BUSINESS chiefs are demanding Rachel Reeves offers tax incentives to help a million young people into the workplace.
More than 100 industry bosses, including Toyota and JCB, have written to the Chancellor demanding help to avoid youths ending up on the scrapheap.
Demands are being laid out for a Skills Tax Relief at the Budget with claims it could save £10 billion over five years in welfare savings .
The calls come as the talent of one million NEETs – Not in Education, Employment or Training – is going to waste.
Georgina Bristol, of the Jobs Foundation, said: “We know that businesses are the best engine for providing that vital first step on the career ladder for young people.
“But businesses are facing too many additional costs, which is stopping them from fulfilling this vital role.
“We are not short of young people with ambition. We are short of clear routes into real work. A Skills Tax Relief could give business the tools to offer that hope.”
Young people who were in this category before the pandemic stood at 10.7 per cent but this then hit a peak of 13.2 per cent – representing 987,000 not earning or even learning a skill.
The joint letter from 125 business leaders wants Ms Reeves to bring in some form of tax incentive to enable funding in young people.
Prominent signatories include chairman of JCB Lord Anthony Bamford , Labour Peer Lord Jon Mendelsohn and sports promoter Barry Hearn .
The Jobs Foundation also highlights that that the number of apprenticeships has fallen by 40 per cent since 2016.
The Chancellor last month told a House of Lords committee that getting young people back into work is where “the biggest crisis exists”.
