Teenagers should go out and get a Saturday job, the employment minister has said. In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Priti Patel said working at weekends or evenings was absolutely crucial in impressing future employers.
Just 18% of students aged 16 and 17 have a part-time job – down from 42% in 1997, according to a report out last week from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). The study found that "young people are increasingly choosing to simply focus on their studies".
Patel, 43, said this was short-sighted. She said Saturday jobs give teenagers a "foot in the door" with future employers. The Conservative minister insisted pressure with exams had "always been there" and urged students to make time for practical work if they want to get a job in the future.
The MP for Witham, Essex, was appointed employment minister last month when her predecessor Esther McVey lost her seat in the general election. Long seen as being on the right of the Tory party, Patel contributed to a book in 2012 which claimed that British workers are "among the worst idlers in the world".
But she told BuzzFeed News how she had started work at an early age, stacking shelves and bundling up newspapers at the chain of newsagents run by her parents in south east England. "I work, I've always worked and not working was something that just would never enter my mind," she said.
"I think if you have, as youngsters, the ability to get a real taster of work – whether it’s after-school work or weekend jobs – not only are you earning some dough but you pick up those vital, vital employability skills. And that is great to put on your CV. I think it gives you a foot in the door with future employers so they can see that actually you are a responsible young person."
Patel told BuzzFeed News that too many teenagers were lacking basic skills like turning up on time. "Employers are taking on youngsters and still having to educate them about what work is like," she said. "That you do turn up at 9am and it is a full working day and you do get a lunch break but you have to be back at the end of that, and you can’t be doing personal things during a working day. That’s all about employability skills."
Some 55% of young people say their main reason for not having a part-time job is because they want to focus on their studies, according to the UKCES report. But Patel said it was important to find a balance between earning and learning.
"I think that pressure has always been there," she said. "Quite rightly, our education system is challenging, we want our young people to leave with great qualifications, that’s how you get on in life. But there’s no harm in supplementing that with some practical experience. And I think that’s really where we need to get to."