I have written recently in a previous blog posting that I recently met a man,who had applied for over 4,000 jobs. The correct figure is in fact 4,700. I mentioned this man to an economic journalist from the Guardian, who interviewed him today at his home in Harlow. It was particularly relevant on a day in which unemployment was confirmed at 2.5 million.
The truth is that jobs are very hard to come by and the job market is tightening as we face the economic abyss. The high taxes, hike in National Insurance Contributions planned by Gordon Brown, and the ever increasing red tape, all act as an anti-stimulant to businesses to create jobs. That is why we have to cut business taxes, reduce NI contributions and make it easier for businesses to hire new employees on a low tax basis. We need to give young people the skills that they want - through apprenticeships and work placements. Above all, we must get the economy back on track, by cutting waste and reducing the deficit.
Wherever I go around and about Harlow, it is jobs that is one of the key issues. Too many people have been made redundant and there are too few employment opportunities available.
P.S. It was another exceptionally hectic Wednesday, starting off with hustings at Harlow College. It was a good debate and quite testing, as the students were asking some tough questions. Many wanted to know about jobs, skills and student funding.
After, I met with Sir Alan Haslehurst, MP for Saffron Walden and a large crew of volunteers. We have been really lucky to have many Saffron Walden volunteers come over to help in recent weeks and months. I then went with my campaign team around Harlow visiting a range of shops from Staple Tye to Hare Street. We were also really pleased to be interviewed by Anglia TV on the campaign trail. A fulfilling day.
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com
There's got to be something wrong with this story. I work for a US company in the defence sector which has a large UK subsidiary (2000 people) of whom 700 are employed in Harlow, at the Pinnacles business park. We've currently got 62 job offers on websites, of which 48 are for various IT trades split between Harlow (27 IT jobs, from C++ programmer to IT project leader, salaries £29,000 to £56,000, plus benefits), Uxbridge and Glenrothes. We're the company providing the E-Borders programme.
ReplyDeleteTell your man to drive the 3 miles to Raytheon, and hand in his CV to HR. If he's good, then he's going to get an offer. If he's not good, then he's not. If he doesn't get an offer, then perhaps the 4,701st refusal will tell him he needs to retrain.