As teenagers open their A-Level results, Andrew Griffith laments a job market that is punishing today’s young people
As youngsters across England and Wales get their all-important A-level results today, a prosperous job as the reward for further years of study may prove sadly elusive. Unemployment is rising, and many would say that today’s young people face the toughest job market in a generation.
The blame for this doesn’t sit at the doorstep of employers. It sits squarely in Whitehall, with the choices the Chancellor and her colleagues have made over the last 12 months.
Businesses have a natural optimism, so it takes a lot for them to throw in the towel and stop hiring. Unfortunately, when faced with an onslaught of tax hikes laser-targeted directly at jobs, 300 pages of additional employment red tape and an uncertain outlook in a country which they know is spending above its means, they face little choice. There is a reticence to point out the obvious in public, but privately employers regularly bring up the 55 per cent increase since 2020 in the statutory wage for 18-21-years-olds set by politicians in Whitehall.
The worst jobs market in a generation
Unsurprisingly, in every month of this Labour government, unemployment has risen. As of June, in just the hospitality sector alone there were 22,000 fewer job openings than the same time last year. The Institute of Directors reports that business confidence is at its lowest levels since records began and last week the Bank of England reported that ONS job vacancies have collapsed by around 10 per cent since the start of this year alone.
The revealed truth after a year of this government is that the plight of an incoming generation of bright, ambitious and remarkable young people is not something Labour values relative to those already in work. If you haven’t got a job, tough. And if you are already many steps up the ladder of employment, Labour will cosset you with expanded trade union powers and additional employment rights.
Think of the thousands of teenagers and university students who this summer wanted to get onto that very first rung of the ladder. They’re pursuing what used to be a rite of passage – a summer job. Perhaps they’re applying to a pub or cafe, yet thanks directly to the jobs tax and change in national insurance thresholds, it’s slim pickings. That all important ‘work experience’ section on the CV stays desolately blank.
Graduate job postings are also down. They fell 33 per cent in the year to this summer according to jobs website Indeed. That means thousands of graduates applying for every vacancy with experienced candidates competing even for entry level positions. Not an accident, not inevitable, but the direct consequence of Labour’s choices. This is more than an economic disaster: it’s a social betrayal. Work shapes identity, teaches resilience and nourishes the seeds of ambition.
Young people are voting with their fee
You cannot blame young people if they feel as though they are being mocked by a political class that claims to have their best interests at heart. I am also under no illusions that, as Kemi has said, Conservatives too often failed young people too. Many are now voting with their feet. A British Council survey of 18–30-year-olds found that 72 per cent are considering living and working abroad.
Despite all of this, I am optimistic about the future of our country. Britain has huge strengths which even years of this terrible government will not eradicate. Britain can return to being a world leader in innovation just as it was during the first industrial revolution and British families can once again be amongst the wealthiest on the planet.
But not if we remain on the course this government is currently charting. Britain cannot hope to thrive under Labour’s actions and the prospectus that they are currently offering young people. We must give young Brits a positive reason to decide that their prospects of a job are better, and indeed their future is brighter, in Docklands than in Dubai.
Andrew Griffith MP is shadow secretary of state for business & trade