It is easy to treat early careers as a yearly intake to fill. But the graduates, apprentices and school leavers you bring in now shape the skills and internal talent pipeline you will have in the years ahead. So the real question for FMCG early careers is this: do your programmes build the future capability the business needs, or simply repeat last year's intake?
This piece draws on Built, Not Inherited, a September 2026 CTF session with Ryan White, Danone; Kelly Brothwell, KP Snacks; and Kimberley Chapman, IGD. The session looked at early careers from different starting points. So treat the lessons below as principles for your own business need, not a programme to copy.
Design FMCG early careers around business need
Start with the skills and roles the business will need, then design the programme around that requirement. That sounds obvious, but many programmes run on habit. The same number of places, the same timing and the same entry rules carry over from one year to the next.
So test each design choice against the roles you are developing people for. How long should people spend learning, and where? When do you actually need new starters? And what will they move into once the programme ends?
Entry requirements deserve the same challenge. Each one should reflect what the role actually requires. Anything else may screen out people with real potential before you have seen what they can do.
Give functions ownership, with clear governance
Functional leaders should own learning, performance and outcomes. They know the work, so they are best placed to shape what participants learn and to judge how they are doing. But giving a function responsibility does not mean HR steps away.
HR's part is governance and support. In practice, that means agreed standards that apply across every function, and regular reviews so that problems surface while there is still time to act. So write down who owns learning, performance, escalation and the destination role. Then check that every participant understands those responsibilities.
Build awareness long before you recruit
The people who fill your hardest roles in the future may still be at school today. If you only start looking when a vacancy opens, many of them will already have chosen a different path. Earlier engagement shapes who will be in your talent pool later.
The practical shift is to treat your FMCG early careers activity as one connected route, rather than a set of separate initiatives. Map what you already offer young people and new entrants. Then check that each activity leads somewhere clear, because a dead end loses people you have already invested in.
You also do not have to do all of this alone. Working with schools, colleges and industry bodies can widen the range of people who hear about your careers in the first place. Use industry partnerships where they fit your needs, rather than building everything from scratch. For the practical side of entry routes, GOV.UK has guidance for employers in England on employing an apprentice.
Keep the future in view when budgets tighten
Budget pressure and changing work make programme decisions harder. When costs are under scrutiny, pausing an intake can look like an easy saving. So weigh the immediate cost against the roles you may struggle to fill from inside the business a few years from now. That makes this a workforce planning question as much as a cost one.
AI came up too. As routine tasks are automated, ask what entry-level work will look like. Which skills will new entrants need for the work that remains? This means programme learning has to reflect the work people will actually do. And keep checking quality, performance and progression, so that standards, support and senior sponsorship stay joined up.
A few questions to take to your team:
- Which future roles or skills become harder to fill if you pause or change an intake now?
- Who owns learning, performance and the destination role for each participant?
- Which entry requirements does the role actually need, and which ones simply screen people out?
- Which parts of your early careers activity do not yet lead anywhere clear?
The full session
Members can watch the recording of all three perspectives and the discussion, and download the slides. They also get the member ebook, which includes two practical worksheets to use with your team. All of it sits in the CTF Session Library. If you want this kind of practical conversation with peers, apply to join or see what membership includes.
