Hilton has urged the government to encourage unemployed young people into hospitality, claiming that filling all the industry’s vacancies would add £2.3bn to the economy. 

The hotel group, in collaboration with trade body UK Hospitality (UKH), has urged Andy Burnham to lower taxes on hospitality firms to give them the breathing space to take a chance on hiring young people. 

Filling the UK’s 33,600 vacant hospitality jobs with young people who are not in employment, education or training (Neet) would raise £2.3bn of economic output every year, according to research by WPI Economics commissioned by Hilton.

The “experience trap” blocking Neets from getting their first job is costing Britain up to £14.4bn per year in lost economic output, WPI found. 

Hilton said Hospitality firms are no longer able to hand out jobs to young people with no experience because they are battling rising business rates, employment costs and energy prices.

The hotel group and the industry body have urged the government to reverse hikes to employer national insurance contributions (NICs), reform the business rates system and cut VAT for hospitality firms from 20 to 10 per cent. 

Hospitality jobs ‘taxed out of existence’

Steve Cassidy, Hilton’s senior vice president for the UK and Ireland, said that hospitality “can play a role” in pushing down the number of Neets, which is just below 1m. 

He said: “If we want businesses to invest in the next generation, we need policies that encourage employers to create more jobs and give young people the chance to prove what they can do.”

Nearly nine in 10 (85 per cent) of hospitality bosses say that higher tax burdens are limiting their ability to hire young or inexperienced workers, according to a survey by Hilton. 

Eight in 10 (81 per cent) of this pub, restaurant and hotel firms said they would invest more in new jobs if their tax burden was reduced. 

Allen Simpson, chief executive of UKH, said that hospitality jobs are being “taxed out of existence. It’s costing the economy and taking away the first step on the career ladder for a whole generation”.

“The benefits of backing hospitality are clear,” he added. “Billions in economic benefit, opportunities for young people and thousands of people back in work. The new Prime Minister should continue to show his support for hospitality, reduce its tax burden and allow the sector to fulfil its potential to drive economic growth and create new jobs in every postcode.”

The Treasury has been contacted for comment.