This year’s Budget has brought some potentially welcome news for graduate job seekers, if it stimulates economic growth the way it is intended to and therefore creates job opportunities. Here we run through the main points of the 2011 Budget from a graduate recruitment point of view.
Whether the Budget will actually stimulate growth is being hotly debated. While the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has broadly welcomed the Budget as signalling that the ‘UK is open for business’, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have slammed it as a ‘no change Budget’ in which there is ‘nothing to end the basic error of imposing deep, rapid and unfair spending cuts on an economy where unemployment is rising and growth faltering’.
However, if they are successful, the government’s plans to provide Enterprise Zones in 21 areas around England (which will benefit from 100% business rate discounts and easier planning systems) could well create graduate job opportunities. Changes to the planning systems, the 1p cut in corporation tax and simplifications to taxation are also designed to make life easier for businesses and open up jobs.
Would-be high-flyers in the scientific world will welcome a £100 million investment in scientific research, which should open up more opportunities. The Russell Group of universities’ director general, Dr Wendy Piatt, commented: "The Budget’s £100 million additional capital investment in science investment projects is a welcome step in the right direction", although she also argued that UK universities are still under-funded compared to their international competitors.
Chancellor George Osborne has put a lot of emphasis on the importance of manufacturing to the economic recovery, saying that he wanted ‘a Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers.’ The launch of the first Technology and Innovation Centre in high-value manufacturing is designed to encourage this. Enhanced capital allowances are also to be introduced to boost Enterprise Zones where there is a ‘strong focus’ on high-value manufacturing.
There is much in the Budget to bring hope to the construction industry, including money devoted to railways, roads and houses. Richard Threlfall, head of infrastructure, building and construction at KPMG, comments: "The government’s initiative to help first time buyers will help to stimulate the market and hopefully feed through to building companies and suppliers. The sector will also welcome the announcement of changes to the planning system, the commitment to approve 21 new Enterprise Zones and an additional £2 billion for the Green Investment Bank, all measures that will help long-term growth and economic stability."
John Cridland, director general of the CBI, also pointed out that the first time buyer’s scheme ‘could create thousands of construction jobs’.
George Osborne’s announcement of 80,000 new government-funded work experience placements seems to be aimed at 18–21 year olds who are on benefits – not university students, then. However, the government has previously said that graduates who have been on Jobseekers’ Allowance for six months or more are eligible for a training allowance while undertaking unpaid internships.
There are some positive signs in this Budget that, should things go as the Chancellor of the Exchequer hopes, the jobs market will improve. Don’t expect this to happen immediately, though: many of the measures in the Budget, such as the planning changes and even the cuts in taxation, will take a while to filter down into job creation.
Whether the Budget will actually stimulate growth is being hotly debated. While the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has broadly welcomed the Budget as signalling that the ‘UK is open for business’, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have slammed it as a ‘no change Budget’ in which there is ‘nothing to end the basic error of imposing deep, rapid and unfair spending cuts on an economy where unemployment is rising and growth faltering’.
However, if they are successful, the government’s plans to provide Enterprise Zones in 21 areas around England (which will benefit from 100% business rate discounts and easier planning systems) could well create graduate job opportunities. Changes to the planning systems, the 1p cut in corporation tax and simplifications to taxation are also designed to make life easier for businesses and open up jobs.
Would-be high-flyers in the scientific world will welcome a £100 million investment in scientific research, which should open up more opportunities. The Russell Group of universities’ director general, Dr Wendy Piatt, commented: "The Budget’s £100 million additional capital investment in science investment projects is a welcome step in the right direction", although she also argued that UK universities are still under-funded compared to their international competitors.
Chancellor George Osborne has put a lot of emphasis on the importance of manufacturing to the economic recovery, saying that he wanted ‘a Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers.’ The launch of the first Technology and Innovation Centre in high-value manufacturing is designed to encourage this. Enhanced capital allowances are also to be introduced to boost Enterprise Zones where there is a ‘strong focus’ on high-value manufacturing.
There is much in the Budget to bring hope to the construction industry, including money devoted to railways, roads and houses. Richard Threlfall, head of infrastructure, building and construction at KPMG, comments: "The government’s initiative to help first time buyers will help to stimulate the market and hopefully feed through to building companies and suppliers. The sector will also welcome the announcement of changes to the planning system, the commitment to approve 21 new Enterprise Zones and an additional £2 billion for the Green Investment Bank, all measures that will help long-term growth and economic stability."
John Cridland, director general of the CBI, also pointed out that the first time buyer’s scheme ‘could create thousands of construction jobs’.
George Osborne’s announcement of 80,000 new government-funded work experience placements seems to be aimed at 18–21 year olds who are on benefits – not university students, then. However, the government has previously said that graduates who have been on Jobseekers’ Allowance for six months or more are eligible for a training allowance while undertaking unpaid internships.
There are some positive signs in this Budget that, should things go as the Chancellor of the Exchequer hopes, the jobs market will improve. Don’t expect this to happen immediately, though: many of the measures in the Budget, such as the planning changes and even the cuts in taxation, will take a while to filter down into job creation.
Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Thursday 24th March 2011
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