TENS of thousands of new work experience and training placements will be made available for young people to tackle rising joblessness.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden announced today 300,000 new placements over the next three years, backed by some of Britain’s biggest employers, including Manchester and Gatwick airports, spanning sectors from construction to hospitality, health and social care.

The announcement came a day after a report warning of the risk of a “lost generation,” as figures confirmed the number of 16 to-24-year-olds not in employment, education or training — known as Neets — has risen to more than a million.

Former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn, who led the review into Neets, said lack of work experience was “the single most-cited barrier to work amongst young people,” adding that many now faced “a hopeless catch-22 where employers ask for work experience but the opportunities to gain it have narrowed or gone.”

Mr McFadden said: “Give young people real work experience and the chances of them building a lasting career increase dramatically.

“This generation deserves every opportunity to succeed, and this government is determined to deliver it.”