Give a 'hoodie' a job, says Employment Minister Grayling

Companies should give a job to "the surly young man in a hoodie", the employment minister is to say.

In a speech later, Chris Grayling will say that "it's easy to hire someone from Eastern Europe with five years' experience", but firms should take a risk on less obvious "local recruits".

He will also attack those who "rail with outrage" at the idea of young people doing unpaid work experience.

Jobs "don't just come on a plate", Mr Grayling will add.

He is due to give a speech in London on Wednesday afternoon to the think tank Policy Exchange. It comes as officials figures show UK unemployment has registered its first fall since last spring.

'Genuinely feckless'

Mr Grayling is expected to say he wants "British employers [to] put local recruits first".

"It's easy to hire someone from Eastern Europe with five years' experience and who has had the get-up-and-go to cross a continent in search for work.

"But those who look closer to home find gems too. Very often the surly young man in a hoodie who turns up looking unwilling to work can turn into an excited and motivated employee.

"It's all about the expectations that they have and the place they come from. And employers who give them that chance find it enormously rewarding."

He will also say British firms who move their customer service departments overseas are "mad", adding: "We all know how frustrating it can be speaking to a call centre operator overseas who works from a set script but doesn't get what your problem is."

Mr Grayling will argue that the welfare state must be "a ladder up" for the unemployed, "not a place in which they live", and insist that "even those who are genuinely feckless can change".

But in order for the UK to compete with growing economies in Latin America and elsewhere, British workers must show "a willingness to work [their] way up from the bottom".

Referring to Guardian newspaper columnist Polly Toynbee - who has praised those who protested against the government's work experience scheme" - he said: "I'm afraid that too many people still just don't get it.

"Like the 'Polly Toynbee left' who rail with outrage against the idea of a young unemployed person being offered the chance to do a month's work experience with Airbus, British Telecom, UK Mail or Tesco.

"Slave labour they call it. Well, that's just insulting to some great companies who are helping young people get a job, not to mention the young people benefiting from placements by picking up the valuable skills and experience they need to get a leg up into the world of work.

Benefits docked

"They just don't understand that in today's world, things don't come on a plate."

Mr Grayling will also attack union leaders "who demand swingeing taxes on wealth creators and unrealistic pay rises and more protection for their members".

"Don't they realise that in many sectors, companies are a few business class air tickets away from relocation somewhere else where their enterprise and wealth creation is welcomed and not derided?"

The work experience scheme gave 16- to 24-year-olds on jobseeker's allowance the opportunity to do up to eight weeks' unpaid work but keep benefits.

However, it attracted widespread criticism because those who dropped out after the first week risked having their benefits docked for a fortnight.

Several firms, including Burger King, Waterstones and Maplin, pulled out following protests, and eventually ministers agreed to drop the threat of sanctions against participants.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17753347