With the claimant count standing at 1.457m in December 2010[1], The People Bulletin spoke to a redundant professional knowledge worker about his local North London Jobcentre Plus experience. Our correspondent remains unable to find any paid employment and wishes to remain anonymous. However his experiences highlight some of the inefficiencies in a system put in place by the DWP to reduce the claimant count and get unemployed people back into work.
Dumped by email
“The initial shock of redundancy from an American media company I had respected, and worked for loyally and effectively plunged me into an overwhelming fog of worthlessness.
I was laid-off one week before my second anniversary as an employee, the result of which was no entitlement to any redundancy package. That fact that my employers were 3,000 miles away and minus five hours GMT on the Eastern American seaboard meant my situation was very much at arms length to them and I could not have meaningful discussion with eye-to-eye contact. I was remotely dumped. ‘Thanks and goodbye…end of, send, job done.’
With no apparent suitable vacancies to suit my particular skillset, which for some 30 years had been earning me a living all round the world in all sorts of different cultural environments, I exercised my right to see what my local Jobcentre Plus had to offer. After all, I had paid enough in taxation over the years, so it was time to see what the system could do to get me back onto somebody’s payroll again.
In the beginning…
I checked the necessary criteria for Jobseekers Allowance payments on the Directgov website[2] and gathered up the necessary administration such a tax details, National Insurance Number (affectionately known as NINO by Department of Works and Pensions – DWP who run the Jobcentres) and set off for the local branch.
It was very new and well appointed. The front desk had four operatives who were under the gaze of no fewer than eight GS4 uniformed security guards deep conservation with each other.
I was ushered to a seating area to await an adviser. As I looked around me I felt like a kid at the first day at a new school. Everything looked new and alien to me; there was lots of conversational buzz and everyone looked to be busy.
My adviser rattled through a script of my rights and requirements and took some scant details of my employment history and recent activity. I was asked me to complete a multi-page application for contribution-based JSA (Job Seekers Allowance) after which I was presented with a signing-on attendance record card which I should bring with very two weeks at the appointed time on the card. Well, that seemed easier than I thought.
Pass the parcel
I was in for a shock. I visited the Jobcentre every two weeks on time as agreed and after almost eight weeks, I still had not received any JSA benefit. Eight weeks of unemployment without redundancy payment is painful to say the least. I made calls to the main benefit office in Glasgow, only to be palmed off by answers such as 'We’ll look into that for you' or, 'we only deal with current claims'.
As a result of my circumstances, it transpired from my umpteenth call to Glasgow I should have been told to apply for income-based JSA so I would now have to make a claim for back-payment. In following this up I was told the case was with ‘decision makers’; I could not contact them and I should wait for a letter from them. In the meantime I sought advice from the Jobcentre staff and the only help I got was to be told to seek a ‘crisis loan’ that would be eventually subtracted from any due benefit.[3] I called the crisis loan number only to be told that as I had some money I did not have a crisis. To comply I needed to have no money and in that case I wouldn’t have been able to call the crisis loan line! I was fortunate in having close friends with a spare bedroom as I had been in rented accommodation at the time of my redundancy and had no means of continuing the rent payments.
I got a letter from the decision maker three weeks later, meaning I was without benefit for 11 weeks in which they acceded that I should have been correctly advised initially to claim benefit on an income basis and I would be back-paid from the summer when I first registered.
An uphill task
So, everything was eventually back on track and up to date. However, I am still unemployed, although have managed to do some volunteering, but have in the meantime developed a certain amount of sympathy for Jobcentre Plus staff. They are fundamentally unable to help me find work with the information and systems available to them. The cards are simply stacked against them. I have been referred third party organisations for help in writing effective CVs and interview technique as well as strategies to broaden my prospects of employment. These are organisations providing services to the government on a contracted-out basis.
However the biggest problem is that there are just not enough jobs – at least not ones that Jobcentre Plus know about. While I am prepared to be very flexible about transferring skills to other careers, I do not think it is reasonable to have to stack shelves in a supermarket or clean toilets to justify a benefit payment. Nor is it reasonable to expect someone to commute for up to two hours each way each day for a ‘suitable opportunity’ – it was surprising how many of the vacancies they did suggest were several counties away.
It transpires that Jobcentres only get around 25% of the available vacancies. When you go in to sign on, you can see that the Jobcentres have touch-screen ‘Job Points’ that list the available vacancies they hold and you have to check these on the premises. The jobs are not accessible remotely. In the open recruitment market, many white collar vacancies are not advertised; they go to internal candidates, are filled through networking events or word-of-mouth.[4] I don’t need any more advice or fruitless visits to Jobcentres, so that the right boxes against my inconvenient statistic can be ticked; all I need is an appropriate vacancy and at present, there are too few of these around."
The People Bulletin wishes this jobseeker the very best of luck in his search for employment.
[1] www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsuk0111.pdf
[2] www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Employedorlookingforwork/DG_10018757
[3] www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017683
[4] See ‘Will there be enough jobs for the welfare that works workers?’ The People Bulletin, 24 November 2010