Pre-Budget Report: pledge to upskill the young and equip the over-50s to find work
David Woods, 09 December 2009
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2 comment's on this article.The Government is to invest in the skills of young people and offer more support for people over 50 to find work.
This afternoon the chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced in his Pre- Budget Report speech that from January the Government would guarantee no one under the age of 24 should be without a job or training for more than six months.
He announced more support and skills training for people over 50 to help them find employment.
He also pledged support for 10,000 graduates from "lower earning backgrounds" to help them find internships to improve their skills and employability.
Predicting a 1%-1.5% economic growth in 2010, Darling said: "To promote growth we need to invest in the skills of young people... unemployment can never be a price worth paying."
The chancellor added: "I will guarantee anyone in work will always be better off than if they were on benefits."
But Anthony Evans, assistant professor of economics at ESCP Europe Business School, told HR magazine: "The Government should be investing in recruitment. But throwing money at jobseekers is not going to solve the problem. It is hard and expensive for employers to recruit - so until there is tax and national insurance breaks to aid recruitment, the problem could remain."
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Dianne Bown-Wilson - 09 December 2009
"More support and skills training for people over 50 to help them find employment" is all very well but will do little to solve an increasing and long-term problem.
The money would be better used to incentivise employers to retain and train their existing older workforce so that they will be kept in work and employers will have greater exposure to the inherent strengths of older people.
Skills training is a waste of time if employers maintain existing barriers to the recruitment of older workers and will only add to the frustrations of older individuals themselves.
John Isherwood - 10 December 2009
I couldn't agree more. Also, if the government is to provide grants, (which it probably can't afford) then they need to make those grants meaningful and available.
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