UK theme parks chief blasts youth jobs crisis under Labour
The boss of Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures has said the UK ‘spends far more supporting young people out of work than it does helping them into it’.
Writing for The Mail on Sunday’s sister title This Is Money, Fiona Eastwood urged the Government to tackle a rising youth unemployment crisis.
Merlin Entertainments’ chief executive said that ‘too many young people lack clear routes into jobs’.
Employers have been left reeling from increases to National Insurance Contributions and the minimum wage.
The Government has said it wants all adults over the age of 18 to eventually be paid the same, but businesses say this has removed the financial incentive for them to hire young people with less experience.
Merlin, which also runs Madame Tussauds and the London Eye, has 3,000 staff aged 16 to 24, many of them students ‘taking their first step into employment’ with a summer job.
Crisis: Writing for The Mail on Sunday’s sister title This Is Money, Fiona Eastwood urged the Government to tackle a rising youth unemployment crisis
Eastwood said the Government had made a ‘serious commitment’ with its £2.5 billion ‘Youth Guarantee’ to help young people into work.
But she said hospitality and leisure, which are ‘among the UK’s biggest providers of first jobs’ given the seasonal nature of its hiring, must be prioritised.
Despite the rise of artificial intelligence, she said ‘judgment, communication and emotional intelligence will remain in demand’.
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