Budget 2009: Budget for jobs
Jobs should be the focus of the Budget if the government is going to bring us out of recession, according to experts.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said a cut in employers' National Insurance contributions (NIC), backed by a focus on job creation for the young and long-term unemployed.
Dr John Philpott, public policy director for CIPD, said: "This year's Budget should be about saving existing jobs as well as helping the jobless find work.
"Employers in general are urging the chancellor to adjust payroll taxes to support employment, while a majority of those in the manufacturing sector believe a short-time working subsidy would enable them to hold onto staff during the recession."
David Blanchflower, a member of the monetary policy committee (MPC), also supports measures for job creation.
"We need a Budget for jobs," Mr Blanchflower wrote in an article for the Daily Mirror.
"We have a jobs crisis and the government needs to act quickly. Unemployment is going to rise a lot during 2009 ... It is probably going to be the biggest issue in the next election."
According to this quarter's CIPD/KPMG labour market outlook survey, 37 per cent of the 500 employers surveyed across all sectors naming NIC cuts as a policy most likely to improve their organisation's resilience through recession.
This is followed by a temporary cut in corporation tax (19 per cent agree) and a further temporary cut in VAT (eight per cent).
CIPD estimates an initial programme with 250,000 participants would cost around £1.4 billion.
Colin Ben-Nathan, employment tax partner at KPMG, added: "Whilst we recognise that the scope for any further tax reductions is severely limited by the extreme pressures on the public finances, we urge the Chancellor to focus any resources available on measures to help keep people in work and to encourage hiring and training."
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