Sir, It was with much irritation that I read the simplistic bleat by the Work and Pensions Secretary for companies to give work to young British workers (report, July 1). As a company director who has tried this and failed I would suggest the matter is much more complex.
I failed because the basic ingredients for employment, such as skills, fitness and attitude, have not been developed by either the educational system or social attitudes at peer level. It is the attitude to work that is the most desperate need that has to be addressed, in that some jobs are below the dignity of unemployed youth. Until we develop an attitude that all honest employment is deserving of respect from the whole community, and that the people carrying out the work are respected for earning money to support themselves and their families, we will never start to turn the problem around.
As an employer manufacturing in the UK I would happily provide work experience and training for young people while on income support to ameliorate the caustic effects of rejection, exclusion and low worth, provided they came with a spirit of goodwill and an understanding that all work, and the people doing it, commands respect.
Gordon Bendall
Marcham, Oxon