A budget overhaul aimed at removing barriers to employment could find jobs for 7 million people, and experts say ‘talent of all ages’ is needed to help the economy.
- Actions will focus on the sick, the disabled, benefit claimants and those over the age of 50
- It comes after Brexit ended the economic model of ‘low skill migration’.
The Back to Work campaign will target up to seven million adults who are without jobs.
Measures to remove barriers to employment will focus on the long-term sick and disabled, benefit claimants and those over 50.
The chancellor told the House of Commons the big change comes after Brexit ended the UK’s economic model of job vacancies being filled by “unlimited low-skilled immigration”.
So, today, I’m advancing reforms to remove barriers to people who want to work,” said Jeremy Hunt.
More than two million people are classified as ‘economically inactive’ due to disability or chronic illness.
The chancellor told the House of Commons the big change comes after Brexit ended the UK’s economic model of job vacancies being filled by “unlimited low-skilled immigration”.
Many are anxious to work, the chancellor said, and this is now easier than before thanks to video-conferencing technology such as Zoom which allows people to work from home.
The Employability Assessment will be eliminated so that disability benefit claimants can look for work without fear of losing money.
In a program called Global Support, the government will help 50,000 disabled people a year find jobs and get the support they need to keep them.
The £400m plan will try to stop workers leaving their jobs because of mental health problems or conditions such as back pain.
However, the system will be toughened for Universal Credit’s two million job seekers, who will face tougher penalties if they fail to look for work or accept reasonable offers.
Mr Hunt said another 3.5 million people over 50 who have not reached retirement age are outside the workforce – an increase of 320,000 since the pandemic hit.
He added, “The younger officials called these people ‘older workers’, although personally, at 56, I prefer the term ‘experienced’.”
He said those who have reached 50 should look forward to ‘another two decades of fulfillment’, hinting that the retirement age could be raised to 68.
In order to make it easier for people to stay in work longer, five times as many will be given “mid-life” Ministry of Communications reviews to assess their skills and financial situation.
New types of apprenticeships called returnees will be offered to over-50s who want to change jobs, supported by £63m invested in skills bootcamps.
Some experts welcomed the measures. Andy Briggs, the UK Government’s Business Champion for Older People, said: “We know people are living longer and we cannot tackle UK productivity without utilizing talent of all ages in the workforce.”
But Caroline Abrahams, of the charity Age UK, said the Department for Midlife Trade “needs to be coupled with greater investment in skills and retraining opportunities, more flexible working as well as improved support for everyone looking for work”.
The Office for Budget Responsibility predicted that all of Mr Hunt’s measures might increase the labor supply by only between 55,000 and 240,000.
DISCLAIMER:- Denial of responsibility! olorinews.com is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email at loginhelponline@gmail.com The content will be deleted within 24 hours.