Government's youth unemployment measures welcomed

New measures to help get young people into sales jobs have been welcomed by an industry body.

Gerwyn Davies, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) policy adviser, said that with the labour market balanced on a knife-edge, the announcement in the Queen's Speech by prime minister Gordon Brown was "most welcome".

The January Guarantee will remove the need for a qualifying period before 16 and 17 year olds not in education, employment or training are guaranteed a place in learning.

"However, it is important that the training places offered are good or they will do nothing for employers," added Mr Davies.

Tom Richmond, CIPD skills adviser, welcomed efforts to promote internships to help unemployed graduates gain experience in the labour market, but warned that the government could be setting people's hopes too high.

"Care must be taken to ensure that quality is not sacrificed in a headlong rush to offer every unemployed graduate an internship," he added.

In the Queen's Speech, the prime minister also said that the government was committed to bringing in new rights for agency workers.

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By John Oak

Filed: 19-11-2009