Business leaders in Birmingham and Solihull are calling for a
moratorium on new employment regulations.
This comes as figures show the West Midlands again has the
highest percentage of unemployed in the country.
Paul Bassi, President of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (BCI) said the government must do more to support
companies. "At a time when lack of cash flow is still hindering the
business community, we are calling on the government to reduce
employment costs.
"We are meeting with the Low Pay Commission to discuss National
Minimum Wage (NMW) proposals. Over 60 per cent of our members feel
that the NMW should be frozen in 2010. We will be portraying our
members' views and submitting our position to the Government this
week.
"Unemployment in the West Midlands now stands at 270,000 (equal
to 10 per cent of the working age population) and although this is
a decrease, and therefore a step in the right direction, this
region still has the highest percentage of unemployed than any
other area of the country."
Mr. Bassi added that the figures for youth unemployment are
unacceptable. "In the West Midlands we have a huge wealth of talent
in our young people. We are encouraging businesses to work with key
partners to create opportunities to support young people's
development and employability, through schemes such as Future Jobs
Fund and West Midlands Graduate Internship Programme."