Specialist recruiting group Hays is today unveiling a nine-point Manifesto for Employment in which it details what it sees as serious shortcomings it sees in Britain’s job market.

Working with Reform, the independent think tank, Hays has produced a set of proposals which will be presented to politicians and policy leaders at a keynote forum in London this morning (29 March 2010).

“Britain needs to change its attitudes and support for employment to secure a more prosperous future,” said Alistair Cox, Hays chief executive. “The statistics say it all: there are more than 8m non-working adults in this country and yet many of the employers we speak to daily are suffering severe shortages of staff with the appropriate skills. This cannot be the foundation for a vibrant and competitive economy.

“We look forward to seeing the elected Government make employment its number one priority as it sets out its policies,” Cox said.

The nine points are:

• Commit to freezing and then reducing employers’ National Insurance Contributions
• Limit the impact of the EU’s Agency Workers Directive
• Call for a moratorium on new employment legislation
• Provide a first-class education system, which equips all school leavers with basic skills and a commercial understanding
• Realign further education with the strategic focus of the economy. Give the business community an advisory role in university course and curriculum provision
• Increase government funding for apprenticeships, raising their status with employers and improving uptake from school leavers wishing to pursue a vocational route into employment
• Introduce commercial disciplines and improve management in the public sector to cope effectively with imminent budget cuts and the likely significant scale of change required
• Reconfigure Jobcentre Plus to suit real job seeker needs
• Tie immigration quotas more closely to skill needs.