Does business have a moral responsibility to create jobs for the young?

By Andrew Adie, Corporate

In the global financial crash David Willett’s book ‘How the Baby Boomers Took Their Children's Future - And Why They Should Give It Back’ became almost totemic for the economic and social crisis that followed.

For my generation (Gen X) the financial crisis became a lightning rod for all that was wrong and many got extremely angry when they realised we would be the first generation who would be poorer than our parents and that many of us would not be able to afford to retire.

Younger generations now face an even more perilous threat: they may not even be able to work. At least not in their chosen career. Looking back Gen X had it good.

Today the ONS unemployment rate sits around 4.1% but jumps to 13.4% for those aged 16-24. Many of the sectors affected by the accelerated ‘restructuring’ of the economy are those with jobs that are disproportionately taken by younger workers, such as hospitality, retail and tourism. Industries that may now be permanently changed.

The Government and industry are acutely aware of this and we have seen in the past few days a raft of announcements and initiatives that all focus on creating new jobs and boosting training to help those affected by structural change in the economy to build new careers.

While the Government has been frenetic in its desire to own Build Back Better and to show that it is ‘on it’ when it comes to helping maintain education for the very young, sustain university education and help re-skill workers (young and old) who have lost their jobs, the headlines have been relatively quiet on the role of business.

Yet Build Back Better isn’t just a slogan than belongs to politicians. While there are always exceptions to the rule, most businesses we work with have gone to enormous lengths to try and save jobs and look after their staff. Many have shouldered additional costs to protect the health and wellbeing of their teams and most employers feel a heavy responsibility for their people. Furlough may have helped prevent the unemployment figures being greater but so has the belt-tightening and stewardship of many businesses.

However, furlough is now being drawn back and the question that lies heavy is what happens next? Which way do businesses jump as they balance the need to survive with the need to preserve jobs?

Some will have little choice but to make people redundant but for those that do have options, will they feel a moral responsibility to provide opportunities, invest in youth, and create a workforce for the future? Investing in training young, inexperienced workers can seem a big ask in a time when there is a ready supply of experienced older workers desperate for jobs.

Taking on younger workers also demands training budgets, face-time and mentoring, something that is incredibly difficult to achieve in a world of fluctuating lockdown.

Yet there is mounting evidence that younger workers are taking control themselves. The BBC ran a story this week following the fortunes of a series of young, lockdown entrepreneurs. We also had the news this week that Dyson is to start granting degrees direct from the Dyson Institute with the students there preparing for a career in engineering and technology that should (hopefully) see them enter full-time work as we move into the upturn.

Whether business regards hiring the young as a moral or a commercial imperative, many would argue that consigning a generation to the unemployment line will do little to help us Build Back Better or create a skilled workforce that is able to tackle the UK’s productivity dilemma and propel the economy forward into a more productive, sustainable and (hopefully) cheerful period.

As many commentators, politicians and the stock market have started to look beyond COVID to the shape of the post-pandemic economy, anecdotally many younger colleagues are reporting that their entire university class are now going back to study or moving home to ensure they can at least survive what could be a protracted job search.

As a member of Gen X I’m ill-placed to do more than comment from the outside on that experience but next week we’re going to run a series of stories in Newgate News, written by Gen Z and Y exploring what they’re doing to address the generational challenge that faces them as they seek to be part of the campaigns to Build Back Better…