Is Rishi Sunak set to end youth unemployment - Bird Lovegod

Rishi, what a guy. He’s been given a blank checkbook and now he’s spreading the love. Here’s my thought on the Kickstart Scheme.

To quote the Government website; ‘A new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme will also be launched to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country.

“Those aged 16-24, claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment, will be eligible. Funding available for each six-month job placement will cover 100% of the National

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Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week – and employers will be able to top this wage up.”

Rishi SunakRishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak

Unless I read this wrong, this is absolutely massive.

The Government is going to pay the full wages, for 25 hours a week, of young people in new jobs.

This is going to lead to some radically interesting and extraordinary opportunities.

Presumably charities will be able to take advantage of this. How many fundraisers and awareness raisers can they employ? For free? And can a company employ young people to be Brand Ambassadors, promoting on social media, or in the streets? A free workforce. Wow. What can we do with that? In businesses all over the UK that question is being fully explored right now. Or it soon will be.

Rishi SunakRishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak
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I predict this particular strategy will create a massive surge in demand for young people in the workforce. I could see it emptying Universal Credit of 16 - 24 year olds.

Depending on how long it’s maintained for, and depending on the employers ability to then transition those young people into paid roles, I could see this being almost too successful.

I could certainly imagine demand outstripping supply, and that in turn leading to an employee driven market. Very interesting. It’s possible entire new business sectors will spring up to take advantage of this free workforce. It’s also going to be the end of unpaid internships, surely a good thing. Every retail outlet will be able to employ an assistant to work 25 hours a week, for free.

Great for small and micro businesses. Every sales focused enterprise will be right now working out how to get these young people on the phones and knocking doors. Double glazing anyone? Media companies will be thinking about how many trainee journalists they can remotely support.

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Seriously, if you’re an employer, why wouldn’t you take on a couple of 18 year olds to add value to your business, to promote your business, and train them in commercial realities. And why not a 23 year old to manage them.

Of all the ways to spend a few billion, this has to be one of the most exciting opportunities we’ve seen to come out of this society defining year.

This is going to cause a boom in startups, of all types, and will enable a transformation of business like we have never seen. With this system in place it’ll be commercially viable for a restaurant or takeaway to employ their own delivery drivers.

A hardware shop could employ a delivery driver. So could a florist, or a bookshop, or a newsagent. Or a taxi company? Depending on the small print of this initiative the possibilities are extraordinary. And every electrician and plumber and gardener can have what amounts to a 25 hour a week assistant, for free. And of course, these companies can also top up the wages of the young person, should they choose to.

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Which after a while they will probably have to, because the demand for young people will surely outstrip supply? What will happen after six months?

Difficult to say, in the best cases, those young people will be given jobs as managers, tending the other young people coming after them, if there’s any left.

Mad as it seems, Rishi might just have ended youth unemployment. For at least as long as he’s willing to fund the system.

The chancellor said: “Throughout this crisis I have never been the prisoner of ideology. For me, this has never just been a question of economics, but of values. We believe in the nobility of work. We believe in the inspiring power of opportunity. We believe in the British people’s fortitude and endurance.”

Go on Rishi. Keep it coming.