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Will higher minimum wage kill off apprenticeships?

ended 29. October 2024

A number of experts on Newspage have said the Government increasing the minimum wage will see companies take on fewer junior roles, including apprenticeships, as the numbers simply won't stack up. As HRs and recruiters, what are your thoughts on this? Do you agree? Also, have you seen companies put their hiring plans on hold until after tomorrow? Any pre-Budget insights from the front line of the jobs market, send them across. We will be publishing this story on the news wire tomorrow AM sharp so deadline is 23:00 tonight.

2 responses from the Newspage community

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David Stirling
Independent Financial Advisor at Mint Wealth
With the introduction of the Workers Rights Bill, a National Insurance hike and now a raise in minimum wage, we are plunging into an era of massive taxation on businesses which will likely see the weakest fold, to the detriment of the wider economy. Whilst employees do deserve protection, this government does seem to be quite short-sighted as to the longer-term impact these policies will have on small to medium businesses that are already under pressure from all directions. This will definitely lead to restricted recruitment plans for businesses, as a gamble on apprentices and trainees especially, may just be too expensive and the new HR laws too difficult to navigate for employers to have the appetite to bother.
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Debbie Porter
Managing Director at Destination Digital Marketing
Taking on juniors with little or no experience will suddenly become a lot more risky with the proposed rises, most especially with the large step up in the under 18s rate. Apprenticeships are already hard enough to manage, given the quality of education provision by the numerous providers I’ve experience of. To make apprentices even more expensive to host will mean that it’s literally going to be more profitable to seek out people who’ve already made a start on their career ladders. Young people seeking to pursue an apprenticeship rather than A-Levels are going to be the biggest losers here.