Anj Handa: Business can lead way out of jobs black hole

Three decades later, unemployment is again a hot issue – the latest figures are published today – and one that all the political parties will be trying to convince voters that they have the solution for. For us at the Chamber, how any of them will actually attempt to tackle this problem remains unclear.

Yorkshire and Humber's workforce has been one of the worst hit in the recession, with five per cent of the working population currently claiming Jobseekers Allowance.

Longer-term unemployment is on the increase and one in five 16 to 24-year-olds is currently out of employment, education or training. The Government's Backing Young Britain campaign is helping to create job opportunities for our region's young people, but the problem is so great that we still have a long way to go. The Chamber recognises the social and civic problems unemployment can have on a city, and that is why we are lobbying all the political parties to make sure enterprise and business creation remains at the forefront of their election campaign, because it is profitable businesses that will create jobs. With whispers of post-election public sector job cuts from all parties, it seems that the problem is only going to get worse.

A good start for politicians would be to scrap the rise in employer National Insurance Contributions which is planned for April 2011. This is a tax on business and job creation. It is estimated that this one per cent increase will cost businesses nationally more than 14bn between 2011 and 2015, equating to a cost of over 1bn in our region alone. Independent research has also shown that the rise will result in 57,000 job losses, which in turn will cost the Government 900m in social security payments. While we appreciate the need for the Government to cut the budget deficit, and with economic recovery still fragile, surely a tax that will actually have negative impact on our economic growth should be scrapped and a more viable means of raising revenue found?

Together with other leading business groups, the Chamber is promoting a petition calling for the increase to be reversed and it will be interesting to see how Alistair Darling reacts to this pressure in next week's Budget.

However, in the short-term, emphasis must be placed on getting those currently unemployed ready for and back into work, when businesses are ready to hire again.

The Government has introduced a number of initiatives to help people back into work, but if they are to become a credible option for employers, then the standards must be raised and they need to meet the demands of the local market. To get this right employer involvement is crucial. I have witnessed too many government-led employment

initiatives that have been developed without private sector involvement, only for it not to meet the needs of local businesses and as a consequence then have to be redeveloped – a waste of time and taxpayers' money.

What the public agencies need to realise is that businesses hire an attitude and train a skill. Employers want to see the Government delivering flexible, bite-size pre-employment training, where the focus is on developing an individual's attributes, such as time keeping and team work. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case to date.

The Chamber is working to address this problem and strengthen links between employers and the public agencies, such as Job Centre Plus, and build the capacity of the local training providers to better understand and meet business needs. For example, we run a HR Managers' Network who, within their individual sectors, regularly meet with the public agencies to address any shortfalls in training and employment provisions thus making sure that job seekers are equipped with the relevant qualities that the market is demanding.

This will result in an accomplished workforce, which will help drive economic recovery for our region as well as bring benefits to a firm's bottom line through increased turnover and productivity.

As part of the Chamber's business manifesto, we are lobbying all parties to look to businesses to lead our country's recovery and put business- friendly policies in place to prevent further job losses. Otherwise we risk ending up with an employment black hole – an entire generation lost to long-term unemployment.

Anj Handa is head of Employment and Skills Partnerships at Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.