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Growth won’t solve unemployment says CBI chief

A return to growth will not in itself solve the root causes of youth unemployment, and more must be done to focus on the issue, according to the head of the CBI.

Speaking at the CBI Action for Jobs summit, John Cridland is set to urge businesses and government to take a more cohesive approach to ensuring peopel have the right skills and opportunities to obtain jobs.

“Youth unemployment has been rising since 2004, so it’s clear that a return to growth alone will not be enough to tackle the underlying causes of the problem,” he will say.

“Today’s young people are entering a complex world, and are making choices from the age of 13 that will define what they will be able to do with their lives.

“We ask a lot more of them in making their way in the world than was asked of previous generations.”

Mr Cridland believes that unemployment causes economic imbalances between different regions to mount up further, and results in billions of pounds of costs each year.

He will add: “The result is sharp divides between the haves and have-nots, and across generational lines. As employers we can and should step up to give all of our young people the support they deserve.”

The CBI is also set to publish an assessment of progress made since it published its Action for Jobs report in October 2011. The update recognises that headway has been made on the £1 billion Youth Contract, but employers need more clarification surrounding the range of initiatives available.

There are currently 47 different employment initiatives available for employers, offering funding and support to take on and train young people, which can be very complicated for potential employers.

“The Work Programme and the Youth Contract can play a key role in getting to the most difficult to reach, offering intensive support to people who have often been let down by the state. Business wants to be part of this, not out of a sense of corporate and social responsibility, but because the case for action is compelling for the long-term health of our economy and society.” Mr Cridland will say.

In the CBI’s Action for Jobs Progress Report, the CBI will call for fresh action including aligning school funding with employment as well as academic outcomes, boosting school-business links, making work experience a statutory right for 14-16 year olds, investing more in apprenticeships and introducing a comprehensive ‘readiness-for-work’ assessment at JobCentre Plus.

To address longer-term challenges surrounding youth employment, the CBI is undertaking a major new project on education and the school system. Responding to recent debates on examination reform, John Cridland will add: “I welcome the debate that has now started on whether the GCSE curriculum is currently fit-for-purpose.

“Where we might differ from the Secretary of State for Education is not in the diagnosis, but in the solution.

“We think the question should be wider: what is the role of a summative exam at 16 in a system where all stay to 18, and how can the same rigour apply to those on vocational paths as academic ones?”

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