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Hatch Consultancy

Wales' First Early Careers Social Value Index

Talent Yfory (Tomorrow's Talent) is Wales' first Early Careers Access, Impact and Social Value Index, measuring what early careers opportunities actually do to a young person's life. Drawing on insights from 450+ apprentices, graduates, students, and employers across Wales, the research goes beyond salary and employment rates to assess confidence, belonging, purpose, wellbeing, and long-term outlook, translating lived human experience into a recognised measure of social value.

Talent Yfory draws on insights from...

Graduates & Apprentices

Students (HE/FE)

Employers

Across Wales

Key Findings Include:


  • £14,000: the annual social value per apprentice in Wales. More than double the value of a standard entry-level role.
  • £10,000: annual social value per graduate programme participant. The most consistent, supportive, and equitable pathway in the study.
  • Structure matters. Apprenticeships and graduate programmes consistently outperformed entry-level roles.
  • Gender and socioeconomic background shape outcomes significantly. Particularly around stress, anxiety, and access to opportunity.
  • Work experience is one of the strongest drivers of workplace readiness. Yet 40% of placements are unpaid, and access is deeply unequal.
  • Only 11% of employers track socioeconomic background. Despite it being one of the most influential factors in the research.

    • Please note the above figures represent wellbeing social value only (independent of wider economic or fiscal impacts), and may vary across other sectors and apprenticeship types.

    "Your first job is one of life's defining milestones, shaping not just careers, but confidence, identity, and direction. Having supported hundreds of young people into roles across Wales, I created Talent Yfory (Tomorrow's Talent) to explore the real impact of these transitions. Drawing on insights from over 450 participants, the index examines the accessibility, experience, and long-term value of early careers pathways in Wales, moving beyond traditional metrics to assess confidence, purpose, belonging, and wellbeing."


    Jack Taylor ~ Director, Hatch ~ Talent Yfory, Research Lead


    Talent Yfory Index To Return in 2027 With Wales' First Early Careers Awards

    Hatch Consultancy has announced the Wales Early Careers Awards, a new national awards programme recognising organisations across Wales for excellence in early careers practice. The index and the inaugural awards ceremony is planned for 2027. The awards will be built on the Index and supported by a founding partner group that Hatch is now building with some of Wales' leading early careers employers already on board.with some of Wales' leading early careers employers already on board.


    Interested in being involved? 


    Get in touch at info@hatch-consultancy.co.uk

    Access The Index For Free

    Register your details below to receive a copy of the Index featuring insights from 450+ students, graduates, apprentices, and employers across Wales.

    Talent Yfory FAQs

    Talent Yfory (Tomorrow's Talent) is Wales' first Early Careers Index & Early Careers Awards. It was built to measure what early careers opportunities — apprenticeships, graduate programmes, and entry-level roles — actually do to a young person's confidence, wellbeing, belonging, and long-term outlook, not just their salary or employment status.


    The 2026 Index found £14,000 in annual social value per apprentice in Wales — more than double the value of a standard entry-level role. This figure reflects wellbeing social value only, independent of wider economic or fiscal impacts, and may vary by sector and apprenticeship type.

    Graduate programme participants generate £10,000 in annual social value, the most consistent, supportive, and equitable pathway identified in the research.

    Yes. The Index returns in 2027 alongside the Wales Early Careers Awards, a new national programme recognising excellence in early careers practice, built on the Index and backed by a founding partner group of leading Welsh employers.

    Yes. The Index gives you a Wales-wide baseline for apprentice, graduate, and entry-level social value — so you can see how your own programme's wellbeing, retention, and progression outcomes compare. If you want a benchmark specific to your organisation or sector, that's something Hatch can scope through its Prove pillar, using the same SROI methodology behind the Index.

    Because most organisations still report early careers success on activity, not outcome — headcount hired, budget spent, hours delivered. Social value measurement shows what actually changed for the young person: their confidence, wellbeing, and long-term trajectory. This candidate-driven approach allows organisations to review and design offers that genuinely deliver for candidates, and the rest takes care of itself: better attraction, retention, productivity, social value, and a stronger local economy. Social value is also increasingly what funders, regulators, and boards want evidenced, and it's the difference between a programme you can describe and one you can prove.