Some of Britain’s fastest growing companies have questioned Government claims that the private sector will hire people made redundant from the public sector or encouraged to work through reform of the benefits system.

George Osborne, the Chancellor, has said that the pain of public spending cuts can be eased by a revitalised private sector but many of those companies contacted by Your Business said this was unlikely in the short term.
…
Mr Walker said George Osborne’s decision to mitigate the impact of the planned increase in national insurance contributions next April was welcome, but he did not see anything more that stimulated private sector recruitment.

Colin Ellis, chief economist at the British Venture Capital Association, said that private equity-backed companies were unlikely to create mass employment in the short term. “There’s a massive amount of uncertainty around the outlook for the economy,” he said.

…more at the Daily Telegraph

Update
Those views were also echoed last night John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development:

There is not a hope in hell’s chance of this happening [the creation of 2.5m new jobs]. There would have to be extraordinarily strong private sector employment growth in a … much less conducive economic environment than it was during the boom.

Anthony Painter points out that job creation wasn’t even that high during the boom years:

Let’s take 1999-2007- pre-credit crunch/ recession and boom time. In that time the UK private sector economy only created 1,520,000 private sector jobs. So what hope is there that it will create 2.5million by 2015 in a period of slow growth, fiscal consolidation, potentially rising interest rates, and while the European economy is stagnant? Not very high would be my guess. This is a Budget that will not create jobs at the very best.

Reader comments

1. Conservative contradictions on crime and punishment « Though Cowards Flinch

   [...] plans to slash the State sector to ribbons proceeding apace – and private sector investment not yet prepared to pick up the slack – education won’t stop a slide to [...]

2. Liberal Conspiracy

   Osborne’s plans falter; companies say they can’t create so many new jobs http://bit.ly/dh8W4u

3. sunny hundal

   Osborne’s plans to conjure 2.5m jobs out of thin air falter as companies say they can't: http://bit.ly/dh8W4u

4. yorkierosie

   RT @libcon: Osborne’s plans falter; companies say they can’t create so many new jobs http://bit.ly/dh8W4u

5. Shantelle

   RT @libcon Osborne’s plans falter; companies say they can’t create so many new jobs http://bit.ly/9rxeJr

6. paulstpancras

   RT @libcon Osborne’s plans falter; companies say they can’t create so many new jobs http://bit.ly/9rxeJr

7. paulstpancras

   RT @libcon Osborne’s plans falter; companies say they can’t create so many new jobs http://bit.ly/9rxeJr

8. sunny hundal

   @rogthornhill @CharlotteGore heh. The bigger joke is that you people expect 2.5m jobs to be created http://bit.ly/9rxeJr

9. David O'Keefe

   RT @libcon: Osborne’s plans falter; companies say they can’t create so many new jobs http://bit.ly/dh8W4u

10. Huw Irranca-Davies

    RT @libcon: Osborne’s plans falter; companies say they can’t create so many new jobs http://bit.ly/dh8W4u

11. Colette Harris

    RT @libcon: Osborne’s plans falter; companies say they can’t create so many new jobs http://bit.ly/dh8W4u

12. Conservative contradictions on crime and punishment | Liberal Conspiracy

    [...] Tory plans to slash the State sector to ribbons proceeding apace – and private sector investment not yet prepared to pick up the slack – education won’t stop a slide to [...]

13. Tara B

    RT @sunny_hundal Osborne’s plans to conjure 2.5m jobs out of thin air falter as companies say they can't: http://bit.ly/dh8W4u

14. LCW

    RT @libcon: Osborne’s plans falter; companies say they can’t create so many new jobs http://bit.ly/dh8W4u

15. Laura

    RT @sunny_hundal: Osborne’s plans to conjure 2.5m jobs out of thin air falter as companies say they can't: http://bit.ly/dh8W4u

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