4/12/2008 06:03:00 pm BenefitScroungingScum 6 Comments

Hello and welcome to all those coming to read here after today's BOM article on job brokers. Here are links to some of the posts you may find of interest, hope they are helpful and enjoyable to you.

Part 1- The jobs fair

Part 2- Getting there

Part 3- The job broker

No special treatment- The practical response

I see your true colours


A question of chance


Missing out


Bendy Girl

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you ever considered writing a book about your experiences with the welfare state? Judging by your posts on the job broker madness you've certainly got the ability to do it. You could provide a detailed look at how the system works from the claimant's perspective, and explain what would need to change for it to actually provide an effective service. The debate about welfare reform isn't going to go away, and it needs to include the views of the people the system is supposed to help as well as the people who run it and the angry taxpayers (like me!) who want to know where on earth all those tens of billions of pounds are going.

James Higham said...

Job brokers? This is a whole new field for me.

Andrew: Hello, welcome and thank you. A book is exactly what I'm thinking of (you're not the first to suggest such) but the devil is in the detail as ever! Any suggestions gratefully accepted, BG

Semaj: Ah, you've been out of the UK too long ;)

Anonymous said...

*sigh* There is so much I would love to say on this topic but alas, I need to keep this job and the internet is a bit too public a forum.

To be honest, the biggest problem (well, one of the biggest problems) with the whole job placement scheme for IB is that unlike jobcenter customers (who are typically low skilled or new to the job market), many incapacity or disability recipients have degrees, experience, and probably had positions of authority before they ended up in the system - these are not people who are going to settle for a generic, unskilled, low paying and often temporary and low ranking job... but those are the jobs which job brokers and their cousins, the temp agencies, are best able to get people.

To some degree it comes down to employers attitudes as well... there are people on IB who could work if their employers were willing to be more flexible with regard to their needs and disabilities, but most employers don't want to take the time or spend the money. Having had a life outside the civil service, I can somewhat understand where that attitude comes from (though I don't necessarily agree with it), but it does complicate the situation.

-Faceless-

Dark Side said...

Pop over to mine Bendy, I have something for you on Etchings..xx

Faceless: Couldn't agree more! Nothing will realistically change until politicians start to realise these are the main issues and are very different from those facing 'jobseekers'
I wonder what the impact on all this will be with the current economic downturn. Sigh. BG

Emma: TY.