One of the numerous job creation schemes of the Thatcher years was known officially as Employment Training, although the acronym was colloquially translated into ‘Extra Tenner’, because that was how much it paid on top of the dole.
These days, it seems, even an additional ten quid a week is a bit much to ask. Many of Britain’s most profitable employers are securing staff for nothing, with the state picking up the tab for Jobseekers’ Allowance and a bus pass.
When I did my six month stint on ET, my employer provided me with what turned out to be useful training as a press officer for a voluntary organisation. I guess there is not quite so much to learn about the finer nuances of night time shelf stacking. Continue reading
The endlessly repeated mantra of the Coalition that ‘everyone who can should work’ seems reasonable on the surface, other things being equal. But of course in actual practice they’re not. Most obviously the work isn’t there to do: there are less than 0.5 million vacancies, but 2.5 million unemployed, so a nationwide average of 5 people chasing each vacancy and in many urban areas it’s 20 or 50 or in some cases even more. So the question we should be asking is why do the Tories persist with what they know is impossible? 