Chancellor Rachel Reeves has presented her spring statement to the House of Commons, but it served only to underline help the hospitality sector needs.
Unemployment is forecast to peak later this year, then fall in every subsequent year in 2029/30.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: “With half of our workforce made up of younger people, we are a fundamental part of the job market, and give many their first step on the career ladder.
“With unemployment set to spike, we can help solve this problem, but, if we’re to keep putting money in workers’ pockets, our businesses need to be viable, which means cutting the heavy cost of doing business.
“Key to this is the government taking a sustainable approach to the National Living Wage rises, which will mean we can keep creating those precious opportunities, jobs, and skills.”
Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, said that urgently reducing the sector’s cost of doing business had to be the priority. “That means cutting one of the highest rates of VAT in Europe, properly fixing the broken business rates system, and helping hospitality get people back into work by reducing employment costs.”
Dan Maimone, head of global customer experience at HR specialist Harri, drew attention to the need to tackle youth unemployment.
“Hospitality needs specific economic support packages to meet this need. It should be treated as critical economic infrastructure, not a lifestyle sector. While the frontline economy remains under strain, it can’t be considered a reliable safety net and youth unemployment will only continue to climb.”
