Young people are being hit hardest as unemployment rises again

Responding to today’s ONS labour market figures, James Cockett, senior labour market economist for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, comments:

“Unemployment has risen again this month, and the data shows it’s younger people who are being hardest hit. There was little in the Budget to encourage employers to invest in young people. Instead, there was a significant uplift to the youth rates, set to come into effect from April next year, further raising the costs of employing young people. 

“It’s clear the Government needs to take stronger action to support young people in securing valuable training and employment opportunities. While it was positive to see the government announce funding to support apprenticeship starts for under-25s in smaller businesses in the Budget, it needs to go further. It can do this by introducing an Apprenticeship Guarantee for 16 to 24-year-olds, which is supported by many employers.  

“Looking ahead to 2026, with redundancies soaring to their highest rate since early 2021 and real wage growth stagnating, it’s clear the Government needs to develop a meaningful plan to boost growth. This means working in partnership with employers to boost the investment in skills and technology adoption that’s needed across the economy to improve productivity and living standards.   

“The Government should also continue to commit to an ongoing tripartite process on key measures in the Employment Rights Bill still to be decided in secondary legislation, to ensure they don’t further hold back hiring. Some measures proposed in the bill could act as a weight on employers who have genuine concerns on how these changes will affect their business. While there have been some positive developments around unfair dismissal there’s still a need for continued consultation, and compromise, to ensure the bill doesn’t reduce employment opportunities.”