Why Do We Have Job Centres?

[bungleboy69]

8 minutes ago, bassett one said:

the jobs i mentioned where cooking burgers,stewards,driving ,general labourer ect,so most could do the job, so why sign on,when there are jobs?

For me, jobs like cooking burgers and being a steward are more like a second job on top of a full time one to top up your income. They're less likely to be regular hours with enough coming in to live on.  I worked at SUFC 3 nights a week on top of a full time job. I think these days, people are much less likely to have a second job on top of full time hours compared to when I was younger, although I'm sure people may well tell me I'm wrong.  

 

Driving isn't for everyone,  I certainly wouldn't fancy breaking my back delivering for one of the big online companies whilst being monitored on a tracker. 

 

A general labourer job would probably rule a large chunk of people out. I've done stuff like this, but it'd be harder now I'm older, better for someone younger. 

 

Having said all of that, if I'd ever had been made redundant I'd have flipped burgers or cleaned toilets short term to pay the mortgage. 

[bassett one]

good comment if you where out of work you would take most jobs,if only those unemployed would think like you,its wrong just to pay them for nowt,i always thought if you have a job it helps you get the job you really want.

[Englebart]

Employment centers are needed, this is objective. But I believe that there is scope for modernizing their work.

[Longcol]

On 05/06/2022 at 11:23, Ms Macbeth said:

I’m old enough to remember when the Unemployment Offices actually had jobs! If you were fit and well, there was no question that you didn’t work.   If they gave you a job you hated, you still had to do it or find a different one.    I can also remember when people would move for work rather than sit forever on the dole, for instance there were lots of Scots in the Yorkshire coalfields.  
 

Wanting to work and improve your lot is a mindset, if your parents have worked most of their lives, its the norm. If you’ve been brought up thinking working is a mugs’ game, then you’re less likely to see the benefits of having a job.   

Yes - although it was made much easier by the Coal Board - for example Yorkshire pits were opening new faces in the early 60's so they actively recruited in Scotland and Durham where pits were closing. You not only got a job but a guaranteed coal board / council house. I lived in Rossington near Doncaster at the time  and a whole new estate was built  at the end of our road to house the new workers - overwhelmingly Scots and Geordies.

[Anna B]

I remember when jobs had something to offer besides a decent regular wage. 

 

Works canteens offering tasty, freshly cooked hot meals at a subsidised cost, social clubs, often sports teams like football, table tennis etc, and leagues. And companionship - Men had to rely on each other, and trust their judgement for health and safety, they got to know their fellow workers so well they could second guess them. Firm, lifelong friendships were forged.

 

They also  got the chance to improve their situation with proper paid apprenticeships leading to well paid trades, and promotions up the chain of command, it was also possible for the hard working and diligent to start on the shop floor and work your way up into management, and there was regular training in new skills, paid for by the company, again giving workers further opportunities. There was also encouragement to improve yourself with things like the Workers Educational Association. An active Union with huge membership, so you always had someone on your side,  fighting your corner. 

 

There were regular works outings, trips to the races,  the seaside for the whole family. Dinner dances and Christmas clubs. Not to mention the girls that worked in the offices - many a romance blossomed which ended in marriage.

 

They were jobs for life providing you did your job properly, and they became your second family.

 

Times long gone, but a way of life which had respect and pride for work well done, and the workers.

I mention them only because they would never happen today in the new industries like call centres and distribution centres, and young people today would never believe it. 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Anna B

[bungleboy69]

Great post Anna B lots of very valid points. Everything is efficency driven today so lots of employee benefits are neglected.  Many people these days would baulk at participating in workplace activities mentioned in your post. Unions are definitely not what they were.

 

Many more people now are self employed...

 

Job security is a thing of the past...

 

Changes in society have an impact too. We're not as sociable as we used to be. People have their own mini pubs and cinemas at home. We form relationships with Tinder and other dating apps. We have a huge variety of cooked meals and treats delivered to our homes, unthinkable not so long ago. We don't even socialise in the supermarkets any more...

 

I feel that generally we are less community minded and more people choose to look after themselves. 

[melthebell]

On 05/06/2022 at 15:19, ECCOnoob said:

Nope. I am not accepting this, how much longer can this sorry excuse keep being rolled out about technology and training. 

 

Even the oldest people still in the working world on the cusp of retirement, would have had at least 25 years of their career exposed to or be using mainstream computer systems, mobile phones and the internet.

 

For the vast majority of people in the workforce, they've had even longer career exposure to

'modern' day work technology and its newfangled concepts. 

 

Even way back the 70s computers were starting to infiltrate the office and by the end of the 80s it was becoming the norm. Mobile phones have been common by the 1990s as was the internet.  Since the late-2000s onwards, even the most 'manual' of operations has at some point involved computing or mobile technology. Warehouse workers, checkout cashiers, delivery drivers, labourers, builders, receptionists even cleaners will at some point have their hand touched by the silicon chip.

 

You keep trying to portray that there are entire swathes of workers out there who can't cope beyond pad and pencil or filling in forms on carbon paper chits.   I say nonsense. They have had more than ample opportunities to learn for at minimum half of their career time. It's called adapting.  If they don't know, they need to be retraining or taking courses pretty sharpish to drag themselves into a working world which has been in existence for 20 to 30 years.They can't sit there refusing to embrace change and then be moaning about being left behind.

 

Generations before had to cope as will the future ones.  One of my relatives had a career with British Telecom starting off in dusty old switchrooms with plug and cord boards, by the time they retired they had to adapt to continual change in computerisation and auto call switching including learning code, bits of programming and keyboarding skills as late as into their 60s.  

 

I have friends who work in house clearance and Council renovation roles where they had to learn over the years increased use in computerised reports, filling in forms online to be sent back to their base, mobile technology and the use of tablets when on sites.

 

Even in my own legal career, I started in an era of of dusty old law books, dictating letters on tape for Miss Smith to type up on electric typewriters. I've had to evolve to using online case management programs, web-based law journals and virtual court hearings.  By the time I reach retirement there will likely be mainstream use of voice recognition, artificial intelligence and automated documents.

 

The evolution of the workplace and its technology has always been moving forward.

You do know Anna still lives in the socialist utopia of the 1940s?

[Anna B]

13 minutes ago, melthebell said:

You do know Anna still lives in the socialist utopia of the 1940s?

No I don't. I live in a modern world beset with problems, most of which can be sorted if governments did their job properly.

 

It could/should be so much better for everyone. 

 

[crookesey]

To not find work for those that don’t wish to do any.

[altus]

Link spam above crookesey's post reported.