The rise in under-25s not in employment, education or training (NEET) is not a failure of young people. I absolutely do not accept that today’s generation of young workers are ‘snowflakes’, ‘lazy’ or ‘workshy’. This generation has been let down by insecure jobs, low pay and a failure of too many employers to invest in the next generation of workers. This appalling situation has to end, to help grow our economy, reduce the welfare bill and show young people that they are valued and respected. It’s going to be tough to turn it around, but Labour can do it if they make the right choices on workers’ rights.
We are deeply concerned by the economic challenges facing young workers, with over 600,000 18 to 24-year-olds struggling to find work, as entry level vacancies have halved over the last decade. Latest statistics show that the number of people recorded as NEET has risen to nearly a million. Every young worker deserves the opportunity to build a secure future through a good job that provides decent pay, guaranteed hours, high-quality training, pathways for progression and a meaningful voice at work.
We welcome the Labour Government’s £2.5 billion investment in the youth jobs guarantee. However, it is crucial that employers step up to the plate to provide good jobs. Work experience alone is not good enough and it should be recognised that the best experience of work is being in a secure, well-paid job. To that end, we remain very disappointed that so many employers are lobbying the Government hard in an attempt to water down the Employment Rights Act, the biggest uplift in workers’ rights in a generation.
Much of the detailed implementation of the Act is still being resolved. It’s essential that there are no loopholes for unscrupulous employers to exploit, and that all workers benefit from these new rights. Nowhere is this clearer than in the new right to guaranteed hours, which the Government is proposing to limit to workers on contracts of 20 hours or less.
Thousands of Usdaw members shared their experiences of short-hours contracts through the Government’s recent consultation. They talked about how they rely on additional hours that aren’t guaranteed in their contracts, leaving them without financial security and making it difficult to get a mortgage, rent a home or arrange childcare. Our members have called, loudly and clearly, on the Government, to deliver their manifesto commitment to implement the right to a guaranteed hours contract for everyone.
Young workers are already at particular risk from insecure work and exploitation. We reject the notion that getting more young people into work should mean rolling back their rights. Sectors like retail are facing real challenges, but we need to recognise that this is driven by structural issues like automation, business rates and long-term underinvestment in our high street infrastructure. Those are the areas where the Government needs to be taking action, and we welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to a high streets strategy.
We need an industrial strategy centred around investment in skills and with a real voice for workers, which doesn’t leave sectors like retail behind. If we’re serious about addressing youth unemployment, then the Government needs to be serious about retail as an employer.
There is absolutely a role for Government in supporting employers to take young people on in paid work, with secure hours and opportunities for progression. Where employers are using work experience schemes, they must ensure that this is done separately from current and future staffing resources and that it involves real training and a route to permanent and secure work.
If we are going to tackle youth unemployment, we need to support good jobs in sectors like retail, with security and opportunities for progression. We’re calling on the Government, and on employers, to work with us to achieve that by: equalising the National Minimum Wage rates for workers from the age of 18; ensuring the right to a guaranteed hours contract is available to all; introducing tighter regulation around automated hiring and a right for unions to be consulted on new technology; and taking forward a programme of high-quality, secure jobs for young workers right across the economy.