institute for employment studies

press information centre

A budget for jobs?

22 April 2009

Today’s budget report contains a number of measures relating to the labour market and to training. It comes against backdrop of employment figures showing continued, sustained deterioration in the labour market.

Nigel Meager, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies says:

‘This budget will ultimately help jobs only if it hastens the economy’s return to strong, sustained growth. Even then, the experience of past recessions indicates that employment may continue to fall for over a year. In this interval, average spells in unemployment will get longer.

‘Because those aged 16-24 will continue be particularly badly hit, the additional money for training and subsidised jobs for this age group announced in today’s budget is welcome, though getting such programmes up and running quickly and effectively has proved challenging over the years. Further, if youth unemployment continues to rise, the amount of money per potential beneficiary may actually be rather small. In the longer term, it is more beneficial to find ‘real’ jobs for such jobseekers, though that may be difficult in the current economic climate.

‘Jobcentre Plus needs to be adequately resourced to deliver intensive counselling and job brokering to continue to achieve early returns to work. The additional £1.75 billion announced in today’s budget is necessary to carry on this work at Jobcentres up and down the country, where caseloads have more or less doubled in a year. Further increases may yet be required.’

Further information

Nigel Meager is a labour economist by training, and a well-established international expert on labour market and employment policy issues. Director of the Institute since 2004, he has a long and varied research track record covering the functioning of national, regional and local labour markets, unemployment, skill shortages, labour market flexibility, changing patterns of work and equal opportunity policies and practices.

For further information or comment, contact the IES press office, or on 01273 763414.