Ministers are being lobbied by the chief executive of a major British business to solve the Neets crisis by imposing a four-day week on top earners. The media shy high-flying boss, who has close links to the Labour party, is convinced that forcing the best-paid employees to work fewer days could be the silver bullet for moving the one million youngsters not in employment, education or training into the jobs market.
The logic – if it can be called that – is that compelling top earners to take Fridays off would free up cash for businesses to hire new entrants. The CEO, whose business has an annual turnover of close to £1 billion, is convinced that Britain’s high-flyers would happily accept a pay cut and more leisure time in the interests of getting Neets into employment. They described the current five day week as a ‘Victorian concept’ that should be consigned to history. Mr S understands that ministers and mandarins were ‘happy to engage’ with the proposal and ‘understood the merits’ of the argument. In Labour’s Britain, it seems the answer to getting a million people to work could be to make everybody else work less.
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