe at least half the CVs and profiles they see are written by AI. Verifying whether CV skills are genuine was the most-cited sourcing challenge (49%), and 73% spend an hour or more checking a single candidate.
Onrec (TestGorilla research) · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
When the CV can’t be trusted, recruiters spend hours trying to find the real person behind it.
What PitchID will do
PitchID puts the candidate, in their own words, one scan away from the CV.
22 October 2026
22 October 2026Hiring & AI
Is an ‘AI war’ complicating your job search?
The BBC looks at candidates using AI to bolster applications while employers use automated tools to handle the volume. A Censuswide survey for People Like Us found 75% of 2,000 UK jobseekers didn’t know they could challenge an automated rejection, and CV-Library warned of “computers hiring computers”.
BBC News · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Jobseekers describe rejections that feel like no human ever looked. That is the gap PitchID exists to close.
What PitchID will do
A QR code on the CV opens a short video, so a human has a reason to look before a decision is made.
20 October 2026
20 October 2026Young peopleDisability
Who could be affected by the review of support for young people?
The Guardian explains what Alan Milburn’s review could mean for young people who are not in education, employment or training – around one in eight 16 to 24-year-olds. It reports that ministers are expected to make a major policy announcement in November, and that some benefits may be cut to fund more job support.
The Guardian · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Big policy shifts are coming. Whatever changes, young people still have to get past the first screen.
What PitchID will do
Whatever the policy changes, a short video on the CV helps a young person show who they are at the first screen.
20 October 2026Young people
Youth unemployment up on a year ago
The Commons Library’s latest briefing shows 715,000 16 to 24-year-olds unemployed in June to August 2026, a rate of 15.6%, up from 14.6% a year earlier. It also notes 981,000 young people were NEET in April to June 2026, after the number passed 1 million in January to March for the first time since 2013.
House of Commons Library · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
These aren’t one-off figures. Each release shows a large group of young people the system isn’t reaching.
What PitchID will do
Behind every figure is a person; a PitchID lets a recruiter meet them before deciding.
20 October 2026Hiring & AIYoung people
Half of UK and Irish jobseekers ghosted after interviews
Greenhouse’s 2026 Future of Hiring Report, covering 1,100 jobseekers in the UK and Ireland, found 47% heard nothing back after an interview and 81% had been rejected without speaking to anyone at the company. Recruiters quoted point to record application volumes, partly driven by AI.
People Management (Greenhouse research) · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Being ghosted or rejected unseen is now the norm for most candidates – and it wears people down.
What PitchID will do
PitchID lets a candidate be heard from the very first look at their CV, not only if they reach interview.
19 October 2026
19 October 2026Over-50s
North–South divide in older worker unemployment
New analysis from the Centre for Ageing Better finds almost one in four people aged 50 to state pension age in the North West and North East (24%) are not in employment, training, education or retirement, compared with 17% in the South East. The charity urged the Prime Minister to act in the Budget and to publish this ‘NETER’ figure regularly.
Centre for Ageing Better · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Older jobseekers are largely invisible in headline statistics – and in the hiring funnel too.
What PitchID will do
A short, guided video, recorded at your own pace, lets older candidates be seen for their experience, not their date of birth.
14 October 2026
14 October 2026Hiring & AIYoung people
Graduate jobs stabilise, but AI disrupts recruitment
ISE’s Student Recruitment Report 2026 found 141 applications per graduate role and 96 per apprenticeship. 92% of employers suspected or confirmed misconduct in selection, most often unauthorised AI in interviews and online assessments, and 77% are reviewing or redesigning their processes.
Institute of Student Employers · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Employers say they want to understand what a candidate genuinely brings – not a perfectly polished application.
What PitchID will do
A short, guided video lets a young candidate show who they are in their own voice.
14 October 2026Hiring & AIYoung people
AI in job interviews on the rise – but recruiters say they can spot it
The Guardian reports on ISE findings that undeclared AI use tops the list of graduate interview misconduct, with 66% of employers reporting at least one incident of AI misuse in an interview. A Manchester recruiter describes candidates who sound like they are “reading off an Autocue”.
The Guardian · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Recruiters are actively looking for the real, unscripted person.
What PitchID will do
PitchID gives candidates a simple, honest way to show the real them up front.
14 October 2026Hiring & AIYoung people
‘I applied for 200 jobs’: how ‘spray and pray’ AI applications can backfire
Graduates describe using AI to keep up with dozens of applications, while employers such as EDF closed a graduate scheme early after 12,000 applications. One graduate calls it a tightrope: write too much like AI and you’re not human, too little and an AI screen may skip you.
BBC News · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Candidates feel forced to sound like a bot to get past bots – and lose themselves in the process.
What PitchID will do
PitchID lets candidates stop guessing the buzzwords and simply show themselves.
15 April 2026
15 April 2026Hiring & AI
Candidates want signs a real person can still see them
CV-Library surveyed 424 UK recruiters and 1,067 candidates in March 2026. 53% of candidates think they have been rejected by AI without human review, while 81% of recruiters say CVs now lack personality or distinction and 89% say final hiring decisions must remain human-led.
CV-Library · Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Why it matters
Both sides say the same thing: hiring has lost the human signal.
What PitchID will do
PitchID adds the human signal back: a real person, on video, linked from the CV.

News & insights

The Prime Minister to young jobseekers: “It’s not you. It’s the system.”

On air: over-50s, AI and the ‘bot to bot’ job hunt

‘We can’t fix the youth jobs crisis at the expense of older workers’

Bosses fear they’re interviewing AI, not people

Milburn youth jobs report due this month, with a local drive expected

Chancellor: a million young people ‘written off’ is ‘a moral shame’

Earlier context

Three in four UK recruiters think AI writes most CVs

Is an ‘AI war’ complicating your job search?

Who could be affected by the review of support for young people?

Youth unemployment up on a year ago

Half of UK and Irish jobseekers ghosted after interviews

North–South divide in older worker unemployment

Graduate jobs stabilise, but AI disrupts recruitment

AI in job interviews on the rise – but recruiters say they can spot it

‘I applied for 200 jobs’: how ‘spray and pray’ AI applications can backfire

Candidates want signs a real person can still see them