Member

We do not have this estimate nationally, other than the 940,000 that, we hear, will lose out. However, we have heard about the impact on different groups: hospitality, retail and hairdressing. In all three, part-time and entry-level workers form a significant proportion of the workforce. In hospitality alone, UKHospitality found that one in five of the sector’s workforce—around 774,000 people—will move into the new employer NIC threshold for the first time under the Chancellor’s proposals, resulting in an extra cost of £l billion. The sector, which covers hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs and nightclubs, believes that the changes will have a disproportionate effect on hospitality, given the high proportion of part-time and flexible working. Staff not eligible for employer NICs will drop from 1.2 million to just 450,000, resulting in increased costs. I am afraid that employers have already begun preparations to cut jobs and investment, and to raise prices. Three-quarters of a million people will be brought into this employer tax for the first time.