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CBI call on government to implement five-point plan

The CBI have issued a ‘five-point plan’ to tackle youth unemployment, and are looking to the government to take up their ideas.

The business organisation asks for more funding, specifically a £125m cut of the £500m recruitment subsidy fund, to be directed at new apprenticeships, and warns youth unemployment is reaching “unacceptable levels.”

The CBI points out a disproportionate rate of youth unemployment; while 7.8% of the general population are unemployed, 17.2% of 18 to 24-year-olds are currently jobless.

CBI director general Richard Lambert said: “Young people leaving education this summer face the toughest job market in a generation.

“We know from previous recessions that a lack of employment after leaving education can damage young people’s long-term prospects at a critical point as they move from education to the world of work.

“Young people are being hardest hit by unemployment, and the government must increase the opportunities available to limit its scarring effects.”

The CBI would also like to see a new £25m fund to encourage firms to train more apprentices than they need, to “improve their prospects elsewhere in the sector.”

On top of more funding, CBI’s other four points aim to get employers to offer more to apprentices by; ensuring employing young people is attractive; giving practical help to young people to get a job; offer more work experience and ensure the education system teaches basic skills, like literacy and numeracy.

Mr Lambert added: “We know the experience of unemployment tends to affect young people more adversely than most other age groups, and we must learn from the 1980s when too many were left out of work for too long.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .