Nearly 1m young people out of work

[Starfeesh]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62gzl2yl24o

AIBU to be concerned that a life on benefits seems to be a viable option, and glad Labour are bringing in compulsory work placements?

As already mentioned, a sizable chunk will be early retirees living off private income so not a direct cost to the taxpayer, albeit they are not contributing to the coffers. Either way, people can't help being ill, not being able to work in the way they used to and possibly needing support!

You’re missing the point. Employers simple won’t hire young inexperienced applicants if they can get someone else with years of experience for the same money, which the rise in nmw has caused. They’re now having to compete with experienced applicants. Hence now we have so many unemployed young people.

I think pro Labour won’t get this. Maybe there aren’t many of those left at this point.

Another aspect re lack of jobs for young people is the massive reduction in the numbers of small independent shops, pubs, cafes, etc over the past couple of decades due to out of town retail parks, supermarkets and the internet. These are the kinds of places where school children would get Saturday jobs or part time evening jobs, likewise paper rounds, milk rounds, etc.

When I was at school, we nearly all had at least a Saturday job in a shop or cafe, and many of us worked in pubs in the evening, doing menial work like washing up or collecting glasses. We'd all talk about our jobs, and give each other advice/hints/etc if where we worked needed another pair of hands etc. I worked Summers in local boarding houses doing room cleaning, making beds etc and earned a fair amount, especially with tips etc.

Now that retail and hospitality is dominated by big national chains, they have their own recruitment procedures and, say, a 16 year old school kid probably wouldn't have a chance of a job.

Not to mention the relatively recent legislation aimed at "protecting" school children which has meant many businesses simply don't bother anymore rather than do all the form filling and admin needed, i.e. getting permission from the school etc., and the rules on young people not being allowed in kitchens, etc.

Today's youngsters can't be blamed for not having a work ethic when society/politicians have put so many obstacles in the way of them getting a job, even evening or Saturday jobs.

Nail on the head. The WHOLE point of employers engaging young people was to get them on the cheap, usually doing very low value work. Why would an employer take on a 16 year old with no work experience when they could take on a 30 year old with prior experience for the same money? Make it make sense!

I wasn’t defending them just offering an alternative possibility, and perhaps the form filling is part of the test, who knows, stranger things have happened.

It’s just a form.

We take full responsibility for our two teenagers

Absolutely

They are our responsibility, we brought them into the world, we reared them. We are the biggest influence in their lives. We are their bed, food, money, education, manners.

They are absolutely our responsibility and you can judge us for it.

That doesn’t produce a motivated workforce that will contribute to growth.

Just more people circling the drain claiming they can’t possibly work because they are sore or sad.

And then spend all their time being sore and sad.

What a waste of life.

But hey yeah let’s hit the (could be taken away by any future government) benefits jackpot kids!

It sounds like you don’t like the people you ’see every day’.
You certainly don’t sound like you have any understanding or compassion for people who are neurodivergent and those with ‘all the diagnoses flying in’ and then having kids ‘for more benefits’

perhaps you’re in the wrong job, you could make space for someone who actually cares and knows how to support people who are experiencing challenges and barriers to achieving and change and perhaps those people will achieve growth with the support of someone who has knowledge and expertise in supporting people rather than discrimination and judgment.

My comment was a tongue in cheek jab at the overgeneralising comment that young people are no good or lazy or whatever it was.

Never meant to imply they're all like that obviously but there's a real sense of entitlement with this generation that is worse than ever

So much of this ‘I’m too good to clean the loos’ attitude is down to the parents though. I have been telling my dcs since they were young about all the crappy jobs you do as a teen and the you get better ones. Dd (19)’s first job was dressed up as an Easter bunny at a farm park - she was mortified, but did it for the Easter holidays before her GCSEs and then they promoted her to coffee shop in the summer. After a year there she moved to Starbucks and still works there at both her uni city and when she’s back home. She’s done so well. If you grow up with the attitude you are too good for jobs, that largely comes from home imo and the parents backing them up. No one WANTS to scrub loos or dress up in ugly clothes to serve shitty customers, but it’s a learning curve and you get on with it.

Did anyone watch the C4 news report on the Blackpool area? Leyland offered 22 youth apprenticeships, got 1,000 applications.

Regardless of the whys and wherefores, this is a catastrophic situation.

@LunaDeBallona I've sent you a private message.

The reduction of part time work for those in education aren’t part of these figures surely, because they are in education so not a NEET.

There is work for all different temperaments at a young age. Not just retail, but what about just a job?

Postperson, collecting bins, helping on a farm, delivering leaflets, cleaning airbnbs.

Hard graft perhaps, long hours, but that’s work.

If you have a young person waiting for an employer to produce this perfect job with no bad bits and a lovely easy, work life, what about my journey, balance for an 18 year old who can’t make a phone call, or be around people or noise, then yes you might struggle or have to create a job yourself.

There is a dog groomers opening up near us, looking for staff, can you sweep dog hair, answer the phone and take bookings? I mean you don’t need 5 GCSEs for that.

Yes it will be unsocial hours with NMW. But so what? Not like you need to be at home because of young kids at that age.

But that’s beyond some they might be able to do the sweeping but not the phones. Or it doesn’t pay 40k or whatever.

What can they do? On a regular basis, reliably, 5/6 days a week, 47 weeks of the year. And what will they accept being paid for it. Work out, up or down from there.

But it’s not just a form - it’s a barrier to access to entry level jobs for some people, including people with some neuro disabilities or in data poverty.

Obviously this isn’t a problem for you, and for some jobs no doubt the application process is itself a necessary test, but the thread is about why so many young people are out of ETE. Well, the move to online applications is one of the barriers for some young people.

I absolutely agree.

And 500 of them could be rejected instantly

Like Oxford uni - medicine
8000 applicants for 300 places
4000 instantly rejected

that’s life

good to apply though it can kickstart a change in mindset

It really is awful, isn't it?

I'm 24, have two degrees and am currently working in a job (I admittedly enjoy) that's just above NMW.

For 2 years I was on a zero hour contract. No chance whatsoever of moving out of my parents' house. In the New Year, I was promoted to a leadership position offering 36 guaranteed hours a week. Great! Now I'll have enough to move out! ...Nope. Still not enough for the prices in my area!

Maybe it's best I stay at home a bit longer, though...I'm the only one here who actually has a job at the moment (never expected that when I was younger). My Mum and sister are studying only and my Step-Dad is unemployed claiming UC.

I think I've done pretty well for myself though considering I have ASD and the crappy area I live in. FWIW I got my first paid job at 17 through a friend. Kitchen porter. It was hot, wet and messy, but it was a start. Throughout uni I did a voluntary role which I'm convinced is what landed me my current job. Just goes to show every piece of experience can have a ripple effect.

But it did also used to be the case that entry level jobs were done by young people because older people had moved up the ranks. A lot of those entry level jobs that need very little experience have disappeared, while those left are indeed being done by 30 year olds earning NMW with years of experience they simply don’t need.

You have no idea what my job is. I don’t work in benefits.

And you’re right, I have little compassion for the terminally workshy.

I don’t care what diagnoses they may or may not have, they have the mental wherewithal to date/have kids/go on holiday/cause merry hell/meet their dealer all day. It’s just work they can’t do, apparently.

But there are hundreds who are also looking for work without those hurdles

B&Q are looking for an dependable employee not a social economic project

yes that’s harsh but there are half a million NEETs without a disability looking for work

employers aren’t charities or replacements for social services - the applicant needs the skills to fill out a form at least

this is basic stuff

Nobody wants young people to be stuck on benefits. But employers, having their pick from hundreds of candidates, aren't going to choose the young person who is autistic, or has anxiety, or has no GCSEs. They ask for skills, qualifications and experience beyond what the role actually requires, because they can. I don't blame them for doing that. but it means that less desirable candidates are going to get nothing but rejections.

I don't think it should be a race to the bottom either. I've done cleaning and care work so I have no sympathy for the 'too good to clean toilets' lot - but I've always worked set hours, not a zero hours contract where you have to be available for shifts 24/7. There's a difference between 'standard crappy entry level job' and employers taking advantage.

"Whatever it's faults, it was one hell of a lot better than what we have today"

Yes, you make a very fair point.

Also, I do accept that I was likely being overly negative about the scheme as a whole.