David Cameron has started a tour of the UK with the aim of boosting employment. The Prime Minister says that his government “will be focused relentlessly on supporting growth and driving job creation across our economy.” But public sector jobs are being cut dramtically and Government ministers are on record as saying that they believe the private sector will be the engine for job creation. Which begs the question, how much can governments really do to create jobs in private companies?
If the publicity surrounding Cameron’s tour is to be believed, not very much. They are doubling the number of people who will receive an Enterprise Allowance to start a small business. But the package available to people under this scheme is only £2,000. Even sole traders working from home will struggle to get a viable business off the ground with that level of investment.
The government are also pinning their hopes on events that will take place in the UK over the next year or so, the Royal Wedding, the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. These events apparently have the potential to create 50,000 tourism jobs. But 50,000 jobs is a drop in the ocean when nearly 3 million are unemployed.
The reality is that jobs will only be created when the economy recovers and people and businesses have sufficient confidence to start spending again. And nobody really knows how to make that happen. There are many ideas out there but few certainties; after all economics is a very inexact science. The only certainty seems to be that jobseekers should not pin too many hopes on David Cameron’s UK tour.
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