Monday 12 January 2009

New jobs for £2.5K? Nice idea - but probably not.


A small business person’s view

So now we small business people are being asked to employ someone with a £2.5k incentive.

This is yet another very well-meaning initiative, but as much as I want it to work – I fear it won’t.

Why? Well if employers don’t have the available work why would they saddle themselves with the burden of paying the balance of the wage bill plus on costs and other employment obligations? And if we did have the work we’d probably take someone on anyway.

If you want to help small businesses Messrs Brown & Darling, then please do something about business costs – in particular business rates – for the long-term. Business rates must be one of the most stupid taxes ever dreamed up. It’s a relic of a bygone age.

Think of it like this: ‘So you want to start a business and employ people Mr Jones? Then we will have to impose a punitive tax on you immediately.’ In fact, you could have a small office, with minimal impact on local services (except for the occasional bag of rubbish) and pay more in business rates than a family in a four bedroom house pay in council tax.

What utter anti-entrepreneurial tosh. It’s so much easier to get a job in our massive, wealth-consuming public sector.

Meanwhile, wealth creation in Wales diminishes by the day. I am worried for my kids’ future.

1 comment:

  1. Yes I have to agree with your sentiments here. I've been running my own business for a few years - and its still not really flying. Of course it has a potentially large upside ( good for the economy and govt tax ), but I carry all the risk.

    I just can't understand all these public sector salaries over £60k.

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