Government plough £1bn into "soft jobs"

Graham_Devon

bo_drinker wrote: »

Here's another report on it, not my daily read.
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/117055/150-000-soft-jobs-to-slash-dole-queues-/

Hmmm,

Some of these jobs seem a bit specialised to me .Not something you can force people into, which IS the case....

Childcare? Classroom assistants? Social Carers?

I'd be a bit worried about forcing people into these positions to be honest.

Dance classes and loft laggers are one thing, but caring type jobs? That's plain dangerous, surely?

kabayiri

When you pump 1bn into a new area, it's very difficult to ensure it all gets spent as planned.

There will be parties with vested interest working out ingenious but effective ways of getting their share of the cake.

In coming months, expect to see stories appearing stating "I was taken on as a XYZ and left to play minesweeper on the PC all day"

(not that being skilled in playing minesweeper is a bad thing you understand )

baileysbattlebus

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Hmmm,

Some of these jobs seem a bit specialised to me .Not something you can force people into, which IS the case....

Childcare? Classroom assistants? Social Carers?

I'd be a bit worried about forcing people into these positions to be honest.

Dance classes and loft laggers are one thing, but caring type jobs? That's plain dangerous, surely?

Obviously they can't force people into jobs like this - for a start you have to have a criminal records background check and good references to work with children. Social carers also usually have to have a CRB and if the jobs are through the council they need to have good references too. At least at our council you do.

Some people just aren't cut out to work with children or the elderly or the disabled as I'm sure both you and the powers that be know, or are you just being obtuse?

Graham_Devon

baileysbattlebus wrote: »

Obviously they can't force people into jobs like this - for a start you have to have a criminal records background check and good references to work with children. Social carers also usually have to have a CRB and if the jobs are through the council they need to have good references too. At least at our council you do.

Some people just aren't cut out to work with children or the elderly as I'm sure you and the powers that be know, or are you just being obtuse?

I'm not being obtuse.

The story, and the government has said if they do not take the jobs, their benefits will be cut.

Make of that what you will.

Rochdale_Pioneers

Graham_Devon wrote: »

My gripe is not the jobs.

My gripe is the £1bn we do not have which they are funding this with.

What costs less? 15,000 people getting JSA, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, paying no tax and spending little money in the economy. Or someone working, paying tax and spending money?

Its not like the economy can't support an additional 15,000 jobs - how many have been lost since the crash?

Graham_Devon

Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »

What costs less? 15,000 people getting JSA, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, paying no tax and spending little money in the economy. Or someone working, paying tax and spending money?

Its not like the economy can't support an additional 15,000 jobs - how many have been lost since the crash?

Where have you got 15,000 from? It's 47,000, plus it saves no money, the government will still be paying them, hence costing £1bn.

Rochdale_Pioneers

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Where have you got 15,000 from?

When I type 150,000 and miss off the last 0......

baileysbattlebus

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I'm not being obtuse.

The story, and the government has said if they do not take the jobs, their benefits will be cut.

Make of that what you will.

According to the gov't - candidates will be interviewed by employers for the jobs - with the most suitable being offered a job and feedback to be given to unsuccesful candidates.

Gordon Brown has announced that those who refuse a "suitable job offer" could lose two weeks benefit, four weeks if they turn a job down a second time and 26 weeks for a third time.

Of course only a minimum of 25 hours a week has to be worked and the jobs have to pay at least minimum wage and last for a minimum of 6 months - so the pay is not great - though I don't know what JSA is for 18 - 24 year olds. Not a lot I imagine.

The part of your post I disagreed with was that people would be forced into jobs like child care - they won't - they will have to apply and be selected for the jobs.. They won't be told to and start work somewhere on Monday morning. People will probably apply for the type of job they would prefer.

Q: Can I interview candidates to check their suitability?
A: Yes – we would expect that employers would want to interview candidates and select the right one or ones for the job. However feedback must be offered to unsuccessful applicants. And in general, we would expect bidders to ensure that the jobs are suitable and attractive to eligible claimants and then to employ as many people as they have bid for.
[/QUOTE]

They may be told to apply for jobs - but like I said you can't force people into social care jobs. It would be unthinkable.

Companies and councils have been bidding for the money.

The newspapers aren't always correct.

Graham_Devon

Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »

When I type 150,000 and miss off the last 0......

Fair enough.

Graham_Devon

baileysbattlebus wrote: »

According to the gov't - candidates will be interviewed by employers for the jobs - with the most suitable being offered a job and feedback to be given to unsuccesful candidates.

This is really simple from my POV.

I do not believe the government. They are so desperate they turn to this.

I believe we will see some horror stories from some of these roles. That's just my opinion. Not once have this government ever done something as they said they would. I don't see why this would be any different at a time when they will do literally anything (hence this) to get people off the unemployment figures.

Up to you if you believe people will not just end up as child carers.