People and Careers
The workforce behind the game, and the 67 million waiting
Sport employs more than 1.7 million people in the EU, and more than a third are under 30. Meanwhile 67 million young people are unemployed worldwide.
The International Labour Organization reports that the global youth unemployment rate rose to 12.4 % in 2025: 67 million people aged 15 to 24 without a job, and more than 257 million young people, 20 %, not in employment, education or training (ILO, 11 August 2026).
Sport is a young employer
More than 1.7 million people work in sport across the European Union, almost 0.9 % of all jobs in 2025, up from about 0.6 % in 2011. About 36 % of them are aged 15 to 29, twice the share across all sectors (data.europa.eu, using Eurostat data, 27 October 2026).
The gap in the middle
Sport needs event producers, venue operators, data analysts, broadcast crews, commercial and partnership teams. Young people need a first verified piece of work. The two rarely meet, because hiring in sport still runs on networks.
What Day 4 does about it
On the hiring floor of Day 4, employers set real briefs and young people execute them in front of the employers who set them. Each leaves with a verified record of the work and written feedback. People hired through the day and confirmed by the employer within sixty days are counted and published after each edition.
Sources and further reading
- ILO, youth unemployment rises (11 August 2026)
- ILO, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026
- data.europa.eu, Sport in Europe: who plays, who works, who wins (27 October 2026)
- Eurostat, employment in sport
Photograph: Pexels, licensed. No person shown is connected with the Forum.
