Next has joined high street rival M&S in warning April’s introduction of UK tax changes will have a negative effect on staff hiring.

Next CEO Lord Wolfson said the government’s Budget-announced changes could make it “harder for people to enter the workforce”.

He told the BBC that a rise in National Insurance paid by businesses would hit the retail sector in particular and meant “the axe [had] fallen particularly hard” on entry-level jobs.

He called on the government to stagger the tax changes rather than introduce them in April, “otherwise jobs or hours would have to be cut”.

His comments follow quickly on from M&S CEO Stuart Machin who said it would be more reluctant to hire new staff in the wake of the Budget, which will increase the cost of employment from April as rising National Insurance costs will add £120 million to the retailer’s costs.

Machin told the Telegraph last week: “I do not see big job losses. We’re a growing business. We’ve got lots to do. Does it make us look at how we recruit? Of course it does, and that does mean we have to think about where we invest.”

In October’s Budget, the government increased the rate of National Insurance (NI) paid by employers from April, and also reduced the threshold that employers start paying it at from £9,100 to £5,000.

Businesses are also facing a rise in the National Living Wage in April at double the rate of inflation. Lord Wolfson said these changes would hit those employers with large numbers of lower-paid or part-time workers hardest.

Next’s wage bill is set to rise by £70 million, and Lord Wolfson said this would lead to a cut in the number of employee hours worked.

He said that while the increase in tax on a £60,000-a-year job was around 2%, the increase for a part-time living wage worker was around 6.5%.

“So the axe has fallen particularly hard on those entry-level, National Living Wage jobs, and that’s where the pain is going to be felt the most.”

Next said it received 13 applications for every Christmas job vacancy this year – up 50% on last year.

Lord Wolfson also has concerns about a new workers’ rights bill that promises to give greater protection from unfair dismissal and “exploitative” zero-hours contracts, with employees able to request a guaranteed hours contract based on hours worked over a period. But that could pose a problem for retailers.

“We offer staff extra hours in the run-up to Christmas. If the legislation is going to mean that those hours have to be contractually binding forever then we just won’t be able to do it at all, it would be impossible.”