Youth unemployment is rising, not because young people lack ambition, but because construction businesses increasingly cannot afford to employ and train them, argues Craig Bell, CEO of Bell Group. 

Youth unemployment is largely an issue of the government’s own making, a consequence of years of policy failures and lack of foresight. After successive minimum wage increases for apprentices and younger workers, all marketed under the banner of ‘raising living standards,’ it has simply priced many entry-level roles out of existence. Now ministers appear shocked that fewer young people are entering work. 

While some positive action has been taken, such as the investment package of £600m to train up the trade professionals needed, this year, in an attempt to help turn things around, ministers have discussed subsidising families when teenagers enter apprenticeships – alongside another broader package of reforms. 

Let’s face it, this is treating the symptom rather than the cause. The uncomfortable truth is this: you cannot tax and regulate entry-level employment into decline and then expect welfare payments to fix the problems afterwards.   

Surely the more pragmatic approach is to reduce the barriers preventing businesses from employing young people in the first place.

Significant investment burden

A priority has to be the significant investment burden for SME construction businesses. Employers take on the cost of supervision, mentoring and the reduction in productivity during training, college release, administration and compliance, long before they see any commercial return. 

When government continuously raises wage costs without addressing those wider burdens, businesses respond in the only way they can: by reducing recruitment. This all stems from the UK’s systemic political problem of looking for short-term media wins, which sacrifice long-term value and vision. 

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The result for apprenticeships is that they’re left stuck in layers of subsidies and a mire of bureaucracy. Against a backdrop of such extended economic uncertainty, SMEs are already under increasing pressure. 

If ministers genuinely want to tackle youth unemployment, then the focus should be on making apprenticeships commercially viable again. So, what does that look like? Well, reduce employment costs for young workers, cut bureaucracy around the various training schemes, and give employers the confidence to invest in long-term skills development. 

The value in apprenticeships

Because when the conditions are right, apprenticeships are transformative. At Bell, we are entirely driven by creating jobs with career paths and supporting social mobility. My father began his career as an apprentice, and since our organisation was founded, we have aligned ourselves to focus on societal issues such as unemployment, inspiring young people, social inclusion and community regeneration.

Apprenticeships can have such a positive impact on social mobility, and a little over 16% of our workforce are apprentices, with more than 302 apprentices on programmes nationwide. These schemes are bringing in new talent, while also providing a route for upskilling existing employees. 

Not to be seen as a short-term fix, when apprenticeships succeed, they have a fundamental part to play in a long-term, scalable solution that contributes to the UK skills gap. They are a proven, strategic and meaningful investment that does more than just fill vacancies: they build capability, strengthen culture and create a workforce equipped for the challenges ahead. 

However, positive outcomes need sustained investment and commitment to building pathways into the industry that are credible, supported and genuinely valued. Britain built generations of skilled tradespeople through apprenticeships because they worked for both employers and young people. 

More welfare payments just aren’t the right solution to get us back there. At some point, the cycle of endlessly handing out money has to end. We must return to an economy where work, training and opportunity are affordable, accessible and sustainable once again. 

While no easy task, those barriers facing businesses must be and can be removed. Perhaps as we face new leadership in the UK, with renewed focus and hope, we may start to see the necessary steps taken to get there.