中文导读

“我办公室里有一大摞简历，我想给他们每个人一份工作，可我们做不到。”说这话的是伦敦东南部一家餐馆兼商店的店主。英国财政大臣将于 10 月 28 日（周三）公布预算案，在此之前，这对店主夫妇呼吁政府资助学徒、降低国民保险，好让他们雇用更多年轻人。文章先讲他们面临的成本压力，再通过一位大学退学后在餐馆找到出路的主厨，说明餐饮和零售为何常是年轻人进入职场的第一步；随后引用英国国家统计局的数据：2026 年 4 月至 6 月，约 98.1 万名 16 至 24 岁的年轻人不上学、不工作也不接受培训。最后介绍商业团体的看法和财政部的回应，结尾停在预算案尚未公布这一时点。阅读时可留意 says、wants、pointed to 等词如何把不同人的说法和已确认的事实区分开。

正文

“I have a thick pile of CVs at the office, and I want to give them all a job, but we can’t.” That is how Jamshid Golshan Ebrahimi describes the problem at Persepolis, the restaurant and shop he runs with his wife, Sally Butcher, in Peckham, south-east London. Ahead of the UK Budget on 28 October, the couple are asking the government for help so that they can employ more young people.

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“我办公室里有一大摞简历，我想给他们每个人一份工作，可我们做不到。”贾姆希德·戈尔尚·易卜拉希米这样描述 Persepolis 面临的问题。Persepolis 是他和妻子萨莉·布彻在伦敦东南部佩卡姆经营的餐馆兼商店。在 10 月 28 日英国预算案公布前，这对夫妇正请求政府提供帮助，好让他们能雇用更多年轻人。

Their main complaint is cost. Since rises in National Insurance, a tax that employers pay on their workers’ wages, were announced in the 2024 Budget, the couple say their own take-home pay has fallen by 25%. The minimum wage has also gone up, and so have food prices. Ebrahimi says a pack of tomatoes that once cost £3.60 now costs £9.50. He adds that the business only survives because the owners work 80 or 90 hours a week.

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他们最主要的不满是成本。自 2024 年预算案宣布提高国民保险（雇主按员工工资缴纳的一种税）以来，这对夫妇说，他们自己的到手收入下降了 25%。最低工资也上涨了，食品价格同样如此。易卜拉希米说，一盒过去 3.60 英镑的西红柿现在要 9.50 英镑。他还说，这家店之所以还能维持，只是因为店主每周工作 80 或 90 个小时。

For young people, these costs matter because jobs in restaurants and shops are often a first step into work. Rowlan Clark, 29, has been head chef at Persepolis for five years. He turned to cooking after he dropped out of university, and he calls the industry “the net that caught his fall”. But he says such chances are now harder to find, both for people with degrees and for those without them.

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对年轻人来说，这些成本之所以重要，是因为餐馆和商店的工作往往是进入职场的第一步。29 岁的罗兰·克拉克已在 Persepolis 担任主厨五年。他从大学退学后转而从事烹饪，并把这个行业称为“接住他跌落的那张网”。但他说，如今这样的机会越来越难找，无论是对有学位的人，还是对没有学位的人。

Official figures help to explain why the issue gets attention. According to the Office for National Statistics, about 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training between April and June 2026. That was 13.0% of the age group, a little higher than a year earlier, although lower than in the first three months of the year.

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官方数据有助于解释这一问题为何受到关注。据英国国家统计局统计，2026 年 4 月至 6 月，英国约有 98.1 万名 16 至 24 岁的年轻人既不在上学或接受培训，也没有工作。这占该年龄群体的 13.0%，略高于一年前，但低于今年头三个月。

Some business groups share the restaurant owners‘ view. John Dickie, head of BusinessLDN, which represents about 170 businesses in London, says higher National Insurance costs and a rising minimum wage have made it harder to hire young people with little experience. His group wants targeted help that makes these workers cheaper to employ. Clark and Ebrahimi both want more government money for apprenticeships, which combine paid work with training.

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一些商业团体也认同这对餐馆店主的看法。代表伦敦约 170 家企业的 BusinessLDN 负责人约翰·迪基说，国民保险成本上升和最低工资上涨，使企业更难雇用缺乏经验的年轻人。他的组织希望出台有针对性的帮助措施，降低雇用这些员工的成本。克拉克和易卜拉希米都希望政府为学徒制投入更多资金，学徒制把带薪工作与培训结合在一起。

The government says some help already exists. A Treasury spokesperson pointed to cuts in business rates and said employers already get National Insurance relief when they hire workers under 21 or apprentices under 25. The spokesperson would not comment on possible new tax changes before the Budget. Whether Chancellor John Healey offers anything more for young workers should become clear on Wednesday.

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政府表示，已有一些帮助措施。一位财政部发言人提到了营业房产税的削减，并说雇主在雇用 21 岁以下员工或 25 岁以下学徒时，已经可以享受国民保险方面的减免。这位发言人不愿在预算案公布前评论可能的新税收变化。财政大臣约翰·希利是否会为年轻劳动者提供更多支持，应该会在周三揭晓。

新闻来源

• BBC News · ‘The Budget needs to help us employ more apprentices’ (27 Oct 2026)
• Office for National Statistics · Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK: August 2026 (27 Aug 2026)

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