Britons struggling to find a job are to be offered work with some of Britain’s best-known employers – as ministers prepare reforms to tackle the rising benefits bill.
Major firms, including Marks and Spencer, Amazon, Pret a Manger and NatWest Group have pledged to provide new opportunities for people who are out of work, including youngsters and older adults who have experienced illness.
The commitment comes as the Government prepares to publish the Milburn review into youth unemployment, designed to get the more than one million Neets – young people not in education, employment or training – into work.
The review by the former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn had been expected this week but The i Paper understands it will now be published later this month.
Ahead of the review, the TUC union body has urged the Government to extend its Jobs Guarantee scheme, which offers a fully funded six-month paid job to people aged 18-24 who have been on Universal Credit for 18 months, to people who have been claiming the benefit for just six months.
While the extension would initially increase public spending, the TUC argues it would save the state money in the long-run because more young people would be in work and off benefits.
New opportunities for people out of work
The separate pledge by major UK employers to help tackle youth unemployment has been organised by the Jobs Foundation, a charity designed to champion business as a force for good.
The Jobs Foundation Pledge will involve employers of every size and sector to commit publicly to helping more people into work and supporting them to stay and progress, whether they are young people looking for a first break or adults coming back after illness or years away.
Founding signatories include Amazon, Pret, NatWest, Greene King, BT, Volvo Cars UK, DCS Group, M&S, Valero Energy, Shell, Collinson Group, Civitas and Grayling.
The backing of these firms suggests they could offer new job opportunities in retail, on shop floors and in warehouses, hospitality such as barista and bar staff roles, and in car manufacturing and telecommunications.
Georgiana Bristol, chief executive of the Jobs Foundation, said: “In every part of the country there are people who want to work and businesses that want to hire them, and too often they never find each other.
“We know that if we are to tackle worklessness, business must be at the heart of the solution.”
The initiative is a sign that some of the major British businesses are feeling more positive about recruiting younger workers after many firms were put off hiring by sharp increase in the minimum wage and higher employer National Insurance Contributions.
Offering youngsters more tax-payer funded jobs
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak is urging the Government to extend its Jobs Guarantee scheme, which offers taxpayer-funded jobs to benefits claimants aged 18-24.
While this would come with an upfront cost, the organisation’s own analysis argues that it would eventually generate £4.5bn in long-term benefits over 30 years, while helping young people into work.
The union body is pushing for the government to extend eligibility from those who have been on Universal Credit for 18 months to those on it for six months, and increase the number of places available from 90,000 to 225,000 over three years.
Nowak said: “Now is the time for bold action to save a generation of young people from unemployment and poor-quality work.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Work and Pensions said: “We are determined to turn the tide on youth unemployment.”
They said the Government has pledged £2.5bn for youth employment support, creating almost 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn and up to 200,000 jobs with major employers.“Further reforms will follow the Milburn Review in the autumn,” the spokesman said.
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