The boss of pub giant Fuller’s says it is more likely to opt for trained workers over those with no skills – as retail chiefs issue youth unemployment crisis warning to PM
The boss of pub chain Fuller’s says there is no longer a financial incentive to employ young people over those with experience.
Simon Emeny said the rise the National Living Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds meant it often made more sense to take on people with the required skills already.
“If there is a choice between someone with experience and someone without, you can lean towards the experience,” Mr Emeny told the Mirror. That choice has been easier still due to a jobs market which is increasingly favouring employers, he added.
Mr Emeny said Fuller’s was still taking on new young recruits but that the cost of employing an 18 to 20-year-old had increased by 60% over the past four years. “It is self-inflicted,” he said. “It has been caused by the government putting up the cost of employment.”
His comments come amid growing alarm about the number of young people out of work. Between January to March this year there were 729,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed, 110,000 more than the previous year. The unemployment rate for young people was 16.2%, up from 14.2% from the year before.
It follows the recent sobering report from former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn which warned Britain was at risk of a “lost generation” amid fears 1.25 million young people could be out of work, training or education within the next five years.
In a separate move, more than 80 of Britain’s biggest shop bosses have warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer that government policies are making it harder to hire young people.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of trade body the British Retail Consortium, said retailers are being priced out of hiring young people as government taxes and red tape push up the cost of entry-level jobs.
In a letter co-ordinated by the BRC, business leaders urged the government to take urgent action to tackle the deepening unemployment crisis, including bringing down the cost of employing young people, in order to “turn around the fortunes of young people everywhere.”
Among those signing the letter are the senior executives at Aldi, Amazon, Asda, B&Q, Currys, Dunelm, Fortnum & Mason, HMV, JD Sports, the John Lewis Partnership, Morrisons, Mountain Warehouse, Primark, Sainsbury’s, Specsavers, and Tesco.
The letter points out that the retail sector employs nearly three million people ,and supports millions more jobs in its supply chains.
It says: “As leading employers, we are concerned the ladder of opportunity for young people is wobbling. It’s more expensive than ever to bring in young talent, and new Employment Rights Act changes are making managing our workforce more complicated when we need it to be simpler.
“This is putting pressure on employers’ ability to drive social mobility. We share Alan Milburn’s concern that support for young people is ineffective and spread across too many local and national schemes, making navigation difficult and reducing impact.”
The sector has set out what it says are three key priorities: a joint taskforce to simplify and improve support for youth employment, bring down the cost of employing young people, and ensuring employment and skills reforms support, rather than discourage, entry-level recruitment and progression.
Anthony Hemmerdinger, senior vice president and managing director at Boots UK and the Republic of Ireland, told the Mirror: “I’m passionate about the role the retail industry can play in supporting youth employment and social mobility.
“As someone who started my career in retail at 16 working in stores, I know just how important retailers are in providing young people with opportunities to experience the world of work and build their confidence and skills.
“Boots has a strong track record in investing in youth employment, work experience and training, including through our apprenticeships programmes and long-standing partnership with The King’s Trust. “With a supportive government policy framework, we could offer even more opportunities to young people in the future.”
