Workplace inequalities and youth inclusion: Viewing underemployment through the lens of youth narratives

Purpose Youth early work experiences and experiences of underemployment are typically framed as problems of skills mismatch or labour market inefficiency. This study examines how young people experience work under these conditions and what these experiences reveal about organizational inclusion and employer readiness. In doing so, the findings in this study reframe underemployment as a relational and developmental issue rather than solely an economic one. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a youth participatory action research (YPAR) design combined with interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Data are drawn from 30 qualitative interviews with youth, aged 15–21, conducted in Atlantic Canada between fall 2024 and winter 2025 by 10 youth peer researchers also aged 15–21. Youth acted as both researchers and participants, generating emic insight into lived experiences of work, precarity and organizational inclusion. Findings Findings position work as a critical developmental space in which identity, agency and engagement are actively shaped. While youth demonstrate motivation and competence, they encounter workplaces that are insufficiently prepared to support them as developing workers. Underemployment is experienced not only through limited hours or wages but also through a lack of recognition, mentorship, progression and voice. Youth frequently assume informal leadership responsibilities without corresponding authority or support, reinforcing patterns of invisible labour and constrained inclusion. Originality/value This study contributes to equality, diversity and inclusion scholarship by foregrounding age as an underexamined dimension of workplace inequality and by reconceptualizing underemployment as a failure of organizational readiness rather than an individual deficit. Further, it advances the notion of work as a fragile developmental space. Finally, methodologically, it demonstrates the value of YPAR and IPA for studying work and inequality. The findings highlight the need to move beyond job provision towards organizational practices that meaningfully include young workers.