Saturday job 'under threat due to tax rises'

Rising employment costs are hampering CLA members' ability to hire young people - and threatening the future of the 'Saturday job'.

Part-time roles traditionally held by students or teenagers to earn pocket money and gain early work experience may become a thing of the past, the snapshot poll of members has found.

Respondents said employer National Insurance contributions, business rates and minimum wage costs are spiralling, with more than a third saying they would have to spend an extra £10,000-£25,000 over the next 12 months.

More than 90% said rising costs were affecting their willingness or ability to hire young people or entry-level workers, and two-thirds had already made redundancies or cut roles/hours. Only one in 10 said they were confident that they can continue creating local jobs for young people over the next year, and the majority fear youth unemployment figures will increase.

Gavin Lane, CLA President said:

“A Saturday job is one of the best first steps into work for young people. It’s where they learn to show up, pull a pint, and get their first taste of the working world. But as businesses struggle with national insurance hikes and costs that have doubled since Covid, these jobs are now going extinct.

“It’s become financial madness to hire a teenager. Every business I speak to says the same thing: they want to give someone their first job, but when a 25-year-old with experience costs the same as a 17-year-old with none, how can they justify it?

“Burnham says he wants to get more young people into work. But it makes little sense to create new schemes while closing down one of the best routes in. At the next budget, he must slash the taxes forcing tough choices onto businesses, before we lose the job that’s launched millions of careers in Britain.”

Next month Chancellor John Healey will deliver his first budget, with pressure mounting from the hospitality sector to support jobs, businesses and communities.