Government Provides 350,000 ‘Workplace Opportunities’
At first glance this looked like the £820m programme announced over the weekend will miraculously create 350k new jobs, and the Construction sector is singled out, alongside Hospitality, to benefit.
The reality is that 55,000 eligible 18- to 21-year-olds (who have been on Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months) will be provided 25 hours/week of fully subsidised six-month paid work to every. The young people will be paid at the relevant minimum wage and also receive fully funded wrap around support. It’s not clear whether this is on top of Universal Credit.
Now for a quick comparison:
- Since June 2024, around 170,000 FTE jobs have been lost in the UK, and the Guardian (who we quote for balance) tells us that 78,200 of these are among the under 25’s.
- These lost jobs are down to a combination of economic conditions (the responsibility of the Government) and new business taxes (also the responsibility of the Government).
Far be it from us to be cynical, but has Government policy replaced 78,200 full-time, industry-funded permanent jobs for young people with 55,000 part-time taxpayer-funded temporary jobs for young people rolling out from Spring next year?
Of course, we welcome initiatives designed to get as many young people as possible into long term productive work. But would it not be more effective to support the economic growth needed to create sustainable jobs for people of all ages with genuinely pro-business policies?
(and are we allowed to ask what happens to the agency workers replaced for 6 months by government-funded trainees?)
James Scott
MD
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