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Posted: Thu 18th Jun 2026
11 min read
After over 15 years of running a marketing recruitment business, Suze Cook kept hearing the same frustration from employers. Businesses wanted early-career talent, but there was always a catch.
"They'd tell me they wanted graduates," says Suze. "But then they'd say they needed someone with at least a year's experience. I kept thinking, how are young people supposed to get on the career ladder if nobody is willing to give them that first opportunity?"
That question ultimately led her to launch Fledgling Work in March this year, a platform connecting businesses with talented young people through paid projects, placements and flexible work opportunities.
Suze spent many years in senior marketing roles, including at Microsoft, before moving into recruitment and launching her own recruitment business, . Through that work, she saw a growing disconnect between employers and young job seekers. At the same time, she was becoming increasingly aware of the challenges facing the next generation.
"My eldest son is 14 now, and I'm looking at his future," she explains. "I don't want him to face the same barriers that so many young people are facing today."
The idea for Fledgling Work came from an unlikely source: freelance marketplaces. While using platforms to outsource work for her own business, Suze found the experience impersonal and often disappointing.
She says:
"There was no real relationship, no understanding of the brief and no confidence about who was actually doing the work."
Instead, she began wondering whether the model could be redesigned to benefit young people who were struggling to gain experience. The result was Fledgling Work, a platform that acts as a matchmaker between small businesses and ambitious early-career talent aged roughly 18 to 24.
The platform helps businesses find support for clearly defined projects, from social media management and content creation to research, administration, operations and marketing. Suze believes many business owners do not truly understand what young people can contribute.
"The talent is phenomenal," she says. "These young people are digitally enabled, AI savvy and incredibly hungry to prove themselves."
Rather than relying on CVs, Fledgling Work assesses candidates through examples of their work, practical tasks and interviews.
"We want to see how someone thinks, creates and solves problems," says Suze. "We're much more interested in capability than credentials."
Once a project is submitted, suitable candidates are shortlisted and introduced to the business. The platform stays closely involved to ensure both sides receive support and guidance throughout the engagement.
For businesses, it provides an affordable and low-risk way to access skills they may not otherwise be able to afford. For young people, it creates something many struggle to obtain: real experience.
A key part of the business is its social mission. Fledgling Work doesn't charge young people to join and provides additional support to help them build confidence and become work-ready. That includes mentoring, interview preparation, portfolio development and practical guidance on freelancing and self-employment.
"We're teaching them things like how to invoice, how to register with HMRC, how to manage clients and how to present their work professionally," says Suze.
The aim is not simply to help someone complete a project, but to equip them with the skills needed to navigate a changing world of work. Suze believes this support is becoming increasingly important as traditional career paths become less predictable.
"The idea that everyone graduates, gets a permanent job and stays with one employer is becoming less common," she says. "Young people need to be able to build portfolio careers and create opportunities for themselves."
One of the biggest obstacles Suze has encountered isn't a lack of talent. It's perception.
"The biggest challenge has been trust from businesses," she explains. "There's still a misconception that Gen Z and Gen Alpha are somehow flaky or less committed."
However, her experience has been the opposite.
She says:
"What we're seeing is that these young people are eager to work, eager to learn and eager to contribute.
“They're also AI-enabled and can move on things that might take a slightly older founder much longer to get their head around. They are an asset, not a risk. This is really useful for businesses that are nervous about starting with AI. They can bring a lot of digital enablement to people's businesses.”
To help businesses feel confident, projects are carefully scoped and closely managed. If a placement doesn't work out, Fledgling Work will replace the candidate, reducing the risk for employers.
"We're very hands-on because we want those first experiences to be successful for everyone involved," she continues.
UK entry-level jobs have fallen 31.9% since ChatGPT launched in November 2022 (Adzuna)
Highly AI-exposed firms have reduced junior roles by 5.8% (King’s College London)
Graduate hiring fell 8% in the 2024-25 recruitment cycle (Institute of Student Employers)
The conversation about AI and jobs tends to focus on whether machines will replace people. But the more immediate effect, already visible in hiring data, is that AI is eliminating or absorbing the tasks that used to define entry-level work: research, drafting, scheduling, basic data tasks, and first-pass content. The roles that were the traditional route in for a generation of young people are shrinking or disappearing entirely.
However, Suze points out:
“This does not mean there is no work for young people to do. It means the work is changing.
“Businesses still need human judgement, creative thinking, relationship management and execution support. Fledgling Work matches that real, current need with capable AI ready early-career talent who can deliver it, in a flexible way that does not require a full-time commitment.”
Fledgling Work launched at a time when youth employment is facing significant challenges.
Over one million young people in the UK are NEET (Milburn Review, 2026)
Youth unemployment stands at 15.8%, the highest in over a decade (Milburn Review, 2026)
61% of graduate internships are unpaid or underpaid, and 40% of unpaid interns rely on parental financial support just to participate (Sutton Trust)
Approximately 89% of internships are never formally advertised. They are filled through connections, word of mouth, or quietly offered to people who already know someone on the inside (Sutton Trust)
The gap between working-class and middle-class graduates accessing internships has widened from 12 to 20 percentage points since 2018 (Sutton Trust, January 2025)
Young people are finding it harder to gain experience, while businesses are becoming increasingly cautious about hiring. Suze believes the answer lies in creating more flexible pathways into work.
"Not everyone needs a traditional graduate scheme or apprenticeship," she says. "Project-based work can be a fantastic way for someone to build experience, confidence and connections."
Fledgling Work has already attracted more than 1,200 young people to the platform and has dozens of live projects running with organisations across different sectors. But for Suze, this is just the beginning.
The long-term vision is to work more closely with the government, businesses and educational institutions to create more opportunities for young people. Suze would also like to expand the mentoring and training support available through the platform, bringing in experienced professionals and larger organisations to help prepare the next generation for work.
"I don't think this solves every problem," she says. "But I genuinely believe it's part of the solution."
Her message to businesses is simple:
"If you're willing to give young people an opportunity, you'll be amazed at what they can do."
And for the young people joining Fledgling Work, the goal is equally straightforward: creating a route into meaningful paid work that focuses on talent, potential and capability rather than connections or experience they haven't yet had the chance to gain.
Make existing funding easier to access
“There is money on the table through apprenticeship incentives and youth employment schemes that businesses are simply not claiming because the process is too complicated,” she explains. “Simplifying that and getting the message out clearly would make an immediate difference.”
Recognise and support paid project work and flexible early career models as legitimate pathways alongside apprenticeships and graduate schemes
“The world of work has changed. Young people increasingly need portfolio careers and project-based experience, not just linear employment. Policy and funding should reflect that,” she says.
Use the private sector better
“There are businesses and founders who genuinely want to help and who have built practical models that work. Rather than only funding large-scale programmes, the government should look at how it can support and amplify what is already happening on the ground,” she advises.
