{"id":392,"date":"2010-10-19T08:10:23","date_gmt":"2010-10-19T08:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leedscd.wordpress.com\/?p=392"},"modified":"2010-10-19T08:10:23","modified_gmt":"2010-10-19T08:10:23","slug":"creating-jobs-in-leeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2010\/10\/19\/creating-jobs-in-leeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Jobs in Leeds…."},"content":{"rendered":"

What a very touching and re-assuring letter<\/a> those 35 key directors of FTSE 100 companies published in the Telegraph this week.<\/p>\n

In their view the cuts are necessary and have to be made quickly. \u00a0And the resulting \u00a0job losses of some 500 000 from the public sector in the next four years will be offset by new jobs created in the private sector.<\/p>\n

But what has their track record been in job creation in recent years?<\/p>\n

Well, according to Andrew Hill in the Financial Times<\/a> they have between them shed 20 000 UK jobs since 2007.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0believe\u00a0that \u00a0large employers have not been creating jobs in the UK for a good while. \u00a0Nor should we expect them to in the future. \u00a0It is not what they exist to do. \u00a0They exist to create profits, not jobs. \u00a0For them, jobs represent costs<\/a> and wherever possible should be cut in pursuit of productivity and profit.\u00a0\u00a0If they can use technology or offshore labour to reduce employment costs, then that is what they will try to do. \u00a0Not because they are bad people, but\u00a0because\u00a0they are first and foremost good business people.<\/p>\n

There seems to be some suggestion that ‘Big Business’ is prepared to invest some of the war chests that they have accumulated over recent highly profitable years in creating new jobs. \u00a0Personally I can’t see it happening. \u00a0Not on any grand scale. \u00a0 Not unless those new jobs make good sense in the pursuit of profits. \u00a0And in that case they are hardly doing a social service are they?<\/p>\n

In Leeds I have been told that the top 100 employers employ between then 100 000 people. \u00a0Should we expect that number to go up or down? \u00a0I know where I would place my bets.<\/p>\n

So where might jobs be created in Leeds if we should not expect big business to do it for us?<\/p>\n

Well, maybe we need to shift the thinking away from ‘jobs and employers’ to \u00a0‘enterprise’ and ‘good work’. \u00a0Instead of the main narrative being about ’employers creating jobs’ it could be about us learning to find our own work; understanding for\u00a0ourselves\u00a0how to keep our economic engines running while doing ‘good work’ that makes our communities a better place for us and our children?<\/p>\n

And this is not about getting on our bikes and chasing jobs down the M1 or across the M62. \u00a0It is about asking ourselves what we can do to create\u00a0value\u00a0in our own community and make it a place of hope and potential for all of its members.<\/p>\n