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Employment decline to hit Northern workers

A lack of business confidence and low hiring in the North is set to lead to a sharp increase in youth unemployment this summer, according to a think tank.

IPPR North have warned that targeted measures to help young people find work must be implemented as a matter of urgency, or the gap between the North and the rest of the country in the numbers of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) will continue to grow.

The report indicates that 19% of 16-24 year olds in the North are NEETs, in comparison to a England-wide average of 16%.

The IPPR are now concerned that low business confidence is forcing Northern employers to maintain a hiring freeze, which is causing the time people spend on unemployment related benefits to rise.

Almost half of all individuals in the North who are claiming jobseekers allowance have been doing so for more than six months - with the average time recorded as being more than double what it was during the 2008/9 recession.

Where vacancies do exist, they are often low paid and insecure, and are either part -time or are self employed people looking for work.

The IPPR believe that Government initiatives to tackle youth unemployment are insufficient to deal with the increasing numbers of younger workers entering the labour market, and there needs to be a targeted jobs guarantee to trigger a Northern ‘summer hiring spree’.

Ed Cox, Director of IPPR North said: “There needs to be a joint effort to prevent a big spike in NEETs numbers.

“Schools need to encourage their students to stay on where they can, colleges need to make extra efforts to recruit next year’s intake, public sector employers need to promote work experience schemes, but above all, employers need to take on apprentices through the various schemes now available.”

The report also recommends that the North should not lose out in forthcoming announcements on investment in transport and housing infrastructure. Although such investments tend to deliver medium to long-term economic benefits, their short term impact on jobs, supply chains and business confidence in the North of England could have an important shorter-term impact.

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