The boss of Next has warned of a ‘dramatic fall’ in entry-level jobs thanks to the Government’s tax policies.
Lord Wolfson revealed that the retailer received 10 applications for every job in its shops last year, but that has now almost doubled to 19.
‘That doubling of applicants for shop jobs is indicative of just how big the crisis is in youth unemployment at the moment,’ he told the BBC.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics published last week revealed that the jobless rate among 18 to 24-year-olds now stands at 14.7 per cent, the highest level since 2014.
Among the population as a whole, the rate was 5 per cent in the three months to March. Â
Lord Wolfson blamed the lack of entry-level opportunities on Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to hike employers’ National Insurance contributions. This took effect in April 2025, along with hikes to the minimum wage.
Unemployment rise: The Chancellor’s tax hikes on businesses have contributed to the jobs crisis with 19 hopefuls now applying for each position at Next, says Lord Wolfson
He said: ‘Youth unemployment is really a symptom of wider problems with employment in the economy, and of course, if you’ve got fewer jobs, the people who suffer the most are the people with the least experience and that is the youngest.’
Wolfson also repeated his criticism of the Employment Rights Act, which effectively bans zero hours contracts which have been described as ‘exploitative’ by the Government.Â
He says this will mean it is ‘going to get much harder’ for Next to offer more hours for its staff.
Wolfson said he agreed with banning zero hours contracts in general, but that it was more complicated for the retail sector than other industries. ‘You can’t afford to… have the same number of people in your shop in February as you have in and around Christmas,’ he said.  Â
‘That’s going to be bad news for our colleagues who want extra hours, particularly students who, in holiday time, need extra hours, and of course bad news for customers because service won’t be as good.’
Minimum wage ‘pricing out’ young workers
Lord Wolfson joins the chorus of business leaders who have warned that the painful tax raid and sharp increases in the minimum wage have priced young workers out of jobs.
Analysis of employment figures by WPI Strategy shows that since the Chancellor’s first Budget in October 2024 – when she announced her £25billion National Insurance tax raid alongside hikes to the minimum wage – the number of employees aged 34 and under has fallen by 296,000 while employment among those 35 and over has risen by 18,000.
Retailers and hospitality firms, which typically offer young people their first experience of employment, have warned that higher costs have made it difficult to create lower-paid, part-time roles.
The Next boss said the retailer had fewer staff in its stores, having previously said its wage bill had increased by £70million per year.
However, Next has managed to defy some of the gloom experienced by high street retailers, increasing its full-year profit expectations to £1.2billion, with sales up 6.2 per cent in the first three months of the year.
‘If you look at retail over the last 25 years,’ Lord Wolfson said, ‘Seventy to 80 per cent of the names that were there then have gone. And what you can’t do is say, we just won’t run the business for profit because if you don’t run the business for profit, you just don’t stay in business.’
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