Desperate jobseeker sets himself alight outside Selly Oak jobcentre

[BrilloPad]

It is so hard to tell between those who are a bit down on their luck and those who are continually trying to play the system.

[TimberWolf]

Fair enough we are in a recession and the poor will suffer, but what gets me is the way they are being singled out. Doctors are going on strike to get a pension more than 3 times what people will earn in their lifetimes, Merv is on a super indexed linked pension, bankers are being showered with money, people overextended on mortgages are having them paid off by the state; and the poor who for the most part probably had nothing to do with the cause of the recession are having benefits stopped and are being used to solve Labour's mass immigration disaster. The latter not done by political means but by making life unemployed so unbearable in the UK that people won't come here. All the people that caused the mess are being rewarded and those that had nothing to do with it are being hammered. It's getting like Animal Farm.

We are all in this together

[original PM]

Because one day it might be you.

No it won't because I am not a lazy feckless tw@ and understand the need to get of my ar$e on a daily basis to earn money.

There are jobs available for people who want to work.

[DodgyAgent]

That is a sad story.

If Dodgy had his way these people would have no money coming in so would not be disincentivised from working, so this would never have happened.

Unlike you I do not take things at face value. I would suggest that there is more to this than meets the eye. It is extraordinary how intelligent people can take something like this and totally accept it as read. It is more like opportunism from a leftie than a situation that truly reflects desperation to get a job.

[DodgyAgent]

How does this little lot work?

David Cameron's back-to-work firms want benefits cut more often



So, private firms now have multimillion pound contracts to get folks back into work. How are they doing that?

It strikes me that this area is ripe for back handers. "If you want some free labour we'll add a few folks to the list for you."

Or have I got hold of the wrong end of the stick?

Quite

Scandal hit A4e spent £45million securing just 4,000 jobseekers a long-term role | Mail Online

[oscarose]

We are all in this together

+1

[mudskipper]

Quite

Scandal hit A4e spent £45million securing just 4,000 jobseekers a long-term role | Mail Online

Son went on one of these back to work courses - a six week course.

He did actually go with a good attitude to start with, but was sadly disappointed.

The first hour of each day was taken up with reimbursing travel expenses.

They were then meant to 'search' for jobs - with 2 PCs and a handful of newspapers available between 24 of them. Son asked if he could bring his own laptop in, but was told he would not be allowed to connect to their wireless network for security reasons.

They did get some help with CVs which he found useful.

He got sent for an interview for an IT training program which he was keen to do. They paid for him to get a haircut for it, and his expenses to get there. He spent an afternoon at the interview, got along great, was really fired up, but got turned down because he wasn't eligible (too old). He apparently shouldn't have been sent in the first place.

One week, they spent the whole week gearing up for a recruitment fair on the Friday. When Friday came, the travel budget had run out, so they couldn't get them there.

At the end of the six weeks, not one of them was in employment, but they were all off the 'long term' unemployed stats, as the 'training' period counts as a break.

It must have cost a fortune, and son felt that the actual useful content could have been covered in 3 days.

[BrilloPad]

Son went on one of these back to work courses - a six week course.

He did actually go with a good attitude to start with, but was sadly disappointed.

The first hour of each day was taken up with reimbursing travel expenses.

They were then meant to 'search' for jobs - with 2 PCs and a handful of newspapers available between 24 of them. Son asked if he could bring his own laptop in, but was told he would not be allowed to connect to their wireless network for security reasons.

They did get some help with CVs which he found useful.

He got sent for an interview for an IT training program which he was keen to do. They paid for him to get a haircut for it, and his expenses to get there. He spent an afternoon at the interview, got along great, was really fired up, but got turned down because he wasn't eligible (too old). He apparently shouldn't have been sent in the first place.

One week, they spent the whole week gearing up for a recruitment fair on the Friday. When Friday came, the travel budget had run out, so they couldn't get them there.

At the end of the six weeks, not one of them was in employment, but they were all off the 'long term' unemployed stats, as the 'training' period counts as a break.

It must have cost a fortune, and son felt that the actual useful content could have been covered in 3 days.

I do wonder if the money spent on these courses would be better spent with corporation tax cuts - try to generate some more jobs.

[d000hg]

If my 17 year old daughter can get a job, I'm sure anyone can. Those that don't want to work don't. Those that do, do. IMO.

I didn't use any contacts... She works in the local (small town) supermarket on checkout. She went in to ask for a job (of her own accord), filled in the application forms and went for an interview.

I know plenty of smart, eager people who have done similar things at dozens of shops - taking the initiative to find job opportunities - and not got a job.

Maybe your daughter's fit.

[mudskipper]

I know plenty of smart, eager people who have done similar things at dozens of shops - taking the initiative to find job opportunities - and not got a job.

Maybe your daughter's fit.

Yep, took my daughter a year to get something doing the same.