Employers warn against proposed higher costs for training older workers

Britain's largest employers have warned the government that increasing the cost of training older staff could undermine efforts to address youth unemployment, according to the Guardian. Ministers are preparing to alter the apprenticeship funding framework in England ahead of the upcoming budget. The planned changes would raise the cost of training a worker over the age of 25 by 25 percent. [1]

The government intends to use the price increase for older staff to motivate businesses to train younger individuals instead. However, major employers told ministers that forcing companies to pay more for older workers risks damaging the broader goal of solving the youth job crisis. [1]

Political parties have put forward various strategies to address youth unemployment in recent weeks. As FTMQ News reported earlier, the Green Party proposed a scheme in October to guarantee two-year private sector jobs for unemployed people under the age of 24. [3]