Budget 2013: The Future of Employment for Young People

It came as a surprise during the Budget for 2013 to hear that, despite being caught in the worst recession the UK has seen, employment has seen an increase of  more than 590,000 positions and is continuing on a steady rise compared to last year – a result that even leading economists are struggling to explain.

Despite this triumph, our next generation of workers, currently aged between 16-24, worryingly comprise the largest percentage of those who remain unemployed. Furthermore, the number of young people who are unemployed, in contrast to the rest of the population, is mounting more rapidly than any other sector of the public. In our last post we discussed the possible social consequences of long term unemployment in this age bracket and the urgent need for schools to provide pupils with an education that will equip them with the skills required to succeed in the workplace. However, this situation is sure to have a ripple effect on the wider employment circle – when we finally come out the other side of the current downturn, will we be facing fundamental skills shortages?

Food for Thought Leadership

How do you entice some of the UK’s leading CFOs into a room to discuss regulation? Tell them it is being held  at Michelin Star chef Atul Kochhar’s restaurant, Benares,  and that the food and wine is free!

Seriously though, regulation in today’s business world is anything but a dry subject. In the Coalition Agreement published in 2010, the TorieLibDems said that they would cut red tape for businesses or individuals and not rely on rules and regulations by themselves to ‘get things done’. Exciting times for the money makers and entrepreneurs of these sunny isles I hear you say? May be not... is there less regulation now than five years ago?

Taxing Times

Questions on what is an appropriate level of taxation never go away. However, in the current economic climate the need to cut income taxes for lower income workers to put a little more money in the pockets of working families is juxtaposed with demand to tax the wealthy more heavily whether through income or so called wealth taxes on property.