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Fin24 writes that according to Free Market Foundation (FMF) economist Loane Sharp, even though the economy has been slowing for several years, government’s meddling in labour affairs is probably the greatest killer of jobs.
Government is the only employer doing any serious hiring and the public sector now employs more than 2.1m people, roughly a third more than a decade ago. In contrast, the private sector has shed 4% of its jobs over the same period. “This is the most worrying aspect of our economy, that the only sector which is actually growing from a jobs perspective is the public sector… The private sector has stopped hiring, in fact it is laying off workers,” says Sharp, who notes that 5m people entered the labour market over the past decade, but only 3m found work. The official unemployment rate is 26%, but Sharp expects this to rise to 40% within seven years as more people leave school only to have their dreams crushed on entering the job market. The unemployment rate could be as high as 50% in seven years if a narrower definition of employment is used. Gareth Tindall of recruitment firm Adcorp commented: “Companies are looking for people with the right skills, but it is difficult to find the right candidates. What this tells us is there is a massive lack of skills in the country.” Sharp agrees, adding that unemployment is virtually zero in the highly skilled categories.
- Read this report by Ciaran Ryan in full at Fin24
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