Star comment: Change needed now for jobless
Clutching their degrees and saddled with huge debts, the pool of jobless graduates are among those 66 people who are chasing every shop job in some parts of Britain.
Having invested years of their lives to better themselves and supposedly better their employment prospects, they are just other hopefuls trying to find work – any work.
Cash-strapped employers are cagey and choosy. Somebody overqualified for the role of stacking the shelves or being on the checkout may not even get the courtesy of a reply to their job application. They are not alone in this demoralising rejection by silence. Almost 70 per cent hear nothing back and are expected to take the hint.
It is of paramount importance to get the economy moving to get these young people into work. But an economic Catch 22 comes into play. They cannot find work and so help kickstart the economy if there is no work, and there are not going to be more jobs around until the economy is kickstarted.
How easy it all was for Tony Blair in the 1990s. He raided the coffers and brought forward capital spending schemes in a big cash splurge – the oft-quoted schools and hospitals which tripped so easily from his lips.
Now we have the reckoning. George Osborne looks to the coffers and sees them bare. Throwing cash about is an option which is denied to him.
Yet the primary role of the Government is to govern, not wring its hands and say nothing is to be done. The main characteristic of David Cameron’s administration so far has been one of inactivity. Were this proving beneficial, there would be something to be said for it. However, the economic indicators suggest that the change nothing policy is not working.
Time is running out. Because unless there is a change for the better, voters will conclude that the change that will make things better is a change of Government.
Comments for: "Star comment: Change needed now for jobless"
Jason
I believe a lot of these out of work youngsters have degrees that are not needed in the workplace. I chose my degree carefully in a growing industry and made sure I took a sandwich degree so I got work experience along with my qualification. I graduated in 2002 and have not been out of work since. Life is tough and people need to realise this and work hard in the right areas where there are opportunities instead of blaming others (i.e. the government).
Wenlock Un
In 2002 the outlook was a little more rosy (or so we believed!) and there perhaps was plenty of opportunity to aim for. Not sure what degree you would choose for a career with longevity today?
Who's to say your industry won't falter or vanish in 10years time?
A degree displays a capacity to learn, not capability in a single subject to be followed religiously without change throughout a 50year career. The article comments on the willingness of these overqualified people to do work requiring less qualifications, so they aren't workshy or blaming anyone personally, they probably just have a reasonable expectation of the government to manage an economy that offers them paid employment.
grumpy old man
That's as may be, Wenlock un but any sensible employer is going to choose their future workforce by the nature of the degree in question. Is some-one in manufacturing going to favour someone with an arts or media degree over someone with an engineering degree, in the real world?
grumpy old man
At the same time, I don't think it would be fair to offer a shop job to someone with a degree, at the expense of some hardworking person who doesn't have the ability to study for a degree. The opportunity to study for a degree is something that people should be grateful for and not an opportunity to be wasted by going for an easy to obtain but worthless in the workplace, degree and then moan because they don't have the right qualifications to obtain realistic work for their ability.