At 25 I’ve applied for 2,000 jobs in two years – they barely ever get back

Spending six or seven hours each day filling in job applications, Aron Triksys feels a deep sense of frustration when he does not even hear back from the majority of employers. Aron, 25, who lives in Morecambe, Lancashire, told The i Paper he has applied for over 2,000 jobs in the last two years and has been struggling financially to afford essentials while hunting for work, so has amassed £4,000 of credit card debt. He says young people are facing a jobs drought as even starter roles and agency work are hard to come by. Shorts “Most of the time, I’d say probably around 80 per cent of the jobs I apply for, they don’t even get back to you and tell you they don’t want you for that job,” said Aron. “Applying for jobs is like a job in itself as you are spending all day filling in applications and it gets repetitive. “But unlike when you actually have a job, you are not getting paid for it. It is just a commitment you have to make when you’re trying to get a job. It is difficult because it feels like you are spending all this time applying and getting nowhere. “It’s been stressing me out mentally and physically.” Aron, who went to college after school and has two diplomas in computing, has mainly been looking for warehouse, retail and catering work. However, he says there is a lack of job opportunities where he lives and transport is the biggest barrier for him as he does not drive or have a car. Like many other young people trying to enter the world of work, Aron has found that employers are increasingly expecting people to have previous experience, even for entry-level roles. “Jobs want more hands-on experience and it is hard to get because you need a job to get the experience,” said Aron. Analysis of job vacancy data has revealed that young people are facing a jobs drought as “starter” vacancies have fallen by half in the last decade. Researchers from the Work Foundation and Lancaster University, in partnership with Liverpool City Council, studied Adzuna job vacancy data and undertook focus groups with young people in Morecambe and Liverpool. Their research found that nationally, average weekly starter job vacancies have fallen by almost half (49 per cent) from 2016/17 to 2025/26. And while total vacancies have fallen in recent years, the decline in starter jobs has been times faster than for other jobs in the last 12 months – 12.8 per cent compared to 8.1 per cent. The largest contributor to the fall in starter jobs are declines in associate professional occupations, such as roles in human resources, business sales executives and advertising and marketing roles, with average weekly vacancies falling by 73 per cent from 2016/17 to 2025/26. In October to December 2025, there was only one starter job vacancy per three NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) young people in the UK. Aron says he was applying for 20 jobs a week for the last two years. His troubles began after he moved from Liverpool to Morecambe, where he found an affordable place to rent which belongs to a friend – but found himself facing a challenging jobs situation. “I was living in Liverpool where it was a bit easier getting work and I was doing mainly agency work such as working for a biscuit factory, working for a local football club and working at Aintree Racecourse. It was mostly cleaning and bar work through agencies. “I had been living with my mum, but I had to move out because she didn’t have the space. So I ended up couch surfing with friends for a while and then this friend who has a house in Morecambe offered me a room for reasonable rent, so I moved in 2024.” Aron pays £400 a month rent for his room at his friend’s shared house in Morecambe. He receives £300 in universal credit and has his rent paid for him. However, Aron finds that by the time he pays his bills, there is very little left and he has had to rely on family and friends for financial support while searching for work. “I have ended up using my credit card to buy essentials when I run out of money. I have used my credit card to buy food and daily living, such as when I run out of care products like shampoo. I also had to buy a bed after mine broke. “I bought these things on credit card thinking I could pay back a little each month. The problem is the longer I go without work, the more the interest builds up. I feel stressed at night thinking about paying off my credit cards.” Aron says transport is a major barrier to accessing work opportunities around Morecambe. But he says that if he moved somewhere where there was more work, he would not be able to find somewhere affordable to live. “A lot of the warehouse work is outside the local area and requires you to have a driving licence. I would like to drive, but when you’re on universal credit, it’s hard to afford driving lessons.” Just last week, Aron finally had some success finding work after an agency managed to get him work in Lancaster as a product operative making filters and masks for spray painting. He managed to get a bike through universal credit, so is able to cycle there for his shifts. “I feel better now I finally have some work and I want to start paying off my credit cards.” Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said: “The Government must take decisive steps to improve the quality and security of work on offer to young people – particularly in those parts of the country where the jobs market is weakest. “And we need to see more powers and funding devolved to address other place-based barriers to work, such as poor transport connectivity and skills, which often mean young people are unable to access employment opportunities that do exist.”