Alan Milburn / neets / youth unemployment

[PeteTheNeet]

I’m just reading with interest Alan Milburn’s article in the daily mail about an upcoming report which examines the reasons for rising youth unemployment.
Alan says of his first job delivering newspapers:

"I learned more from that than any lesson in school – the importance of turning up and getting on with it, even when I didn't feel like it.
Those early experiences used to be a rite of passage. Saturday jobs. Summer work. First proper pay packets in brown envelopes. The first taste of independence and pride. But today, entry-level roles are disappearing. Retail jobs – the biggest employer of Britain's young people – have been falling for a decade.
Walk into a supermarket and you are more likely to scan your own shopping than speak to a cashier. Ordering a meal means scanning a QR code or using an app, rather than speaking to a waiter.
Offices that hired school leavers are using AI to do basic admin, customer service and even recruitment screening.
The very jobs that used to give young people their first step on the career ladder are disappearing. Which makes this crisis not just urgent but accelerating."

Yet as I see it, it isn’t Ai or self scanners or QR codes responsible for young people finding it difficult to access their first job, but restrictive employment legislation which has effectively made it illegal for under 18s to work in many of the jobs which were traditionally given to college aged kids (16-18).
For example my local authority states it is illegal for under 18s to work in any commercial kitchen , be it a chippy, cafe or anything else. Milk rounds are also banned , probably for good reason.
In fact it’s a good job that Alan Milburn uses his paper round as the example, because actually , that’s seemingly one of the few jobs young people are legally allowed these days.
Aibu to think that restrictive employment legislation is as much to blame as Ai?
My teens have all had part time jobs in the last few years which would have counted as illegal by local authority standards. Making toasties and serving ice cream from a commercial kitchen , working late in a pub waiting tables, etc. They’ve all gone on to full time employment and every time the employer has appreciated their ‘work ethic’.
But how can young people get a good work ethic if they’re not allowed to work ?

And as for work experience , which he mentions as a big issue, I know that when we were in school we were presented with a huge list of willing establishments by the school and we were matched with anything that was of interest. Nowadays children have to organise it themselves, cold calling employers, most of whom are too nervous of health and safety regulations and risk assessments to invite a child into the workplace (unsurprisingly).

For example my local authority states it is illegal for under 18s to work in any commercial kitchen , be it a chippy, cafe or anything else.

Your LA is talking nonsense.

Sorry - insomnia made me misread your post. I thought your LA was saying under 18s can't work in chippies or cafes!

Not in the kitchen.

And yet these jobs have been massively hit by the punitive tax and ni measures form the gov ?

Lack of paper rounds is nothing to do with restrictive employment legislation

Can you link to your local councils child employment page because that’s wrong.

Child Employment Law is a national thing not local - plenty of under 18’s work in places like Maccies!

There is a lack of jobs generally - and industries that used to be the go to are struggling but it’s not illegal to work in a cafe or chippy under 18.

Sorry it’s early and I’m incorrect- some local authority bylaws might have restrictions different from national policy but I’d still like to see the one banning under 18’s from cafes

Yes most can see this, just not Labour.

Agree. My 17 year old grandson currently works in the kitchens in a cafe and a pub. One of the others worked for KFC for a while.

More to do with people not getting papers delivered any more I should think.

We offer for work experience in our office for anybody who wants it locally
It’s very rarely taken up

My grandsons, from 16 had part time/Saturday jobs in McD’s and KFC. They couldn’t serve alcohol in pubs though.

One of my children did not work while they were at school. They worked in their gap year and uni holidays but not while at Uni as they had an intensive timetable.
My other child only worked for a few months for 4 hours a week and then gave up when at school. They did not work at Uni.
They now both have top jobs and salaries.
I think paying attention to your studies is just as important, if not more, than a part time job. I think some students just go to Uni for the social life. There is also an expectation from some that because they went to Uni they are entitled to a certain level of employment. This doesn’t necessarily work out if they went to a poor university or didn’t work while there.
We need plumbers, electricians etc these days.

My older grandsons got supermarket jobs when they were 16 and continued these in their uni towns. They worked throughout their degrees through necessity but still kept up with their studies and have done well. One is continuing with a Masters.

Exactly. Same with milk rounds. When I was a sixth former there were Saturday jobs in the three local department stores. None of which exist any more.

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" Ronald Reagan.

And boy, was he right.

Every single of the problems in this country today is caused by successive incompetent governments. And/or laziness and entitlement of the perpetually victim minded, want something for nothing section of the public.

I sit on recruitment panels for our placement and graduate cohorts. Someone with no work experience wouldn't make it beyond the first sort. The schemes are very competitive and I absolutely want some well rounded experience both of engineering knowledge and application, and of actually working with people, encountering problems etc.

Well it is just as well that depending on what you are recruiting for, not everyone is the same. My children did have some but not a lot of work experience and quite frankly most students would be better concentrating on their A levels if top grades are required to get into university.

This is what I believe she’s saying it’s expected that they’ll get top-level results and top uni degrees and have the work experience and have the ability to concentrate on both

Which is what my children had. They just didn’t work while they were studying. One worked in a gap year and they both worked in the university holidays. There are some universities that don’t allow students to work in term time for very good reasons.

I think we all know which universities they are and they’re the same ones that if the professor wants to give the Student a 2.1 for an assignment they have to come in and account for themselves. And then the Student gets another bite of the cherry before marking is awarded.

Exactly. Getting the grades is expected. Frankly, if you're not predicted a first then you're not likely to get to interview stage.

But if I've got 120 or so candidates being interviewed for 30 places then they need to be offering something vastly more than grades. I want to see experience of working in teams, solving problems, critical thinking, risk assessment, being able to manage multi faceted demands etc.

Someone with no work experience, who has been spoon fed by their parents into adulthood would be an absolute no.

I'm also not impressed by Oxford or Cambridge. I expect a candidate to be able to tell me why they chose their university, and talk to me at length about what they've learned and how it's been put into practice.

Yes, but what a lot of people don’t realise is that the level of competition for apprenticeships even at 16 is really high too. Many parents are struggling financially and demographics that wouldn’t typically applied are applying for apprenticeships , realising that having their children in a paid educational route may be more manageable.
One apprenticeship locally (nhs) was inundated with candidates from local grammar schools, many with exceptional grades but very few with any work experience. And lots of employers even at 16, do like to see a little work experience .