Young and jobless
The number of young long-term jobless in Britain has almost doubled in the last two years according to new analysis of official unemployment figures.
The research conducted by the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Prince's Trust charity suggests the cost of youth unemployment could be as high as £155m a week.
While the latest government statistics show falls in unemployment and a shorter dole queue, today's analysis of the data suggests the headlines disguise the plight of jobless young people.
The number of 16-24-year-olds out of work for more than 12 months has almost doubled in two years to 232,000 - a 16-year high. The number claiming Job Seekers Allowance for over a year has more than trebled in the same period.
The increase in long-term joblessness is a particular concern because evidence from previous recessions suggests that for young people taking the first tentative steps into the world of work, if unemployment lasts more than a few months it has a devastating impact on their life chances.
In East London, Laura Hurrell has been claiming Jobseekers Allowance for over a year. She tells a story of countless applications, a handful of interviews and daily knock-backs. Here she is, at the beginning of her working life, and it seems no-one wants her.
"It's been horrible. I am on depression tablets - I just don't want to be on benefits for the rest of my life." Laura lacks both self-confidence and skills. One in 10 16-24-year-olds in the UK left school without qualifications and it is this group who are suffering most in the downturn.
"Most of my friends have got jobs - they go out and they do stuff. But me, I don't because I just stay at home because I can't spend no money because I have to save it."
The Prince's Trust helps tens of thousands of young often disadvantaged young people every year. For as little as £1,000 investment, the charity has been able to turn many lives around.
Chief Executive Martina Milburn believes ministers ignore the implications of youth unemployment at their peril:
"For a relatively small amount of money you can help give young unemployed people confidence and the tools they need to get a job, otherwise it's too easy just to say we won't bother with them, we'll leave them, and then in 20 years time look at some huge great benefits bill and wonder how we got there."
Evidence of how fortunes can change is to be found among the gleaming towers of London's Dockland. Bankers out for a meal do not realise that the confident young woman making their burrito was rescued from worklessness and poverty by the Trust.
A few weeks ago Shoyagay Nelson was a single mum who could barely feed herself and her baby and so lacking in self-belief she"stared at the floor"all the time. She is now regarded as a high-flyer by the Wahaca restaurant chain having been given help to get on a chef's course.
"I feel really good because now I feel healthy, I can walk down the road with my head held high knowing that I have got a job and that I can provide for my son."
Government ministers say their Work Programme and welfare reforms are designed to ensure another generation does not get locked into benefit dependency but they accept the challenge is to get business moving again, creating jobs and giving young people the chance to get skills and experience.
Today's report estimates the price of failure. Adding together unemployment benefit and lost productivity the authors suggest the cost of youth joblessness currently runs at up to £155m every week. If we fail to support the hundreds of thousands of youngsters who have been without work for a year already, they suggest we risk betraying a generation.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~06~RS~)
I'm 
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I think that our generation (the seniors in 'power') will go down as the most selfish in the history of mankind.
Other animals protect their young, we exploit them. They did not ask to be born, we brought them into this world and we should nurture them. Instead we allow the global corporates to bury them in debt, feed their heads full of electronic nonsense, dismember the 'family' and then wonder why they are disillusioned and feel they have no future.
We have passed on our expensive pension bills for them to pay, we have told them to pay for their own education. Far from protecting the new generation, we exploit them.
We should be thoroughly ashamed.
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One of the unfortunate things within this is a lot of these young people now see the grey and black markets as a valid way forward, I know a couple of youngsters who have signed off to sell cannabis. Why because they don't want to be classed as waster scum....
Unfortunately Mark this will only continue as the financial burden mounts on the younger generations, its a good job we have the false hopes of a good but rather expensive education to fall back on for all these young people or the black markets would really flourish as the young try to make ends meat in today's jobless markets.
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"The challenge is to get business moving again"
But companies are doing all they can to avoid making people redundant and using technology, outsourcing, etc. to become more efficient. People are postponing retirement because of smaller pensions than the last generation enjoyed. All of this reduces the number of full-time jobs.
It's a very bleak picture and the government, also squeezing education, seems to have given up on those young people who don't happen to have wealthy parents.
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Bob Wallin our kids are just calculated interest payments to the government and banks...
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did you know that to make money you need to move the decimal point.
government makes 10 billion out of thin air deposits it in the banks and they have 99.9 billion by the time all interest and loans are calculated.
Well done IMF
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"It's been horrible. I am on depression tablets - I just don't want to be on benefits for the rest of my life." Laura lacks both self-confidence and skills.
This is a very significant comment as it reflects so many young people in the 21st century. Our schools/education is still based on the Victorian perception that academic achievement is the key to success, yet as Mark Easton clearly illustrated in his brilliant 'The Happiness Formula' series, it is WRONG. Unless our education/schools focus on developing "The 8 Skills We Need To Succeed and Improve Wellbeing", these problems will only continue to increase.
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How hypocritical for the RBS group to sponsor this research at the same time as it's busy making people redundant and moving those jobs abroad to India, some of those jobs would be idea starter jobs for our young people. Stop sending British jobs abroad and there will be more work available, not the whole solution to the problem but a place to start.
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I aplogise for repeating the same thing. However, much of this due to decades of neglect and destruction of
- our educational system,
- our manufacturing industry, and
- small scale commercial activities.
After all, who needs any of these when we have foreign exchange traders?
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My Grandson has been unemployed since leaving school, except for a period when he worked for a very large company, he was settled their, until they automated their production line, he was then told not being 18 he was not allowed under Health and Safety to operate Machinery.
All work training schemes seem to be geared to the over 18's of course this will not be a problem when the School leaving age is raised to that level.
I also do not see how 16 to 18 year olds can be added into the Job seekers allowance, as my Grandson was told that as he still lived at home, and his Mother was working he was entitled to nothing.
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This is depressing news indeed. However we have brought this upon ourselves by electing governments who are in favour of the European Union and mass open-door immigration both of which have had a devastating effect on employment.
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And what exactly are the Tory government planning to do about this? Cut public sector spending and therefore jobs, making young people fight with older people who already have jobs - along with their peers - for the same scant few job opportunities there already were. And then, in their infinite wisdom, raise taxes across the board. This isn't the strategy of a "fair" government, this isn't the strategy of a "good" government. This is the strategy of a government that wants to widen the class divide, make more people dependent on the state and make less and less people able to afford to actually live in this laughingstock of a country that has been created over the course of four, maybe five consecutive governments.
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I'm at the other end of the spectrum (age wise) and coming to the end of my working life. I'm unemployed but I can cope on benefits, I have no needs or wants other than a roof over my head and food to keep me alive. I object to being forced to look for work when there are countless younger people who need and would appreciate any job I may be forced to take. Does this make me an idle scrounger ? to some I don't doubt it does, but tell me who would benefit more from that job me or somebody trying desperately to get something on their CV.
With unemployment at the level it is I will do my best to avoid getting a job and take all the stick that goes with being an idle scrounger.
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What is worst that a "young person" actually gets less benefit (£51.85 a week) than one over 25 years of age (£65.45). The DWP has got it all wrong. Jobcentres are "customer service centres" but they don't off anything of value to the ones most in need: proper apprenticeships, and more benefits.
And what are the incentives of "failing to sign"? "Sanctions" - Well, the benefits are so poor that it does not matter much to a jobseeker if their little money gets cut: it just makes an awful existence worse! What we need is a "basic" benefit, and if you go on work trials, you get double (or similar). Now there would be an incentive.
Or maybe, even the super-rich banks and big corporate enterprises should be forced by the government to make way for apprenticeships and redistribute their excess profits to the people who need it rather than shareholders.
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I agree mancunian, fortunately I am well past retirement age, and i feel so sorry for those youngsters, who seem to have so little to look forward to.
It is all the fault of succesive Governments giving away so much of our Industrial base, allowing British companies to outsource work to poorer countries so that shareholders get better dividends, and allowing mass immigration to take our jobs at sweatshop rates.
Now the ConDems want us to have a Happiness factor, Come back Guy Fawkes all is forgiven if you rid us of this lot.
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Both employers and government are to blame and I don't think maintaining or creating public jobs would help to save a fundamental UK problem.
1. Employers, do not offer training or re-training, the reason being is the cost and the impact on profits. So the unemployed are stuck with the wrong skills and no way of updating them. But the alternative of course is for employers to lower their entry standards and stop asking for ridiculous levels experience. Quite often they can only get those skills by looking to other nations for cheap qualified labour. But they do nothing to help the local labour market achieve those skills.
2. No government has successfully legislated to insist companies have adequate training programmes to bring the unemployed into employment. This is because they are afraid of the profiteering businesses making a fuss.
3. The nature of the economy has been going away from providing jobs for all, for years. I think the fact that personnel officers are now called 'human resource' officers, really indicates the core problem. Business for business sake. Lets be honest here, a lot of commercial businesses are just as meaningless and pointless as public sector organisations/jobs.
Yet no government will say that a company making and selling products that no one needs (bottled water for instance) should be closed down because they waste people money.
Basically no one wants to take responsibility for the mess the UK is in and no one will be radical enough to admit that half the population doesn't really need to be working in any case!
Maybe we all need to be occupied doing something, but do we really need people going around selling gadgets that are used once then thrown in the bin?
Or do we really need price comparison web sites?
Most of the people that started those, probably had nothing better to do!
My suggestion is that unless you are actually in some of the few businesses that actually produce something, don't worry, be unemployed, your probably doing nothing useful, so you may as well be unemployed.
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Ash, you critise the goverment for cutting the public sector but how else do you intend to cut Britain's defecit which is looming over us, and is in part a result of Labour's constant overspending in the boom years. Not only this but the goverment is trying to reform the benefit system, but this will be a long and difficult process as we have to seperate out those who need benefit's and those you dont. Of course in the future we need to provide better employment options for young people, but I would rather cut and a avoid a Greece like situation than the alternative. To claim that the coalition goverment want to open up class divide and make less people able to live in this country is also boardering on madness. That would not even benefit the goverment nor would it be appealing to a Conservative party which has without doubt shifted closer to the centre in the last few years: and who are in a coalition with the Lib Dems.
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New Labour totally failed these young people who essentially grew up during their period in power. During that time, hundreds of thousands of migrants, especially from eastern Europe where given unfettered access to British jobs whilst the families of these young people were allowed to remain on benefits to secure their votes.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I have just graduated with a degree and I can't find and I cant get any benefits! the thing is, most places want you to have all this experience and people out of uni like me don't have the experience that they want because we have come out of uni. something needs to be done whilst studying like to be put on placements within local buisnesses because coming out the other end with all theses qualifications then people turning you away is not expectable anymore. I cant get an nother job in sales as people turn me away as I have all my qualifications, i cant win! so.... I'm stuck living off my husband and i have no money... non of the governments have done anything ?! and now the fees are going up for other students and I totaly feel for them! another kick in the teeth is how I see it!
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11. At 7:09pm on 01 Dec 2010, Ash wrote:And what exactly are the Tory government planning to do about this? Cut public sector spending and therefore jobs, making young people fight with older people who already have jobs - along with their peers - for the same scant few job opportunities there already were. And then, in their infinite wisdom, raise taxes across the board. This isn't the strategy of a "fair" government, this isn't the strategy of a "good" government. This is the strategy of a government that wants to widen the class divide, make more people dependent on the state and make less and less people able to afford to actually live in this laughingstock of a country that has been created over the course of four, maybe five consecutive governments.
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I emphasise with this comment. I "lost" my job as a GP after spinal problems and resulting surgery left me unable to work.
As there are "Job Shares" why do we not have "Job Opportunity Shares" such that someone like Ash can choose to turn down an offered job, if he/she can find a person who has never been employed to take the job.
All that would be happening is that one sort of benefit JSA would be replaced by an extension of ESA. One person in and one person out. We do this with council house swaps so why not job opportunities.
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#16 redboychris
Britain's deficit is not the preserve of a single party. How dare you bring politics in as the excuse for wasting our young flesh and blood. It is the avarice of each individual, hoping they will rise above the norm, believing in the marketing ploys of the global corporates, that has led us to this day. The politicians will tell you what you want to hear to retain your vote.
You are as culpable as the rest of us. To any young people looking in, our future for humanity, I wish you every success in the inevitable revolution that must now take place.
...and those of you that still have faith in democracy, consider this. You vote for members of a state government. They are actually insignificant to global corporations who can move anywhere they choose, play off state against state and pay whatever price to continue their operations. Democracy is not in their book, only big shareholders. Consider the recent bail outs of global banks, in our name, the full price of which we are about to realise, because they were too big to fail. Too big for a democratic nation state to allow to fail for fear it would bring down our entire economy.
You have no vote for the boards of these global corporations.
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"Bankers out for a meal do not realise that the confident young woman making their burrito was rescued from worklessness and poverty by the Trust" - and earning a probable pittance compared to them. It sums up the UK of today really. They (the financial sector "high-fliers") do not care, all that is needed is the burrito, how it is made/sourced is irrelevant - not on the radar. The person concerned on catering wages will likely not be able to buy a house or "consume" at the Banker's level. Just another cog whose life-chances are determined by the need to protect some people from the consequences of their trade and who are not of the world we (the rest) inhabit. The people to whom a VAT increase means "market confidence", not a tangible decrease in choice caused by diminishing purchase-power. The people who require Governments to bail out their problems, yet cry if there is a suggestion that the economy is supposed to work fairly for all and then "threaten" to take their skills abroad. Such patriotism.......... such chutzpah
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I've got a brilliant solution to the problem of unemployment.
No-one, by law, should be allowed to work more than 30 hours per week. Our basic subsistence would easily be covered by this workload in itself, even if it is assumed that no new jobs would be create or that productivity would not be otherwise improved.
This would have many benefits as well as alleviating joblessness.
It would alleviate joblessness because it would require more people to do the same amount of work. It means we would have to actually value every person and invest in improving their skills to achieve the output of skilled work that we do at present. And, it means people wouldn't be exhausted from working 40-hour weeks and could devote more energy to their fewer working hours. In turn, because people would work less, they would be less stressed, and fewer conflicts would arise, in turn reducing the amount of work that we would need to do in terms of policing, enforcing the peace, legal disputes, and so on.
Sadly, because of the gross waste of our system, this will not work. I'm not saying we should abandon capitalism, but it should be subject to greater regulation and co-operation for the common good promoted, rather than the current situation where I look at many corporations and government agencies and wonder how apparently intelligent people could be so monumentally stupid and short-sighted.
As well as this, it really irks me that there are so many in this country who really want to work but can't because they don't know how to market themselves (in the form of a CV) as well as their neighbours, or because they don't have skills or qualifications, or, often, because of sheer chance. The government, if it seriously believes what it professes about welfare - that work is the way out of poverty, should do far more than it does at present to help those who genuinely want to work.
We are set, instead, to have work schemes for the long-term unemployed in this country which will be not too dissimilar from slave labour, or at least gross exploitation. People will be essentially forced (it is forcing, as refusal will mean the withdrawal of benefits necessary for basic subsistence) to work 30-hour weeks (for one month) in community projects for the equivalent of £4.81 per hour less than the national hourly minimum wage.
In addition to this, they will have to be actively seeking work as a jobseeker to retain their JSA. (I am not going to say this is entirely unreasonable, as, having claimed JSA in the past I know how pitiful the basic requirements for showing that you are actively seeking work are. In fact, if I had control of the benefits system one of the first things I would change would be to increase the number of things a jobseeker should do per week to retain JSA). However, for a variety of reasons, not all people have the same jobseeking opportunities as others so if people are facing a long commute to a 'work scheme' and get back at 6pm, and have no internet access it can actually be quite difficult to actively seek work (by that I would mean applying for jobs).
Here's what I would do to change the government's work scheme idea:
- Instaed of a paltry £1 per hour (their net money on JSA), pay the workers the additional £4.81 p/h necessary to top up their earnings to at least the minimum wage for the duration of their placement. This will re-inforce the positive message that 'work pays', that the government is supposedly trying to send out.
- Further incentivise the placement by offering a reference at the end of the four weeks, the quality of which will be dependent on the quality of the jobseeker's effort and performance. This should carry the same weight as a reference from a 'real' employer by law and hopefully help those who are long-term unemployed, with at present little hope of getting a job due to their barren recent employment history, even though they may have an excellent attitude and desire to get back into work.
- The government should establish ties with private companies and work together to allow the best performers on the 'work placements' the opportunity of a job of reasonable duration.
That pretty much covers my rant for now. I appreciate that it had little to do withthe specific problem of youth unemployment, but hopefully it was entertaining and thought-provoking nonetheless.
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Amie@19.
You're not the only one. You don't have to be young and have the wrong experience. There are plenty of older people that also don't have the correct experience for many jobs.
There is no 'give' in the system. Employers must change and stop being fussy.
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Amie Im afraid to say this as I know the work you will have put in to the quails you have, but they are false promise there isn't and never has been the academic job market in the uk to cater for all the qualifications we churn out. Within this more obscure qualifications are appearing that normally would have been the roles of apprenticeships and understudies.
Students = big loans and interest payments, if your lucky these can be paid quickly if not and you fail to find suitable employment the interest grows until its finally totaled up and insolvency orders made on the loans. a very sad state of affairs.
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The big problem for the young finding a job today is,as I see it,the level of pay.When I was young,in the olden days, I started work as a apprentice at the age of 15.My first year's pay was less than a tenth of a tradesman's basic pay,equivalent to around £35 per week for a 44 hour week.This increased annually up to the age of 21, when my pay had risen to 50% of a tradesman's pay.Then I went on to do 2 years national service for a pittance.Young people,with no experience,nothing to offer,now want much more,they want to afford cars foreign holidays etc. no wonder they can't find jobs.They want too much pay.
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It didn't take hindsight to realise that the economic climate would hit the youngest hardest. Everyone requires their candidates to have experience, whether they say so or not. What are young people lacking through no fault of their own? Experience. We have age discrimination laws, but apparently the politicians and employers have forgotten that actually it applies at the other end of the spectrum as well. Things will worsen when the government makes the poor choice of raising the retirement age. They try to protect the old because that is where everyone including those politicians is inevitably marching. The government (especially the Lib Dems who made their appeal mainly to the younger more naive voters) should be ashamed or their shortsightedness; cutting the Future Job Fund programme, pricing young people out of University and doing nothing/ next to nothing to encourage training young people whether through the public or private sector as just a few examples. I find it disgusting how selfish and snobby the ruling generation is to the young adult.
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Lesson to all - never vote Labour again.
For those who keep complaining about the 'Cuts', if the country cant afford it, IT CANT AFFORD IT - its that clear cut.
Anyone can promise the earth, as Labour did, but who will pay for it? Their blinkered approach and down right lazy attitude to the economy will see the UK suffer for years to come.
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Bob Wallam
First of all I am a young person, second you are talking about politics so how dare you be so hypocritical, third revolution................... because that led to widespread happiness in the USSR,Korea etc didnt it???? getting rid of democracy would be foolish in the words of Churchill " Democracy is the worst form or goverment apart from every other kind". You want to take away the people's voice in Britain go on try it, but first you wont suceed second even if you did you would doom this country.
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@28 Very easy to say when you're not on the recieving end. I take it you think the poor should suffer because they are likely to be labour voters.
It's people like you who are the problem with the country.
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I am nearly 29, i graduate next year, if these guys cant get a job, no chance i will, working holiday visas for me then
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I left school in the 80's and have been long term unemployed almost 6 years now and the last job i had was only a part time cleaning job and before that i was unemployed anyway. People my age need the most help with jobs simply because of the time lapse from leaving school. These days you have got to provide a c.v for cleaning toilets things have gotten so ludicrous. I have tried to take advantage of free courses only to find they are all being cut due to funding restraints and then told i can only choose and go on 1 course anyway. Even things like work placements based on the premise that you work for nothing for a while in hope of a job offer have the same restraints put in place by the job center. I lost out on some better courses due to lack of information being provided by the job center and after already inquiring previously about any courses that may be available free to me to get some new skills! I had to find out by chance when it was too late anyway.
Even with some new skills in place you still cannot obtain employment because all of them nowadays want previous on the job experience even for toilet cleaning.
If someone school leaving age gets seriously depressed about it what do you think it is like for me with no time to waste trying to sort their life out. Dealing with employers who can take their pick of hundreds of people chasing after a few job vacancies and a job market where you have to have a c.v, covering letter and 3 work references just for breathing the oxygen!
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This is really sad.I agree with@17.
I see so many young people who are wasting their life away because there is no incentive to do anything constructive as they are on benefits.Many have numerous psychosomatic problems as well as the usual ones of, dare I say it obesity and depression. They are significant users of GP and other primary care services. SkyTV has become the opium of the people, especially the young.
Globalisation, as if rampant capitalism wasn't enough,is bringing its own set of problems.
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I think an easy solution to this problem would be to concentrate on giving jobs to the youth and unemployed in the UK instead of migrant workers. I go to lincoln city on a regular basis and nearly every restaurant and department store is staffed with people who can hardly speak english. I think jobs and training should be given to people from the UK and that migrant workers should only be used to fill positions that no one from the UK can do. If we keep giving jobs to migrant workers we face the problem of pushing our own workforce and unemployed further and further away from society, the majority of people i speak to would just like a job and to provide for themselves. Once someone has a job a lot more opportunities to train and better themselves are open to them. I think we should just learn to take care of our own country and it problems before we can provide for everyone else.
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Blame for this sorry state were in can be fixed squarely and surely on 'new labour'. They must have known what unregulated immigration would do to the youth of this country,the low paid and wages in general. Keeping their new friends in the corporate world sweet, so as to pick up a directiorship or two when they inevitably lost power was much more appealing than being seen as not pc and doing what most of the rest of europe did. i.e. opt out. Thanks guys. Karma's gonna get ya!
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Comment @ 21 is really unfair. It is avarice that contributes, but the level of avarice of someone being pensioned off with a 6 figure sum is considerably different from someone on average or even slightly more than average wages.The concept that profits must increase year on year is essentially flawed, beacuse many at the bottom and middle of the pay ladder have to run just to keep still.
I however agree that we all have been too easliy driven by the consumerism propagated by the advertising media.
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I am unemployed at the moment, having seen my job disappear in the cuts. I was rather good at it. My job was to do with guiding young people from unemployment and criminality into education, training and employment.
I'll probably be signing on with my former client group of NEETs henceforth.
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I said in 2004 (on the BBC) that by opening doors to Eastern European countries, the youth of this nation will be on the scrapheap. No one listened. 6 years on look what we have. So if you are young and unemployed, this is the real reason why you cant get a job. Migrants from within the EU have first call on jobs you would have been employed in. The politicians would say they were jobs Brits wouldn't do- not correct what happened was 13,000 migrants were expected but over a million came and stayed.
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It all boils down to basic requirements. What people, of all ages, really want is a stable job that pays well enough for them to have a decent house, some luxuries and enough expendable capitial to one day have children and raise them. The government points to the fact that there are currently 470,000 job vacancies advertised through Jobcentreplus (JCP). A quick glance at these vacancies tells the true story; cleaner vacancies, retail assistants, outbound call centre sales advisers; all these jobs pay substinence wages, nothing more.. A large proportion are part time as well. There lies the rub; you can't start a family, buy a house or spend into the economy while living on £5.91 an hour wages.
Start creating manfacturing jobs; reopen steel plants; build factories to make quality goods that will sell; build power plants and supply the world with reliable cheap energy. The UK has to be a net exporter if we are ever to escape the shackles of the financial industries.
Give the young people the opportunities in stable, secure jobs and watch this country return to health. The Work Programme is doomed to fail because it focuses far too much on the benefits side of being unemployed; create jobs and people will take them. Those that do not want to work will quickly get found out and then you can target them for benefit sanctions.
Too many governments have allowed our industrial base to slip away; it's time to bring it back and secure our future.
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37. At 9:21pm on 01 Dec 2010, Len_Ganley wrote:
I am unemployed at the moment, having seen my job disappear in the cuts. I was rather good at it. My job was to do with guiding young people from unemployment and criminality into education, training and employment.
I'll probably be signing on with my former client group of NEETs henceforth.
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Keep at it, I work in employability too. Reed in Partnership will get the Work Programme contract; secure money in a job you can do, get applying!
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A huge drain is from non-EU companies transferring their low-cost staff from over-seas using the Intra-Company Transfer visas. I'm AMAZED that the students are't protesting about this too since it's British jobs that are being taken and it's having a huge impact on graduate jobs, particularly in IT.
The big companies are being allowed to continue this since they have huge lobbying power although they hardly pay any tax on these workers and claim that they are highly skilled staff: in fact, they are simply low-cost workers blatantly taking our jobs.
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I graduated this summer, after being in full-time education, taking no gap years, in order to buckle down and get my qualifications. I've consistently got excellent grades. As soon as I was 16 I got a weekend job in a shop(which I really liked) but gave it up when I went to university so I could work harder on my studying. I have done voluntary work for organisations that help teach the underpriveledged in every holiday(though these organisations are now disappearing, thank you government). I have an excellent C.V (according to the Jobcentre and the few interviewers who have met me) - and after all this I am still unemployed and feel like it was all a waste. I haven't even been aiming high, just in shops, but have been beaten to jobs by countless 16 year olds because they're cheaper to employ. So no, it's not all doom and gloom for the younger bracket of those you're talking about. And don't also forget that a lot of them leave school because they just don't care about it, or get pregnant or arrested or whatever (Though I generalise, I'm more than aware that MANY leave school for respectable means).
And so Labour put us all in this mess eh? By over-spending while fixing the widespread hurt and humiliation of the Thatcher scheme. I've given up on trying to defend Labour. 'Cos they'll get back in anyway. The Tories squeeze us, 'fixing' problems Labour make, but squeeze too hard, too fast, generally be idiots, and Labour get back in, get things moving again but overspend, and back come the Tories. It's. Cyclical. So we all should just stop bickering, accept our political differences, and get on with it.
Oh and on a final note - my generation is lost because of mass immigration? People who are escaping ABJECT poverty, war and dictatorships, worse than anything some on JSA could even dream of facing. So I'm not actually bothered about them coming, because I have compassion for everyone. Everyone but the greedy high-fliers who don't care as long as they have their swish car and perfect house. Call me a hippie or whatever I don't care. It's the foreign (particularly Chinese) students paying their way into our universitys and booting out our own that irritate me. They're the ones who'll come back and take those top jobs anyway. Cameron and his bunch of apes can squash all incentive for young people to go to university, but he can jolly well charge more to the foreigners who take those spots!! Oh wait... HE ISN'T.
Wow what a rant.
P.S. Can anyone give me a job?
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Is anyone surprised by this? It is made too easy not to work and too difficult to try and work, or even to try and get the experience to work. My husband recently enquired about including his son on his commercial insurance so he could be trained in my husband's line of work. The vehicle to be insured is not new. The insurance was increased by over £1000 ( for a young man who is 22 having had a clean license with no claims for 6 years) and he was told that he was lucky because most companies were now not insuring people on commercial insurance who were under 30. This is a small point but yet another thing which prevents a young person from gaining a trade.
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I thankfully have a job this time around.
I graduated in the early 90's recession with an IT degree but it took 6 years to get my first job checking stock in a warehouse. If tuition fees had been as high then as this government is proposing now, I wouldn't have gone to university and I'm certain I wouldn't have a job now.
These young adults are smart, even the less well qualified are decent people with a lot to give.
If they can't afford an education and business won't train them, then more qualified people will be brought in from abroad, more companies will move their businesses overseas and there will be more long term unemployed being supported by middle and lower income taxpayers.
When you've been unemployed for more than 12 months you become a pariah to business and you can't afford to improve your prospects.
You become a poverty trap victim, an inmate in an economic prison without walls.
Long term unemployment is profoundly depressing in a very mind numbing way, punctured by bouts of shock at cruel setbacks and occasional moments of angry defiance to a society that not only rejected you but rubbed salt into the wound by hating you afterward.
On anti-depressants if their doctor is sympathetic, illegal drugs if they aren't, becoming criminals or benefit families if they've given up completely.
That's the spirit of a whole new generation of wasted youth being created right now.
If politicians cared and weren't all lapdogs of the wealthy and big business, someone might actually try to sort out this mess. But there isn't and we must suffer for it, our children most of all.
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RBS could make a partial reparation to the economy it helped ruin by moving all the jobs it has exported to India back to the UK and employing some of our unemployed youngsters on a decent wage instead.
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Many of our comments seem to focus on blaming, past and present governments, immigrants, just about anyone apart from ourselves. We voted for the governments. And, speaking as an Englishman, who has worked abroad,I don't accept that immigrants produce unemployment. In fact, they make the economy bigger, offering more possibility for work. Moreover, aren't many of the eastern European migrant workers going home now?
Shouldn't we put our effort into finding short-term fixes and, in the long-term, generating a country where there are more opportunities for the young and everyone else and where young people are better trained for work and for life.
My proposals are:
- Decent schools and education. Academic opportunities for those who are inclined and able and practical and artisan training for all
- Manufacturing industry. We should support it through the bad times and encourage it in the areas where we can compete. If Germany and France can do it, so can we.
- Encourage small companies. I mean the technical ones and the corner shops. They enrich our economy and our society.
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I forgot one thing at 46, we should expect the banks and bankers that we saved to pay back and support making things better.
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But how many of them are graduates who have studied subjects which are notoriously difficult to get work in? i.e. Art and Design, Music Technology and History.
It's about time students were advised into doing subjects in demand, Maths, Science, Business, Medicine, Computing and Law
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I'm 24 next July.
I'm unemployed (haven't worked), am _not_ claiming benefit and have very little money. (No, I _don't_ spend anything before you Daily Mail readers decide to hop on some kind of bandwagon...)
I rarely (if ever) leave the house (I could prolly say social anxiety...) and have absolutely no qualifications or skills. (My GCSE results were terrible and I did go to college for four years...)
I quite honestly do not have a future in this country; but I would love to permanently live and work in Japan. (This is the only dream I seem to be clinging on to...)
I can't really consider university because I don't have £9,000 a year...
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To 48.
Why in the world would anybody in their right mind study computing now ? IT as a career in the UK is dead because of intra-company transfers, out-sourcing and immigration. Why do you think IT graduates have the highest level of unemployment out of any degree subject.
The coalition government had a chance to stop this continuing but bowed to big business wishes and the lib-dems (who love cheap labour) to allow them to continue to import cheap labour on visas. Of course then we have the fact that 90% (yes 90%) of all jobs created in the last ten years have been taken my immigrant workers and now the coalition government blame the unemployed. You couldn't make this up.
If remember rightly the BBC were at the forefront of calling anyone who questioned this racist, what a bunch of hypocrites!
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If you are young and jobless,try to be old and jobful.
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If graduates take longer to get jobs, wouldn't that make the new system (after the cuts) just either be unsustainable, since they will take much longer to be able to pay the loans back, if ever, or cripple them financially for far longer, making banks less likely to loan the money in the first place, or all? Just a thought.
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I work in the lower level recruitment sector; manufacturing, logistics etc and I find myself increasingly frustrated each time this issue is in the spotlight. Over the past couple of years I have placed thousands of candidates into work and as much as I am ashamed to admit it, at least 80% have been non-uk nationals. I must say however that I have lost count of the amount of times I have been let-down by UK workers. I admit the jobs are often relatively low paid and low skilled initially however many carry the opportunity of being employed by the client after a short period of time working through the agency and that brings with it sizeable increases in pay and further training opportunities but it seems that UK nationals in the main are just not interested in working hard and gaining the rewards, they just want the rewards straight away and if they can't get that then they give up and either throw the towel in or just fail to turn up for work. The result is that an eastern european worker grafts hard for a few months and then gets the benefits of being taken on, increased pay and benefits and further training opportunities and the doemstic workforce misses out yet again.
Anybody who says they have been out of work for 2 years and can't get a job is just not trying; what they mean is that they can't get a job that they want or feel they deserve; well in that case, take a lesser one! I earn a reasonable salary but I work a lot of hours per week and have to deal with a 24 hour on-call, if you equate my salary to the total hours I work it works out at not that much above the rates available for jobs in the logistics sector but a lot of the job seekers I talk to seem to think they deserve a job paying £10 per hour or more with no real work experience, straight out of college or university; it doesn't work like that! I would like to work a lot less hours for more money but you can't always have what you want and that is the main issue here, not the lack of job opportunities. Of course I am not tarring all with the same brush, I have placed some fantastic uk nationals into work but they are few and far between, most that come to us are just unwilling to work as hard as they need to, to get what they want in the job market.
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I feel the job market only look at what is right in a persons qualifications, I have been unemployed 3 years and in that 3 years I have no end of rejection from employers, Im not doing anything wrong its just they wont accept me as i need extra support to do NVQS in childcare which i really want to do its pathetic. I feel for the youngsters comming out of school and college with nothing coz there path out of school will be the same as it has for me,no one actually helps. More jobs are needed for the less qualifed with easier employment options ie less hours till qualified and such like. it needs to be done so its fair.
I also believe more employers should vaule people with less qualifications and take them on attributes and already known abilities.
I want a life not four walls in a job in my choosen path x opportunites simply dont exsistx.
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Can't get a job without experience or experience without a job.
We seem to be prolonging childhood unnecessarily in a world where children are bombarded with information and are more worldly than we ever were at their age.
School leaving age although not legally 18 is in effect already the case.
This leaves those who are already struggling in education to be marginalised still further.
Health and safety limitations on the use of kit or insurance barriers to certain activities as well as the requirement for some sort of formal training course before you can do the most elementary of tasks. All of these push young people particularly those with poor literacy and numerousy skills,who may have excellent practical skills, to simply give up.
What was wrong with apprenticeships for those over 14 who do not fit in the conventional education system if you give kids responsibility and trust them, they become responsible they will learn what they need to to do there job.
Who thought that it would be wise for 40% of young people to go to university. This only serves to devalue further education and increase the on paper requirements to get jobs. Companies often blame universities for not providing skilled graduates, when these skills are best taught by the employers themselves. The way things are going you will need a degree to be a cleaner.
Credit the young with some intelligence, trust them, stop nannying them and they will rise to the challenge.
Maybe this is all just a symptom of an ageing society we are becoming detached from youth and what it means to be young, lets not take away hope by not providing opportunity.
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There's an elephant in the room and it's called the minimum wage. Setting a minimum wage above what a person's services are worth will price them out of a job. This hits those people with little experience, who have yet to develop the skills and knowledge to earn more. Those people are almost exclusively young people, who just starting out in the world of work. Not only are they robbed of an income by a political ideology, but they also lose the opportunity to gain the experience that would enable them to earn more in future years, buy a house, start a family etc. Young people's lives are being ruined because many people believe they know best what is the 'correct' amount young people are worth, without any knowledge whatsoever of that person or the job they do.
There is NOT a fixed number of jobs to be done. Companies can and do replace workers with machinery. They relocate to where labour is cheaper. If we can make people better off by mandating a minimum wage, why stop at £5.93. Why not £15 per hour? Is it because it would price people out of a job? Much like it's doing right now?
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In responce to jigglybeen and his coment that the country CAN NOT AFFORD IT. I would like to point out thet the average business mans lunch costs more than the poor souls on benefit receive to survive a week on.
We are still living in a Country where the majority of the wealth is in the hands of a small minority of the people, many of whom have never done a days work in their life.
All my life I have seen that to those that have shall be given more, and those that don't have will be stripped even of their dignity.
The solution to the problems we are now in have to be political. If business is bleating about people not having suitable skills they should be held resposible for training them etc.
To withdraw the minimal support given to the diadvantaged untill the fundamental Political, Economic and SOCIAL problems are resolved will carry a heavy price. As I believe Class War as it has never been seen before will be the innevitable outcome.
I am writing this as someone who will be moved or evicted from their present abode somewhere where the rent is £50 a month cheaper. If housing benefits are cut as planned.
I have a question about this, since housing benefit is means tested and I have no money. How am I supposed to move, or am I expected to lose all my possesions as well.
Considering the civil disobedience by students what do you suppose will happen when thousands of people are forcible relocated?
A question about students, why are the people who have benefited through a uni education not expected to support the next generations of students, rather than buy 2nd properties and ramp up the costs of housing etc.
It is time to move from a culture or Greed is Good and money is all.
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Why bother to train up and employ our youngsters when its cheaper to hire an Eastern European.
In 1997 John Major made a clear policy statement that the growing shortage of labour would force up pay rates in a positive spiral. Employers would pay more to encourage people into the less attractive jobs.
But no! Our Labour Govt simply opened the doors to anybody and everybody in Europe, expecting 10,000s was naive, the public knew that at the time. And the result? Okay, lots of job creation, but most of it for unskilled foreign labour. My taxes are going to pay for an Olympic project - amongst many - which has excluded local labour. Many of our local employers now have Eastern Europeans who have worked their way up to the level where they manage employment and they WON'T employ British, only their own nationality!
I voted Conservative to put an end to this, they have clearly refused to carry out the wishes of the electorate, maybe BNP next time.
As to me being racist? No! My company, I'm a director and part owner, employs all races and creeds, and all Brits!
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I was in Laura's position for 2 years - and that's with qualifications up to A Level (I was a year and a half into a degree until I ran out of money - and no, I didn't go out at all, the loan was spent all on the year's rent).
After I somehow got a min wage job for a further year - and I began to understand why the workshy amongst the unemployed choose not to work. I'm sure everyone will put in plenty of effort if the price is right. But doing mundane work for nothing - barely survival money - will not encourage the young to work. The financial advantage (after Tax, NI, transportation, rent, council tax, additional food and work clothes) is minimal compared to living on benefits (where the above are not required)- it worked out at something silly like £1.50 an hour.
So either do 4 things - increase the min wage a lot; increase the tax threshold to £15,000 or more; level private rental costs for low earners in line with social housing costs; or taper off welfare benefits for those going from unemployed to low wage work.
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I'd love to know why Essex county Council is responding to this social situation by making it's entire Integrated Youth Service redundant. I think young people will find it harder to find work without the specialised advice that Connexions provides.
I also wonder how this is in line with the government's stance on getting young people in to employment. It's great that they're promoting apprenticeships but how will young people find them?
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I graduated from university last spring, and have been looking for jobs since the beginning of September. I've applied for around 80 jobs (yes), and have had 4 interviews, all unsuccessful.
I'm not looking for a high wage or anything, but I get flat-out rejected by ALL the low-paying admin/secretary/receptionist positions that I am more than qualified for (I have admin experience, and of course a degree). All the interviews I've been offered have been for quite well-paying jobs (18-23k), but then I'm not experienced enough and don't get the positions. Bah!
It seems I'm either over-qualified or under-experienced, and there doesn't seem to be a middle ground. What to do?!
I'm not seeking JSA yet, but working so so so many hours to find any way and being rejected so many times makes me reconsider.
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@APlikesF1
"It's the foreign (particularly Chinese) students paying their way into our universitys and booting out our own that irritate me. "
Oh dear, you were doing so well up to this point. I hope you get this through your (employable?) head - NO HOME STUDENTS WERE DISPLACED WITH FOREIGN STUDENTS. There is a set number of home students that each uni MUST taken in each year, as allocated by their funding. Unis must comply, and only then can they accommodate foreign students.
Btw India, Africa are close behind in uni students coming here... a bit of blind prejudice on your part, perhaps.
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Young and jobless just isn't acceptable. The army is always hiring (even in these straightened times).If they are still signing on after six months, then they are signed up.
I bet that would provide sufficient motivation to find work.
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I'm a recent graduate with several degrees. I get a degree, try to get a job for a year, fail as everyone wants experience. Then I get told that my year old degree is a concern, so I retrain... again and again.
How can I with 4 science degrees and experience in a LOT of science techniques be unsuitable for even the most basic technician job? It's either I'm too educated or not enough experience. There is simply no middle line and it's simply unfair. I worked hard for every single one of my degrees and I'm 29, with degrees in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biomedical Science and I can't get a job doing anything.
I keep getting told that employers are afraid I'll leave when something better comes along. Seriously? I've been struggling for YEARS to get work and do they really, honestly think I won't cherish the job with my very being?
I'm 29 and tired with life. I just want a job. I regret ever going to University and should have just worked in McDonalds after A-levels. I'd probably be a filthy rich manager by now.
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No-one who works for a government department/job should be allowed to work for more than 2 days a week for the government.
If we go onto a 6 day week for gov depts we can triple the amount of employees on tax receipt handouts.
Pensions need to be reduced too, state pension only for government jobs, the money saved can be used for more youth job creation/skills.
The 4 days left in the week can be spent doing private sector work.
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I just had to put a comment on here, I am a young person working in the UK, and it was a long hard slog to get here. Firstly I was told that if I got a job whilst living at home my parents benefits would be cancelled as I would have a full time job, this would have meant I'd have to pay sixty percent of my meagre wages into the house (council house both parents retired) the kind lady in the jobcentre actually said to me I'd be better off signed on as I'd get the same amount in my hand as a 30 hour week after benefits had been paid. I was signed on for 9 months, I'm not proud of that but it got to the stage I was going out my head with boredom, in the end I moved out of my parents home to save them the hassle and rented from a friend. I worked for her dad at questionable pay but just got on with it. I must have applied for forty jobs in a week trying to get something, I got a lucky break and someone hired me. I'm currently a personal support worker for disabled people, done the job now for two years, as grateful as I am for a job I definately had to just get a job, it wasn't my dream in school to be doing what I do but reality sinks in pretty fast. It makes me sad though because in the two years I have been working I still have friends signed on at the jobcentre when I was. I just wanted to leave this comment to tell people that if you do want a job yes you can get one.
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It is tough out there for both companies and individuals and is only going to get worse thanks to more government 'idiocracy' (see the socialist spending and increased government size under labour or the upcoming VAT increase as examples). We did not get to vote for Brown, choices were realistically limited at the last election and we have no real influence over individual policies no matter how major.
Personally I'd like to see a reduction in government and reduction in taxes along with public votes for the big policy items. However that would seem to be at odds with the key motivators to be involved with government - power and control.
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As a young person, and on JSA, I'm finding it extremely difficult to find a job at the moment. I really think the lack of jobs depends on what area you live in. I live in Teesside for instance and there's hardly any jobs going. I left secondary school with mainly B's in my GCSEs and did my A Levels at college and got 2 D's in them, which are reasonable enough. However these grades aren't going to land me a job where I need work experience, which a lot of companies are looking for. It's a travesty! All these companies who are unwilling to pay for training, whereas if they did train people, then those people would be able to at least put something back into society with the new skills they've learned. Alright apprentiships are available, however that applies to people who are able to do them, lots of people with amazing qualifications may not find apprentiships is the best route for them
Also what I really dislike is the fact that CVs are an absolute necessicity. They're blooming difficult to write if you're not very good at selling yourself (I'm impossible at it) and how you have to be "charismatic" and a "team leader" or something, OK that may help a bit but if you're not that sort of person, chances are you wont get the job.
PS: Any jobs going?
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Having struggled to find work myself since graduating university this year, I can empathise with much of what has been said by my fellow young-and-jobless peers. While I was always aware that I would have to take an entry-level job after uni to provide a financial basis for further study, I was not prepared for just how difficult it would be to secure basic minimum wage employment. As with many of the other posters, it appears I fell into the trap of over-qualified and under-experienced, and was unemployed for roughly 6 months, 3 of which was spent claiming JSA.
While it's clear that there needs to be a concerted effort on the part of government and corporations in changing these youth unemployment trends, finding a fair and workable solution is going to be fraught with problems and isn't something I personally can begin to comprehend. However, on an individual level, I'd like to advise other seemingly unemployable young adults not to underestimate the value of volunteering. I began volunteering simply as a means of getting out of the house, but later found it to be an invaluable asset when it came to my CV and selling myself to employers. Aside from being incredibly enjoyable, I found that once I began volunteering, my search for paid employment also became more fruitful, and interviews began arising at a rate they had not done previously. At interviews, many of the employers questions were centred around my volunteering and I truly believe I would not be in paid (albeit part time) employment now had I not sought out unpaid work when I did.
While many volunteering positions offer fairly thankless tasks with no financial reward, they help to fill the gaps in work history which can often be a major barrier to finding work. Likewise, it demonstrates to employers that you have a hard working attitude and conscientious nature, and that your desire to work is based on more than financial concerns. Also, they provide a setting in which skills can be developed and experience gained without having to go through a competitive formal recruitment process. But most of all, giving back to an organisation that you care about can be a powerful tonic when it comes to alieviating the stress, boredom and depression associated with long term unemployment. I strongly encourage any unemployed young person to seek out regular voluntary work, as the long term benefits of such roles easily make up for the lack of financial incentives.
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I graduated in September 2009 and have been claiming Jobseekers Allowance since then. There are very, very few jobs for people with little experience, and the Job Centre staff seem unaccustomed to working with young graduates. I have tried to seek experience in voluntary positions but have found they too have very little to offer in terms of hours, which I found quite surprising. I recently got sent to an outside agency called A4E, while they get a fee for finding employment for out of work people they have also been incredibly helpful and I wish I'd had their support from the start. I'm due to start a teaching course in February that I had no idea existed.
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A sobering insight into the effects globalisation, demographics and government policy are having on the young in Britain today. It has always been challenging to get a good job, but now it seems to be difficult to get any job. However, some of the posts could almost be spoofs:
#19 - the poster complains that employers require experience as well as education. I am surprised the poster made it "out of uni" with the level of written English they display.
#64 - aged 29, four science degrees and no job. Is such a person really unemployable in Britain today or are there other factors at play?
On a slightly more constructive note, perhaps more of the unemployed young could widen their horizons and seek to work abroad. Use your imaginations and don't be afraid to take a risk!
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Quite a race to bet on. Lame runner, never been out before; seasoned trier never wins but draws a lot of money from once a year gamblers, or "Do Nothing Dave", not popular, but has mastered the art of buying the nod of the race stewards.
The ruling classes have certainly let "their" children down, but then they are the pupils of Thatcher, the mistress of "only do something today if you can profit today". The art of expedience is to do nothing if nothing is the cheap option, and only do something (spend) if there is money to be made. We lost sight of the arts and qualities of investment, loyalty, trust, respect. It all evaporated as the miners lives were trodden into the coal dust.
Short term gain - long term pain.
And so with our young. Forget the sixteen to seventeen year olds because their employment carries special requirements, but keep looking at the burgeoning heap of bodies each a statement of discontent, hopelessness, desperation, depression, and decay. One day you'll need those bodies but by then they'll either be past caring or they'll be manning the latest assault on the bridge at fortress Westminster, constantly under siege.
The Prince's Trust knows something about traditional values; may be that is why it doesn't turn its back quite so easily as a certain Hilda Margaret Thatcher. One thousand pounds is not such a bad bet to make when the runner has such a proud record. Of course the ruling classes know all about gambling with other people's money too, but only when it pays into their numbered bank accounts.
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@63, R wrote:
Young and jobless just isn't acceptable. The army is always hiring (even in these straightened times).If they are still signing on after six months, then they are signed up.
I bet that would provide sufficient motivation to find work.
----------------------------------
Probably would. Except there are those whom no armed force would accept, such as myself who is very short-sighted and has photosensitive epilepsy...
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I would really like to know how these statistics have been created. 16 and 17 year olds cannot claim job seekers unless in exceptional circumstances. The government used to rely on Connexions staff to update lists of what all the teenagers were doing. But thousands of those staff have been made redundant in the last year. So while this is a problem, we have no real idea of the scale of the problem, and the help that was there for under 20s has just been dramatically cut. So it is only going to get worse for the future.
Another point is that there are clear 'blackspots' of unemployment around the country. More needs to be done to target resources where they are most needed.
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How about this for a simple statistic
number of people paying income tax under 65 this July:
26 million (hmrc.gov.uk)
estimated number of people of working age (2009 figure):
38 million (statistics.gov.uk - thats only 62% of the population)
sooo 12 million people not working.
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#74 vj32
You are correct. Sixteen and seventeen year olds must be seen by a trained under eighteen adviser and are not signed on in the general run. As I indicated earlier 'minors' also carry specific employment requirements. In order to quality for JSA 'minors' need to be 'permanently' estranged from their parents or in other hardship.
#75 bestyrsofmylife
The difference is made up of 'so called' economically inactive (unemployed, not claiming, people retired on occupational pensions and not claiming, those in 'work' in the black economy, etc, etc). We also have the spectre of large numbers of people who may be receiving tax credits from previous employment periods.
However the best solution is always reasonably well paid and plentiful work encouraging young people (especially) to move around until they find work they enjoy and are suited to. However such a policy requires full employment and not the miserly and miserable seventy percent the country has at the moment. These are the policies that history demonstrates lead to better societies.
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63. At 00:46am on 02 Dec 2010, R wrote:
Young and jobless just isn't acceptable. The army is always hiring (even in these straightened times).If they are still signing on after six months, then they are signed up.
more tripe...
My son in law was a Royal Marine Commando(offered Special Service) left the army when my granddaughter was born, after a year trying to find work he tried to rejoin the army... and tried .....and tried.... eventualy he got a realy good offer to start at the bottom on basic training. Despite the fact hes done all the training succedded were many many others have failed. can refule helicopters on the fly etc etc had more licences than most civvys working with heavey veichals/machinary.
the army have taken massive cuts unless you hadn't noticed..
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68
Not with those grades I am afraid - 2 Ds is not reasonable in this day and age. If you think it is then you need to raise your standards or lower your expectations.
For a full time college student 16-18 and not doing these on day release from work - then the expectation is you will have 3 A levels, reading a CV or application form which shows a gap in achievement asks questions? Why no third A level on full time education, was a course studied and failed ? Why for a part time workload of only 2 A levels were only 2 Ds obtained?
When faced with a number of applications the more questions a form raises the less chance of getting to the interview in the first place which is where personal skills are more important.
So you may well have extremely good explanations and reasons which in person would stand you well (to counter the assumption that you wasted your time at college) - unfortunately you are unlikely to get to give them as your application is in the bin.
This may well be very unfair and these employers are missing a great opportunity but that is a harsh reality of life.
Getting a job is a competition especially if you know what you would like to do - you have not unfortunately equipped yourself with a good hand.
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69. At 05:25am on 02 Dec 2010, CaraKiriyama wrote:
While many volunteering positions offer fairly thankless tasks with no financial reward, they help to fill the gaps in work history which can often be a major barrier to finding work. Likewise, it demonstrates to employers that you have a hard working attitude and conscientious nature, and that your desire to work is based on more than financial concerns. Also, they provide a setting in which skills can be developed and experience gained without having to go through a competitive formal recruitment process. But most of all, giving back to an organisation that you care about can be a powerful tonic when it comes to alleviating the stress, boredom and depression associated with long term unemployment. I strongly encourage any unemployed young person to seek out regular voluntary work, as the long term benefits of such roles easily make up for the lack of financial incentives.
Very well said the benefits are outstanding for anyone, I help run 2 community groups 1 residential and one environmental, no wages no rewards financially if anything a little cost to ourselves. We could choose to turn part of the environmental one into a social enterprise, but for now choose to run small events that get people involved. We have one tomorrow from 1 pm to 5 pm.. Friday afternoon.... but everyone works... but its a perfect time to get people in especially those that have nothing to do. Just have to get people past the must own /must have mindset that government and banks have ingrained into us, it all becomes so much more rewarding when you do.
Life is about creation not interest payments.
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Great article. Well, problems grow from problems i believe. If you do not start tackling from the start, then you get worse in the end.
Unemployment had been a rising issue since few years back. When i first went into the university, unemployment had been a very hot topic and never stopped getting hotter. Today, we still see the same headline of "Unemployment Rises".
Every single graduate or individual have their own choices. You can choose to work hard, you can choose to be lazy, sell cannabis or even do nothing each day.
I really don't see how we can blame the government or country for unemployment. Jobs don't come your way, you have to look for it. If you are looking for a super-easy yet high paid job all the time, then you can sit at home as there won't be an easy job in this world. For students, you should stop dreaming about your school life and parties.
Everything starts from scratch, it is just the individuals who need to look at the mirror knowing what their mistakes are. Did they tried hard enough in job seeking? There are thousands of job seeker agencies in the country that can help easily. Did you ever took the effort to revise your own CV and post it on job seeker websites?
Trust me, you post your CV in one website, you get several agencies calling you in the month. Why? Because they are looking for business too. So they will always help just to get themselves paid. If you do not get any calls, revise your CV. Are you expecting too much? Tell yourself, thinks starts from 0! Even Facebook founder have to first learn how to start up a computer.
Try asking for help, opinions on how to improve your CV. If you do not have work experience, highlight your education. If you feel your education isn't good enough, highlight your passion and personalities. Everyone has their own skills to contribute in this world today.
Everything goes around in business. But if you stop, then no one can help you. Don't you see that if you want something, you need to strive for it?
In this country, education is so affordable and benefits are give to all students. Maybe studying life has been too much fun and easy that we were never taught of the skills and value of living. Things seems easy during schooling life but when you step out and start looking for jobs, its a totally different world. Failing to get the job you want today doesn't mean it will be the same tomorrow.
I believe individuals must be educated with the value of self-skills, motivation and positive thinking. They must be also taught by parents how education plays a part in their family, income, job and life in future.
When you point your finger to blame someone, you have 4 fingers pointing back to yourself. Think and understand what the problem is.
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This recession may have had one feature not seen previously: a lot of firms saw it as temporary and took extreme measures to retain their experienced staff, ready for a rapid response to the up-turn.
Tactics like pay cuts, part week working, extra (unpaid) leave etc were all used to cut costs whilst avoiding/minmising redundancies.
Good for the people in work - I'm all in favour - but unfortunately that does has knock on effects for those looking for their first job. Even as we come out of recession the number of NEW jobs may not be as many as expected.
Unfortunately the spiteful destruction of the university system eliminates one more option for many young people.
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In Britain there is very much an attitude of blame. If things go wrong we blame the Government or the banks. I noticed that in the US, if people lose their jobs they re-train and find better ones. They aren't afraid of starting from scratch, re-educating themselves and moving on. They don't put themselves in boxes, limiting themselves to one profession.
If something doesn't work, try something else. They don't have the benefit system that we have here, which means that if you are poor in the US you are a lot worse off then in Britain and yet they strive for a lot more, and the rich are a lot richer than us.
There is a lot that we could learn from our American cousins about attitude which would stand us in good stead in these difficult times.
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I left school aged 18 after doing sixth form with average results (C's).
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, so I took a year out to recuperate, my mother was on incapacity benefits and my dad was working as a technician in a factory, but they didn't mind having me at home. I got myself a Christmas job at Marks and Spencers (if you're struggling to find even a retail job, I recommend pounding on doors at Christmas, they'll take anyone) and worked for three months on minimum wage. I was fine with it and gave some to my parents for board. After that ended I was unemployed again, but I applied for another retail job at Sainsbury's and got it. I consider myself to be a pretty intelligent person, so pushing trolleys and working checkouts wasn't exactly what I wanted for my future. But it was £6 an hour and I was pretty happy with working four days a week. I even saved up enough to go on holiday.
Then I decided to go to university. I had to strip my hours down to weekends only and get a student loan to live off. I'd moved out of my home by this point but travelled back via train every weekend to go to work. I was only earning £80 a week, but that was enough to cover rent and food. My studen loan paid for all the books and tools I needed.
Unfortunately, the deadlines at university became too severe for me to be losing two days a week from study. I study special effects and when the deadlines start looming, you have 4000 word essays, 2000 word reports and a five minute film to hand in, you need every hour you can get.
So I quit. But my manager was nice enough to say that they'd try and find a position for me again if it all didn't work out. I'm hoping to go into the special effects or animation industry after I finish. I'm told I'm talented and I know how to use pretty much any 3D package, the best option for me would be to go freelance and work a second job to pay the bills. But this has made me worried. Firstly, in this country, the animation industry doesn't get much of a tax break compared to the rest of Europe or even the World, in Canada it's something like 40%. Most companies generate the ideas in this country, but ship the production overseas.
So, it's either move to Canada, saying goodbye to all my friends and family or go back to working in a shop after I leave, letting my ambition slip away from me. I hear Toronto is lovely this time of year.
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I work for a company that recruits live-in carers for disabled people. The job pays £502 per week. The only qualifications needed is to be over 21 (For insurance purposes) and to have a Drivers Licence.
What nationality group has the largest amount of people who don't bother to show up, or even ring and cancel? Answer (Sadly): My fellow Britons.
PS: So if you meet our recruitment criteria all you've got to do is apply!
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@84.
I fear you may be right about this. There are alot of British young people who feel that some jobs are below them, and attitude not shared by many immigrants. There was an indian guy at my old job, showed up every day and worked hard. He was nice to customers and a good collegue.
There was also a 17 year British girl from Cannock. Always phoning in sick and asking to work on the shop floor (so she could stand by the doors and talk to the security guard). She always took a ten minute longer break then everyone else and quit shortly after I did. But her reason was she was just "bored".
What the hell?
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"71. At 06:11am on 02 Dec 2010, philtower wrote:
#64 - aged 29, four science degrees and no job. Is such a person really unemployable in Britain today or are there other factors at play?"
I thought the same and talked to some recruiters I have my CV with. Each one tells me my CV is in-depth and a quality CV. They also told me that employers have so many people to choose from that they will not look at anyone who they suspect have even a 1% chance of leaving the job after a year. They all demand experience because they can, it's an employers market. I once applied for a job which I ticked every single box, it didn't require experience and was in my Biomedical Science experience.
I didn't get the job. Why? One of my references was not available to pick up the phone when they called, so they moved on to the next qualified applicant. I was shattered when I heard that and realised that my chances of employment are completely random and dependant on perfect conditions and planetary alignments.
I constantly apply for work. My friends have looked at my CV and like it, none of them can fathom why I'm still unemployed. It really feels like that recruiters screen through their tons of applicants in very arbitrary ways. Did he miss a stroke on a t? Out. Did she write 405 words out of 400 for her opening letter? Out.
Until there is more work, or fewer graduates I could very well be on the dole for my whole life. To educated for tesco. No experience for 12k admin roles, need lab industry experience to get a lab job... to get industry experience to get a lab job... the list goes on and on.
Then when I hear in the pub someone talking about their job where they spend half their time browsing the web doing nothing, I almost break out in tears.
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#64,#86
In support of these posts...
I got a lot of flack on another one of these blogs when I suggested that the governments intent to push more people towards science, maths, engineering degrees just did not make sense - even the current numbers are having trouble getting a job in post-industrial UK.
Both from the perspective of this poster and my own watching young people try to get jobs, its actually a very tough market for science graduates.
Frankly it's bizarre to push more people in this direction until the issue of potential jobs for them is sorted out.
(Chnmmr - none of my business to interfere, but they always need good science teachers. Tough job, but not bad money/career)
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@ jon112dk
Thanks for the advice, no offence taken. But... a 5th degree? I'm done with education, it's a scam meant to leach money off people with no benefit. I can't keep retraining like this. I keep hearing about how there are too many teacher. And besides, all that will happen is that I graduate as a teacher then get told that I don't have enough experience compared to all the 60+ year old teachers who do not have to retire any time soon.
I know I sound bitter but the second I heard of the rise in the retirement cap and no forced retirement, I realised I probably won't get a job until I'm 40.
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88. At 5:24pm on 02 Dec 2010, Chnmmr wrote:
@ jon112dk
Thanks for the advice, no offence taken. But... a 5th degree? I'm done with education, it's a scam meant to leach money off people with no benefit. I can't keep retraining like this. I keep hearing about how there are too many teacher. And besides, all that will happen is that I graduate as a teacher then get told that I don't have enough experience compared to all the 60+ year old teachers who do not have to retire any time soon.
=========================
There is a desperate shortage of science teachers who actually have science degrees - there are several ways to get into it and you may be able to get grants (not loans) to pursue it.
Science is one area not being cut anywhere becuase everyone gets its importance.
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88. At 5:24pm on 02 Dec 2010, Chnmmr
With a an existing degree its just the PGCE you need (1 year) or even graduate teacher programme where you work in a school from day one and learn the teaching skills on the job.
Agree with #89, science and maths teachers are in desperate shortage. It is very unlikely this government will cut science/maths teachers.
Courses of this type give very high probability of employment.
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@84 what company is that that you work for? I can't actually drive yet but will be soon, fingers crossed! Could you also tell me where it is based?
Thanks.
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People generaly work to improve their standard of living.
Minimum wage doesn't improve your standard of living as the government has to top up your pay with benefits like tax credits and housing benefits just to bring you up to subsistance levels. It would be interesting to see what percentage of the welfare budget is payed to people in work.
Basicaly our government are funding employers who refuse to pay a decent living wage and until this stops unemployment will remain at unacceptable levels. Increase the minimum wage to £7.50 and watch 100's of millions be wiped of the welfare budget and yes create jobs, not new jobs maybe but families who are now having to have both members of a household working to survive or people who have to work a ridiculous number of hours to achieve a standard of living thats only just acceptable will be able to reduce their hours and pack in the part time job that was taken only to keep their heads above water will free up positions in the job market.
And to those that would say businesses would move their operations overseas I say call their bluff. I don't think we will see any of the supermarket chains closing their stores down do you ?
This threat of losing business is just a tool used by business to keep wages at rediculously low levels and we as taxpayers (well not me but I was)are footing the bill for it.
I would sugest people who think the minimum wage should be cut should have a look here http://www.unicef.org.uk/ to see how poverty in the uk is rising.
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Unemployment wouldn't be an issue in the Resource Based Economy proposed by the Venus Project and supported by the Zeitgeist movement. I have done a lot of studying about the RBE idea and I have yet to see anyone provide a good reason why we wouldn't all be far better off if we ended the monetary system altogether and changed to a Resource Based Economy. In fact I believe it's the only hope we have to save ourselves from a terrible future. The monetary system can only work on the basis of infinite growth and on a finite planet that is an incredible fatal flaw that will ensure our own destruction.
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Zeitgeist what is it.....
World and federal banks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dmPchuXIXQ
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In my opinion, Bob Wallum's assessment is spot on:
"You vote for members of a state government. They are actually insignificant to global corporations who can move anywhere they choose, play off state against state and pay whatever price to continue their operations."
It's the banks and big business that are running the country. They have now become so powerful that any government will do pretty much anything to keep them operating within state boundaries.
Too many of the problems of society are a result of the skewed distribution of wealth. How can it be right for a select few to be earning millions as a salary while there are people on the streets that can't afford to feed or house themselves. I used to think capitalism was the best system around, after all why shouldn't people be rewarded for their efforts. But this is extreme and is WRONG - pure and simple. I do not understand how any fair-minded person can justify these outlandish salaries and bonuses.
I also happen to believe his suggested solution (in comment no. 21) for the problem is correct and is in fact becoming the only alternative possible.
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Firstly I'd like to point out once again in this news story the BBC only bothered to look at unemployed people in London. For the BBC and the Tory party there is no life outside London. They have no interest in helping people outside London and they barely report news from outside London.
The Tory party are in power. Tories NEVER do a thing to help young people. Young people don't have money. Thatcher and Major were terrible to young people and that's why the Tory party cannot win an outright majority in the UK today. My generation were entering the job market when Thatcher and Major were in power and now it's my generation that is voting. We will never vote for the Tory party. We will never forgive the Tories for Thatcher.
The Tory party are the same today. Cameron and Clegg are doing NOTHING for our young. In a few years time when the young of today start to vote the Tories and the Liberals will pay the price again at the ballot box. I can't wait !
Complain all you like about the Labour Party but they have been the only party to actually help our young and to make it easier for our unemployed to find work (I experienced unemployment under Labour and the Tories).
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7. At 6:33pm on 01 Dec 2010, johndoe64 wrote:
How hypocritical for the RBS group to sponsor this research at the same time as it's busy making people redundant and moving those jobs abroad to India, some of those jobs would be idea starter jobs for our young people. Stop sending British jobs abroad and there will be more work available, not the whole solution to the problem but a place to start.
...but then the super rich would not get richer. Are you seriously asking them to pay people decent wages in this country when they can pay a quarter of that to someone in India ? The super rich Tory supporters do not care about our young or our unemployed - it's their greediness that has caused our unemployment for so long. Nothing will change with the Tories in power. The rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer and our country will become a third world nation. The Tories don't care - they devastate a country by sucking out all of it's money and assets and then they just move abroad to one of their other homes. They have no incentive to help the British people.
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37. At 9:21pm on 01 Dec 2010, Len_Ganley wrote:
I am unemployed at the moment, having seen my job disappear in the cuts. I was rather good at it. My job was to do with guiding young people from unemployment and criminality into education, training and employment.
I'll probably be signing on with my former client group of NEETs henceforth.
You have my sympathy if you voted Labour. If you voted Tory or Liberal then you deserved to be one of the people losing their jobs as a result of the "policies" of the incompetent clown coalition. I have no sympathy for anyone losing their jobs who voted for this terrible shambles of a government.
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35. At 9:15pm on 01 Dec 2010, flyingscott wrote:
Blame for this sorry state were in can be fixed squarely and surely on 'new labour'. They must have known what unregulated immigration would do to the youth of this country,the low paid and wages in general. Keeping their new friends in the corporate world sweet, so as to pick up a directiorship or two when they inevitably lost power was much more appealing than being seen as not pc and doing what most of the rest of europe did. i.e. opt out. Thanks guys. Karma's gonna get ya!
Do some research. The immigration problem was happening under Thatcher. True Labour did nothing to stop it but Thatcher was the one who opened the floodgates because at that time there was no minimum wage so businesses wanted these immigrants because they knew they could pay them so little. Thatcher was all about helping herself and her rich business- owning friends get richer. Now we pay the price for that selfishness and greed.
Until we make politicians more accountable there will be no change for the better in our country. politicians are treating us like fools and we are sitting back and letting them ruin our lives.
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I work with young people who are NEET (not in Education Training or Employment) and it is getting extremely difficult to place young people into employment or training inc. Apprenticeships. This government is cutting EMA for young people from Janaury 2011 for new applicants and those in provision will only get their EMA until the end of the academic year then no more. How are they suppose to pay for books and travel now? Don't say Student Support Funds because we all know, that provision such as training providers or colleges don't get any extra funding to help them. Where are the incentives to get young people to work or train? Even the Apprenticeship rate is lower than the National Minimum Wage at £2.50 per hour! The government ask for Apprenticeships to be promoted. There are not enough around and where they are advertised, they always want "high grades" which many vulnerable young people will not have. Its the young people who have low or no academic achievements that are suffering the most and those families with low incomes. Some of the colleges have "upped" the grades required for young people to get onto courses. This government are not helping the young people of this country - their future voters to achieve EET. Most local governments due to the spending cuts are also looking at cutting young peoples services such as the Youth Service and Connexions. Who is going to help all these young unemployed people in the short and long term? Mr Cameron wants people to volunteer and work for nothing - how are people suppose to pay their bills, people are not getting wage increases yet VAT, other taxes, food prices, gas, electricity, rent, mortgages etc are all increasing daily. He wants people off benefits too but its a knock on effect. Lack of proper jobs/training provision & incentives push people into claiming benefits to be able to live day to day. Yes stop benefit cheats, yes limit immigration, tax higher earners more, child benefit should be per household not per person - this change was ridiculous! Come on Mr Cameron get this right please - re think your cuts which have been made too much too quickly or this country will definitely will go under!!
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Too many people seem to want to blame the Government and 'cuts' for what's been happening. Rubbish!
Firstly, the Coalition are actually cutting LESS than the previous Labour government's own plans. Secondly, this issue started under Labour's watch and is in many ways a direct result of their stupid policies, e.g.:
- education: the system is simply not giving the young the tools they need to be useful to employers. Frankly, the education system did this better 30 years ago.
- immigration: all the started jobs like bar work, fruit picking, street cleaning etc etc are all now done by the 2+ million immigrants let in by Labour. So the starter jobs that used to exist simply don't any more; and what jobs were left were regulated away either through health and safety or the minimum wage. When I started out I worked for a pittance to get some experience and people would do me a favour because I didn't cost much. Now, that whole system has been destroyed. By Labour. We also happily employ millions of immigrants as nurses, doctors etc rather than our own children.
So, lefties, blame the Tories all you like. But they didn't create this mess. These poor kids are Blair and Brown's children. And Blair and Brown have totally and utterly failed them.
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"....this issue started under Labour's watch and is in many ways a direct result of their stupid policies, e.g.:- education: the system is simply not giving the young the tools they need to be useful to employers. Frankly, the education system did this better 30 years ago.... We also happily employ millions of immigrants as nurses, doctors etc rather than our own children.
So, lefties, blame the Tories all you like. But they didn't create this mess. **These poor kids are Blair and Brown's children**. And Blair and Brown have totally and utterly failed them." (bluntjeremy 101)
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Jeremy,
these poor kids are NOT Blair & Brown's children - they are MY children and (perhaps) YOUR children.
I agree with you that Blair and Brown totally and utterly failed them.
For this they are, and will be FOREVER, guilty of the greatest failure leaders could ever achieve -
bankrupting the present and blighting the future for us, our children and our children's children.
Never has a nation been so comprehensively failed by individuals in whom we placed so much trust.
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Re 21
Can I ask - because I genuinely don't know - what demands were extracted from the shareholders of the culpable banks, before the tax-payer was asked to take over financial responsibility for the survival of the shareholder's companies.
I would imagine, and certainly hope, that the shareholders were sucked dry to the point that 'the pips squeeked' before my life-savings, pension and current account were decimated - but I seek proof (link?) before I accuse the senior management of the banks of something that that may not be the case.
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1, The long term mass unemployment under Mrs Thatcher's "watch" created the "unemployed for life" ethos and we are well into the second generation of this. I imagine it's difficult for a parent who has been unemployed for a long time to justify to his kids why they should "go out and get a job". This can only be fixed by making every job financially worthwhile. Those who have
never worked simply need to be offered jobs that:
a, pay sufficiently more than being on benefit
b, reward them with a feelgood factor for doing a good day's work, i.e. make them see a visible difference they are making. This is even more important than the pay once you have enough to get by, and work becomes a habit.
2, Governments must learn the lesson of saving in years of plenty and investing in recessions - things are cheaper in recessions (always buy from the poor and sell to the rich - in recessions all coutries are poor) and you'll be ready for the next boom with new industrial "plant" and a trained workforce.
3, You can't rely on the World's Biggest Betting Shop for a long-term economic plan - this recession would have been an excellent time to invest in research and development (in British firms) in green technology as it's clearly the way the world is going, whatever your views on the green issue. That would give British manufacturing a chance to regenerate.
BTW we should take a leaf out of Germany's book and make sure at least some technical people reach board level, I've seen what happens when the money men take over, they are fundamentally incapable of understanding the value of a skilled workforce and always go for the quick slash-the-workforce-and-reap-the-bonus approach, which inevitably leads to industrial decline. Not sure how you can legislate for this though, perhaps some sort of rule to link their bonuses to company performance for years AFTER they leave? It's a tricky one.
I recently saw the way my industry was going (as above the money-men are gradually exporting it for their own personal gain) and went to night classes to retrain elsewhere. Whilst doing this training I got talking to the others on the course and it never ceases to amaze me how the lot of the ground-level working person in this country hasn't perceptibly improved over the last 30 years. Most of the people I met have to work overtime just to get by - often with a working spouse. So much for decades of economic growth, it's clearly been commandeered by the already-wealthy. Compare this to the riches being "earned" in the boardroom.
BTW to clarify, I have no problem with a James Dyson or a Richard Branson, anyone who is a genuinely inventive entrepreneur is a benefit to our country. My problem is with the people who seem to "ooze" into existing profitable industries then inflate their own pay to obscene levels by cutting down on skilled workforce.
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"Re 21: Can I ask - because I genuinely don't know -
what demands were extracted from the shareholders of the culpable banks, before the tax-payer was asked to take over financial responsibility for the survival of the shareholder's companies.
I would imagine, and certainly hope, that the shareholders were sucked dry to the point that 'the pips squeeked' before my life-savings, pension and current account were decimated - but I seek proof (link?) before I accuse the senior management of the banks of something that that may not be the case." (me 103)
------------------------------------------
Can I also ask - because I genuinely don't know -
what demands were extracted from the banks by the Labour Government TO ENSURE THAT shareholders of the culpable banks had their savings, investments & assets extracted from them?
If the shareholders are shown to have savings, investments and assets that were in existence at the time that the tax-payer was asked to take over financial responsibility for the survival of the shareholder's companies, then these assets now need taking (by force, if necessary) - in the same way that drug dealers are deprived of their assets.
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#104 Euforiater
I think the most damaging part of Thatcher's regime in terms of destruction of the working person was the decimation of the trade unions, taking with it many of our industries and community infrastructures. The serious decline in economic activity for working people except for "service style work" destroyed a whole plank of opportunity without any attempt to fill the gaps created.
It is interesting to note the move towards personal ownership, council property purchases for tenants, shares for previously publicly owned resources and so on, encouraging a burgeoning economy based almost entirely on hot air, the wilful exagerration of assets in order to obtain cheap credit from banks who were not keeping adequate track of their dealings. Perhaps the most obvious evidence was Friedman's notion that if you "tart the streets up no one will know they are living beneath the breadline"! It apparently worked just as well in the opposite direction too.
Perhaps what is really needed in our cackhanded society is a much deeper responsibility for those engaged in business (including shareholders) when things go wrong. If the unions could be battered into submission for daring to challenge governments, then what is the price to be paid by bankers, accountants, corporate boards etc for actually bringing economies to their knees? A pat on the back and a bail out!!!
We need a revolution; there will soon be enough people out of work to start one too unless someone gets a handle on what is going down.
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The problem is we have a completely unsuitable, unsustainable elitist educational system.
Go look at the netherlands were they have colleges set up funded by the private sector giving youths specific qualifications that actually suit the industries that will employ them.
The way you get private industry to pay is by giving tax breaks to them.
ie: If we offered a large tax break too google in exchange for them setting up a google polytechnic in the UK we wouldn't lose revenue because the tax break would be for the huge amount of new business they would bring in to the UK from other countries to take advantage of the tax breaks we offer.
So we would have free education that is superior to university education as well as creating jobs.
Its a no brainer. The idea all kids should study an irrelevant academic qualification at a university that has no idea what the real world wants is stupid and needs to end now.
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I think being unemployed when young can be fatal if the period of unemployment lasts any longer than six months. A career starts when a person is young and fresh and the first ten years of one's working life are essential in terms of becoming established and connected with the world of work. I can imagine that employers are put-off by young people who have been unemployed for longer than six months. Many employers probably assume that such young people are lacking in drive and therefore unlikely to contribute positively to a oompany. I left school at 18 with 3 A-levels and bags of enthusiasm. I was given a job by a very well known travel company as a sales representative and I excelled there. My performance was acknowledged and I was remunerated accordingly. The job and lifestyle that came with it seemed absolutely fantastic until my co-workers and I received the news that our office was to close - efficiency measures. My career was curtailed and I decided that I wanted to teach English and live overseas, which I am doing now. I have since returned to the U.K twice to try and find a job (I have acquired a teaching qualification since then too) but I have found it very difficult and during my last visit I was psychologically disturbed by my being unable to find work. I know that my living abroad might make things more difficult for me in the long run - I am not an ideal candidate for a city career, and I am not quite experienced or old enough to pursue my dream of becoming a counsellor. The point I am trying to make, rather haphazardly albeit, is that the current system in place is not conducive to assisting young people to find employment. Courses need to be publicised and offered. During my two stints on the dole I was never offered any education or training schemes by my job centre. I felt very much alone and let down by the system, which is why I decided to go abroad again, primarily to broaden my horizons and get away from the U.K, but also to get experience and have a half decent lifestyle. I love the way people assume that JSA claimants lead easy lives - it's quite difficult to revel on £50 per week, never mind eat properly and heat a home. The entire system needs to be changed, but it's impossible. The damage is too deeply entrenched. It's taken thousands of years to get into this mess and I dare say that it'll take just as long to get out of it.
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Excuses, excuses, excuses...there will always be work for good people and if our youth cannot compete with others from eastern Europe or where ever then so be it.
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We live in a world that increasingly has the character of the rat race, where the strongest survive and the weakest are exploited. Being selfish has become a virtue not a vice, and where success is measured in purely monetary terms and hailed as reality. Where those who contributed to the financial crisis out of greed and reckless bravado can walk away with more than enough money in their pockets, while the less fortunate pay the price in unemployment and a bleak future. But as they say you can"t take it with you, and who knows perhaps a higher authority will one day wipe the smiles off their faces and confront them with a new reality.
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Politicians need to wake up to some reality here. This problem is a blatantly gendered one. The pressures on boys and men to find employment are far more serious and stressful than they are on women.
A young woman who is out of work can find a boyfriend or husband who isn't. And she need never look for work again if that is her choice. He will willingly provide for her for life.
But for a young man (or, indeed, for a man of any age) the picture is entirely different. No female partner will support him for long if he cannot find work -- whether it's his own fault or not. (Yes, you might know someone's cousin's auntie's daughter who is, but, you have to admit that is extremely rare.) He is on his own.
I'm afraid there is a huge asymmetry here and it is not being addressed by those Whitehall harpies we elect. Their ideologies come way before we do.
Education, which has neglected boys for a couple of decades, needs to now focus on restoring the high levels of achievement boys reached in earlier eras. The worst jobs, like road-digging, coal mining, garbage disposal -- where women are scarce where they even exist at all -- need to be given a higher level of respect to make more men willing to do them. (How many many women do you think you will convince to do these jobs?)
Political correctness needs to be expunged from our culture for real progress to be made. And that will only happen through public pressure.
Two BBC men, Michael Buerk and Jeremy Paxman, touched on the destructive impact this is having on us. But, unbelievably, this was never developed or taken further. We now need a serious debate, not some radical feminist nonsense chaired by Beatrix Campbell or Madelaine Bunting.
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I have read the comments with a mixture of interest and disbelief. How many excuses are we going to make for the younger generation being lazy with expectations of leaving school and earning 20-30k a year! Really, the amount of adults that I have heard making excuses for poor little 'johnny' who left school at 14 because he was bullied and now has no qualifications or life skills and cannot get work makes me sick.
I have worked my entire life from the age of 15 in some rather unappealing and poorly paid jobs at first. They taught me the value of hard work and made me appreciate my education as it would assist in me rising above 'entry level' work and enable me to progress in my career.
The problem with these young adults is a sense of 'entitlement' without wanting to have to work for it. Holidays/house/car/luxuries are expected as a right not something to be earned.I am proud to say I have never once claimed a penny from the government, I truly begrudge my tax money supporting these worthless layabouts who simply sleep in, watch tv, bludge, steal and wait for their benefit cheque. Dont even get me started on the sixteen year old mothers of two who will never make a contribution to society. The UK has plummeted with this underclass dragging down those who work hard. I left 5 years ago and moved to Australia where working for your dole money as a long term unemployee is an expectation. It is not the goverment, the big corporations or the politicians at fault. the responsibility lies with the mollie coddling parents and their lazy offspring. Bring back national service. It would gie them all something to think about.
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42. At 9:54pm on 01 Dec 2010, APlikesF1 wrote:
Oh and on a final note - my generation is lost because of mass immigration? People who are escaping ABJECT poverty, war and dictatorships, worse than anything some on JSA could even dream of facing. So I'm not actually bothered about them coming, because I have compassion for everyone. Everyone but the greedy high-fliers who don't care as long as they have their swish car and perfect house. Call me a hippie or whatever I don't care. It's the foreign (particularly Chinese) students paying their way into our universitys and booting out our own that irritate me. They're the ones who'll come back and take those top jobs anyway. Cameron and his bunch of apes can squash all incentive for young people to go to university, but he can jolly well charge more to the foreigners who take those spots!! Oh wait... HE ISN'T.
Wow what a rant.
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Hang on... these students' parents work tirelessly - some 2 jobs, 7 days a week - essentially sacrificing their own lives so their children can have the opportunity to be more successful and financially affluent, have the life they never had... yet you show jealousy? We should be admiring them for their dedication and following their example, and more power to them if they move from peasant class to a white collar job - that's true social mobility.
The true irony in your post is that you don't begrudge the immigrants escaping abject poverty, wars, dictatorships.... but you begrudge those who go through all that, but have the fortune of having hard working parents who saved their way through life to pay for their child not to suffer the same fate. Yet they all want the same - a better life.
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It has never been fair at the bottom of the pile. When I started out in the early sixties as an apprentice at 15 I was paid a pittance for working 44 hours per week, it was so bad I could not afford the bus fare to get the 5 miles to work (it was equal to my pay) so I biked it everyday winter and summer for 4 years. I qualified with the highest qualifications possible alas this still did not improve my lot and the work was dirty, gruelling and yet required a lot of knowledge to do the job well. Today technology has shifted some of the knowledge base from menial to technician status but yet a plethora of barriers have been implemented to thin out the numbers able to get the best paid jobs.
I note this is the same throughout the trades left in the UK. Highly skilled core makers now no longer needed because computers do it all now and the machines are made in inaccessible places to many. There is not much left to do in the repair trades since it's cheaper to buy new than repair until mother nature throws a lot of unpredictable weather at us then we grind to a halt because there are no people to do the job. People who could thaw out a pipe and get a heater going now can't legally touch it - they just freeze to death.
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This is one of the most explosive issues facing UK society. If older people have to work longer there needs to be massive job expansion to employ the young of the UK.
Sadly, the jobs many are qualified to do such as fruit picking or woeking on the fields are unattractive and have willing Eastern europeans doing the work.
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