Why investing in youth agency is now a business imperative

Businesses face a moment of profound technological and geopolitical transition that is upending old certainties. Artificial intelligence is reshaping whole categories of work, while labour markets are polarizing and trust in institutions is breaking down. In this environment, competitive advantage and long-term growth depends on more than traditional business models or past success. They hinge on companies realising the full potential of the young generation.

Companies across markets can access a huge reserve of innovative thinking to future-proof their operations by nurturing young people and allowing them to shape strategy alongside senior executives. Investing in youth agency – giving young people the ability to make decisions and devise solutions – is no longer a nice-to-have. It is a strategic imperative for any company seeking economic resilience and institutional trust.

The case for empowering young people is underscored by the data. In 2025, around 262 million young people aged 15 to 24 – roughly one in four globally – were neither in employment nor in education or training. At the same time, employers across all industries continue to report persistent skills shortages. This is a stark labour market mismatch that is jeopardizing future talent pipelines; rectifying the imbalance would be a win-win across the generations.

The recent rapid rise of AI has only raised the stakes. Young people overwhelmingly recognise the power of AI, with nine in 10 seeing it as transformative, and 60% already using it for skills-building. Yet two-thirds of respondents in Youth Pulse 2026 – a World Economic Forum survey of nearly 4,600 young people across more than 100 countries – say they fear AI will reduce the number of entry-level roles available over the next three years. These early-career positions matter because they are the traditional on-ramp to stable employment. Their erosion risks not only wasting talent but leaving a generation of young people feeling excluded from economic advancement.

For businesses, the consequences of ignoring young people are profound. Growth models that depend on innovation and consumer insight cannot succeed while sidelining the cohort most attuned to emerging technologies and cultural changes. Younger consumers are at the cutting edge of demand. This makes their perspectives – whether on new digital services or changing food and beverage preferences – commercially invaluable. Excluding them from decision-making is simply bad business practice.

So what practical tools can companies use to better leverage youth talent? The first step is to move beyond symbolic engagement. Instead, business leaders need to foster genuine co-creation, where young leaders work alongside executives to challenge assumptions and design new solutions. This is about sharing power in the workplace, not just listening.

There are a number of practical tools that can support this shift. Reverse mentoring programmes, for example, flip traditional hierarchies by enabling younger workers to impart their knowledge and viewpoints to more senior colleagues. This bottom-up mentoring approach has a proven track record of encouraging cross-generational knowledge sharing.

Youth advisory boards are another important mechanism for channelling youth insights into corporate decision-making – provided they are embedded into governance rather than treated as peripheral. Used properly, youth advisory boards help sharpen strategic thinking around long-term risks and opportunities. Corporate innovation labs can also serve as bridges between the generations, by fostering creativity and testing new ideas outside of traditional company constraints in a way that allows young entrepreneurs and employees to collaborate directly with business units.

Collective action across companies is also important. The Global Alliance for YOUth, co-founded by Nestlé in Europe in 2014 at the height of the youth unemployment crisis, was the first private-sector movement dedicated to equipping young people with skills for the world of work. Since expanding globally in 2019, the Alliance has brought together 22 multinational companies employing more than four million people and has delivered over 40 million development opportunities for young people. Its value lies not only in scale, but in coordination. It allows companies to act together as a business community rather than working in isolation.

There is an important trust dividend here for business. In the face of deep-seated scepticism about corporate motives, engagement across generations can help rebuild credibility. Young people value purpose and companies that encourage genuine participation – particularly on issues such as climate change or inclusivity – are more likely to attract talent and win consumer support in the markets they serve.

Forging this intergenerational collaboration will take commitment. Power imbalances are deeply rooted, and sharing decision-making requires a willingness to hear uncomfortable truths. But the payoff is substantial. Companies stand to benefit from younger leaders who are not only digital natives but also bring different mental models to business challenges.

In an era of rapid change, the question for business is not whether it can afford to invest in youth agency, but whether it can afford not to. Business growth in the 21st century will increasingly depend on the ability to adapt to accelerating shifts in technology and economic power. The companies that succeed in this volatile world will be those that recognise young people as essential partners in shaping sustainable prosperity.