Youth unemployment: Devon MP blasts retailers for “stripping out” checkout jobs

The MP for Honiton & Sidmouth has lambasted retail giants for axing entry level jobs, such as on checkouts, in favour of automation.

Richard Foord took part in a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, that was triggered by last week’s publication of a hard-hitting report about youth unemployment.

The Government report, authored by former Health Secretary, Alan Milburn, found that nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). This amounts to one in eight young people. 

The report sets out that eight in ten of those young people have been searching for some time.

Mr Foord told the Commons: “Many young people get their first job on the checkouts. 

“The boss of Next, Lord Wolfson, said that two years ago, Next received ten applications for every job vacancy, but that number has since risen to 19 applications per vacancy. He said nothing about how retailers have stripped out jobs at checkouts.

“Next made a profit of over £1 billion last year. Does the Minister accept that retailers also have a responsibility to create opportunities for young people?

Minister Andrew Western, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, replied: “I do accept that”.

Speaking after the debate, Mr Foord said: “Parents want their children to grow up to have a fulfilling job that will afford them independence. Yet we keep hearing that young people are locked out of the job market, due to increasing automation, the growing use of artificial intelligence, and dehumanised recruitment processes that weed out applications.

“It is a bit rich for Conservative peer Lord Wolfson – the boss of Next – to get his excuses in first. Retail giants like Next, and the big supermarkets could afford to take on more young people if they were serious about it. Tesco made annual profits of over £3 billion in 2024/25. These retail giants don’t seem interested in affording young people the chance to get early work experience, in the way that retailers used to. This is quite wrong”.

Mr Milburn’s report states: “Entry-level roles have become less plentiful and more demanding.

“Recruitment has become more remote, more automated and less human.

“The young person who once might have walked into a shop, spoken to a manager and been given a chance in the past is now screened by a portal, a test, a recorded interview or an algorithm before anyone has looked them in the eye.”

Mr Foord added: “The increase in business rates and national insurance in the past year, have also made it tougher – especially for small businesses that are just about scraping by. These Government measures have exacerbated an already challenging job market.

“I hope that Government ministers take this very seriously. We cannot allow a generation to fall by the roadside and grow up dependent on the state.”