Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 7 July 2021.
Our position on labour market intelligence and relationships that we have not just with the broader surveys but from business sectors themselves is one that we continue to look at, as we discuss the further path to opening up parts of our economy, as restrictions, we still think, can be eased in the future. That's the incomplete conversation that I referred to in your first question.
I don't think it's quite as simple as saying that it will be older or younger workers who will be affected, because actually we know that lots of younger workers have been hit extremely hard during the pandemic as well, and in the sectors you mentioned some people are going back to work, but also those sectors face a real labour challenge in that some people have moved on to different industries and different jobs. So, we have a challenge across a range of ages, and the risk for younger people is that if they're not able to re-enter the world of work, that can have a scarring effect on their future potential and ability to achieve. And older workers, if they're out of work for a long time, and if firms do make choices of either reducing head count or closing their business, as we see the stepped down support from furlough, then there is a real risk, and we've seen this many times with economic shocks in the past, that it can be very difficult for people, particularly higher skilled people, to return to the world of work on salaries that are commensurate, and that in itself has a real impact. So, at more than one age range, we recognise there are significant risks that we're managing in the economy at present. It's why we've called for the UK Government to reconsider its approach to furlough and to think about a more agile way of supporting businesses as those choices are made, and the opening up of our economy is not complete in any part of the UK, and we're equally not entirely certain what will happen in the pandemic and what that may mean about future economic activity as well.