Has anybody worked for the money advice service or A4e?

flowerpower12_2

Hi, I have been offered a job recently to work as a Money Advisor for the Money Advice Service and will be employed by a company called A4e. I know very little about what it's like to work for these company's or how secure the job will be. I would appreciate any feedback from exsisting or ex-employees to either the Money Advice Service or A4e as I would be giving up a permanant position in my current job to accept this new job offer & I would like a bit more info before making a decision.

Thanks

Honeypie

HI,

I used to work for A4e as an employment coach. They were ok to work for. No great extra benefits, but the wage was ok for the role I was doing. I would work for them again. I was made redundant. And that is the trouble with working for a company such as A4e - or more importantly, working within a sector that is government funded. As the government changes the provisions it wishes to provide, then the companies which provide them swap and change, contracts are lost and this ultimately results in redundancies.
I know that sounds really negative! But don't let that put you off! A job is a job and what job is now 100% safe in the long run? Not many.


Edit: Just reread your post and missed that you said you'd be leaving a permanent post. I suppose it depends on your reasons for wanting to leave your current role.

flowerpower12_2

Thank you, your feedback has been really helpful, i really like the sound of the job itself & the salary however because the company are government funded i have concerns about redundancies, i have been offered a permanant position however the contract for the Money Advisor role for The Money Advice Service is only 1 year with an expected 2 year contract afterwards but that hasn't been secured yet so if the position did end then i would still be employed through A4e but would have to look at another role & i'm not sure i feel comfortable with that. Can i ask how long you worked for A4e before being made redundant & was you on a permanant or fixed term contract?

Kind Regards

Honeypie

I was in the same position re: the contract I was delivering. I was on a full time permanent position, promised that even when the contract ended, they would find another role for me within the company. It was expected that it would be renewed for another 2 years. However, after 9 months this was not the case and the ESF funding was being removed from that particular provision to make way for the work programme. A4e were subsequently unsuccessful in their bid for that, but did manage to secure a small amount (in comparison to what they had expected and were used to) of sub contractor provision.

Because the contract I was on wasn't linked to the work programme (though those that delivered the new deal part for a4e was) I wasn't eligible for TUPE so my role was made redundant. They did work hard to try and keep as many of the staff as possible and helped us secure interviews with the new companies delivering the new contracts (ingeus, avanta), but there were no guarantees. We were just like anyone else applying for a new job.

I was lucky and secured a role elsewhere, but unfortunately I have since been made redundant again. That's the way it is within the government funded sector unfortunately.

flowerpower12_2

Thank you honey pie for your Feedback, it has been really useful, I have some serious decision making to do I think, you have brought up some of the concerns I have already about moving to a company that relies on government funding, I'm not sure the risk is worth it as I am fairly happy with the job I currently have.

I am sorry to hear that you have been made redundant again, I also know how that feels, I hope you find another job soon.

Kind Regards

flowerpower12_2

Received my contract of employment for the money advisor role, still not sure what to do, if anyone else knows what it's like to work for either of these companies & can give me some feedback then I would be really grateful