UK's Entry-Level Job Market in 'Dramatic Fall,' Warns Next Boss

A chilling assessment from one of Britain's most successful retailers: the UK’s entry-level job market is in freefall. Lord Simon Wolfson, the long-serving chief executive of high street giant Next, didn't mince words. He characterized the decline as nothing less than “dramatic.”

Just two years ago, Next's shops saw about 10 applicants for every entry-level position. Today? That number has nearly doubled to 19. A stark, undeniable shift. “That doubling of applicants for shop jobs is indicative of just how big the crisis is in youth unemployment at the moment,” Wolfson told the BBC, painting a grim picture for those just starting out.

His warnings arrive amid mounting anxiety over young people struggling to find work. Current figures show the unemployment rate for 16-to-24-year-olds sits at a stubborn 16.2%, the highest since 2014. That's more than triple the general unemployment rate. High street mainstays and hospitality venues often provide crucial first job experiences. But the landscape is changing.

Wolfson didn't stop at diagnosing the problem. He pointed a finger directly at government policy. A ban on zero-hours contracts, set to take effect next year, would make hiring far more complicated, he argued. The government, for its part, labels these contracts “exploitative,” claiming its Employment Rights Act will end “one-sided flexibility,” demanding companies provide a “baseline” of security.

Policy Collisions and Economic Headwinds

The Conservative peer called for a reversal of the recent hike in employer National Insurance contributions. He also pushed back against minimum wage increases. His core belief? Economic growth. That's the real antidote to a stagnant job market.

“Youth unemployment is really a symptom of wider problems with employment in the economy,” Wolfson explained. “If you've got fewer jobs, the people who suffer most are the people with the least experience and that is the youngest.”

The Treasury, predictably, countered. They highlighted that a boosted national minimum wage supports over 200,000 young workers. And employer NI contributions are actually lower for under-21s. A spokesperson added, “Cutting wages for the lowest paid during a time of global uncertainty is not the answer.” They also trumpeted a £2.5 billion youth employment support package, promising “a million opportunities.”

“You can't afford to... have the same number of people in your shop in February as you have in and around Christmas.”

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson, taking a swipe at Wolfson's reported £7 million pay packet, insisted the government's Budget had stabilized the economy and delivered crucial support to families and businesses. Yet, the clash over policy remains palpable.

Next, a high street survivor, has seen its wage bill jump by £70 million annually due to government policies, Wolfson claimed. The result? Fewer staff in individual stores. The retailer increasingly leans on automation, with self-scanning lockers replacing human tills for returns. Meanwhile, its online operations flourish. Next, remember, has snapped up struggling brands like Joules and Fatface, and recently upped its full-year profit forecast to £1.2 billion.

Profit, Purpose, and Planning Laws

Wolfson batted away suggestions Next prioritizes shareholders over workers. “When people talk about a company making a billion pounds, they assume that that's somehow a person with a billion pounds in their pocket,” he said. Public companies, he reminded, are owned by “hundreds of thousands of savers whose savings are often very modest.” The average individual dividend? A mere £300 a year.

Profit, for Wolfson, isn't greed; it's survival. “If you look at retail over the last 25 years... 70 to 80% of the names that were there then have gone.” Ignoring profit, he warned, means going out of business.

He reiterated his gripes with the Employment Rights Act, particularly how it will restrict offering extra hours to staff. While acknowledging the need to curb zero-hours contracts in many sectors, Wolfson argued retail is different. Businesses can’t simply contract for hours “forever.” It’s impossible to staff a shop in slow February the same way as during the Christmas rush. This, he fears, is “bad news” for students wanting extra hours and, ultimately, for customer service.

The Trades Union Congress, however, sees the policy differently. It’s “hugely popular,” they claim, with the right to regular hours based on a multi-month reference period, smoothing out peaks and troughs without impacting holiday jobs. This, they argue, gives “insecure workers on variable hours security in their working lives which they are so badly lacking.”

But Wolfson’s focus stretches beyond immediate employment fixes. He believes the government should tackle foundational issues: reforming planning laws, energy policy, and transport networks. Release more land for building, he urged, noting agricultural land in the South East skyrockets from £15,000 to £1.5 million an acre with planning permission. “All of these things are holding the economy back,” Wolfson concluded. If only the government would “take its foot off the brakes,” he believes a much faster-growing economy could emerge. A simple proposition, perhaps, but one that raises questions about just how much control policymakers truly have over the levers of growth.