Scrutiny to look at job situation
Thursday 5th June 2008, 2:55PM BST.
THE chairman of the Economic Affairs Scrutiny panel, Deputy Geoff Southern, has placed an advertisement in the JEP asking for Islanders to get in touch about difficulties they have had finding a job.
The advertisement poses three questions which respondents are invited to answer.
They are: Are enough apprenticeships offered to local people? Are too many jobs available to non-local workers? Are there enough job places for school leavers? The advertisement adds: ‘This is your opportunity to tell government what you think.’
The panel says that it wants to hear from apprentices, employers and anyone with an opinion on the subject to piece together an accurate and rounded picture of the job market.
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I would say that the majority of all financial jobs are not advertised in Jersey. They reckon that in 2007 hundreds of new employees entered finance on J Cat. Where were the hundreds of adverts over the year for the jobs?
If finance is a biggie to the States then why dont the finance companies invest in our schools and train school leavers. There would be no need to import so many J cats and then no issues with housing as the workforce are already here instead of jumping island to work else where.
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I disagree with Mark and believe jobs in finance are advertised in accordance with legal requirements. Who is the ‘they’? I have no idea how many job seekers came to the island on a J Cat.
Training school leavers is important and should take place. Jersey also needs to accept that gaps may still need to be filled by experienced workers from elsewhere.
I find the questions posed by Scrutiny to be leading and a little biased.
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I would say that there are not enough jobs for school leavers on the islands. I am a student at university and have returned back home to Jersey for the summer. Much like the majority of my friends, i have found it astonishingly hard to find a job of any kind for the summer. This has left me worrying about how i will cope with the financial demands of university in the years to come. Because of this I doubt i will return to the island next summer as it will be easier to find a job on the mainland.
I do not believe this to be right, surely the Island should be encouraging its youth to return ??
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i am a local lad and i think it is not as easy to find work in the island as it used to be. i started going to night college of my own back to give myself better chance for work and am nearly fully qualified. and keep getting told the same thing that i don’t have any experience. (its a catch 22.)
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I am concerned about the lack of recognition regarding ‘equal pay for work of equal value’. I am aware of significant ongoing disharmony within health with regard to this issue which has led to some extremely competent and highly skilled staff resigning.
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THERE ARE NO JOBS FOR THE LOCAL PEOPLE ANY MORE
OR THE DISABLED…SO THE KIDS WHO ARE LEAVING SCHOOL HAVE NO CHANCE I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR WORK FOR 2 YEARS AS I’VE GOT OSTEOARTHRITIS..I USED TO WORK FOR CHECKERS FOR YEARS AND WALKED OUT DUE TO A BREAKDOWN BEEN FOR INTERVIEWS BUT THEY TELL ME I DON’T HAVE EXPERIENCE..THAT’S A LAUGH EMPLOYERS DON’T LIKE IT IF YOU GOT SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR HEALTH LOOK IN ANY SHOP AND SEE HOW MANY LOCAL PEOPLE ARE EMPLOYED I’M JERSEY AND I’VE BEEN LET DOWN BY JERSEY JOB MARKET IT’S ABOUT TIME SOMETHING WAS DONE TO GET LOCAL PEOPLE WORKING IN THE ISLAND
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I AM A JERSEY BORN AGED 49 AND I THINK IT IS INPOSSIBILE TO GET WORK EVERY JOB I APPLIED FOR AT CYRIL LE MARQUAND HOUSE THAT IS A STATES JOB I HAVENT EVEN GOT AN INTERVIEW I DID REPORT THIS TO SOCIAL SECURITY AND THEY JUST PUT IT ON THERE RECORDS I WENT TO COLLEGE AND QUALIFIED WITH A DIPLOMA IN IT THE NEW CLAIT I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THE JOBS ARE ALREADY GONE BUT THEY HAVE TO ADVERTISE THEM BY LAW IS THIS FAIR I DONT THINK SO WHEN YOU ARE OUT OF WORK YOU SHOULD BE FIRST ON SOME SORT OF WAIGHTING LAIST THIS WOULD BE MOORE FAIR AND THEN GIVEN THE TRANING WITH THE JOB THIS THEN WOULD BE FAIR TO ALL NOW MATTER WHAT YOUR AGE
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I think the careers advice given to school leavers is next to useless and wonder how on earth some of these poeple got their job in the first place I was told by Highlands College that it is expected students who attend Highlands do not go to University!! well through mine and my daughter’s own hard work and research she is now at Derby with not much thanks to Highlands. My son is now seeking employment he went to the careers dept at Highlands for advice and was offered a course to train to be a personal trainer at the cost to him of £700.00 he wants to work in finance!! the whole thing is a joke i don’t think anyone is interested in trying to keep young Jersey people into employment.
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Yes there are – vote in the younger candidates whose friends are leaving the Island. They know precisely how difficult it is to get a decent job over here, particularly if you want to study to gain qualifications. Whose fault is it that our young people have so much trouble in finding employment – those whose policies allow employers to employ immigrants straight off the boat to do the jobs our young people could do just as well, if not better.
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Highlands College have voiced concerns over the standard of reading and writing that young students have demonstarted when joining the college.
These are young people that have been let down by Education Sport and Culure, however Mike Vibert seems to avoid this fact when claiming how wonderful the education system is over here, I would rather hear what is being done to address such a situation than having the issue ignored.
Local employers cannot be encouraged by such revelations
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There are job vacancies on the island and their are suitable school leavers for the jobs however the problem is the transition between student and employee because no school leaver has any experience.
Ideally getting employment should be in black and white to make it easier for school leavers to understand. For example, – take this certain course and pass with a grade of C or above, then work with us on a work expirience course of 3 months and we will employ you. Because I have found it very hard to understand what all the different professional qualifications will do for me and which ones I need to get decent job
I managed to get temping position at a Bank in town which has worked wonders for my CV but it was hard to get and can see why most people don’t get that opportunity.
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Well I for one have found it very easy to find work over the summer in Jersey, resulting in 4 work placements, two of which I have had job offers for in the finance industry.
Regarding work in the finance industry I think it is up to undergraduates to approach firms and not wait for jobs to appear in the JEP. Some firms will recruit a set amount of people each year, and it is up to you to approach them. If these firms can’t find Jersey workers, then they have no option but to look abroad.
Compared to England, it is currently much easier to get a finance job over here, as I have witnessed from my friends at university struggling to get through to the next application stages! Though how long that will last I don’t know.
As for non-financial jobs, I have witnessed that it is much harder to get an apprenticeship for school-leavers as a lot of these jobs go to non-local workers.
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There are already laws that restrict many many jobs to Islanders and people who have been resident here for more than five years. How much more favourable treatment do Jersey people need ? Why should employers operating in an ever more competitive world have to employ patently inferior candidates that put them at a disadvantage ? Why should educated people looking for a good job and willing to work damn hard be stuck in hospitality for five years if they want to make a life in Jersey ?
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Heres the problem with Jersey people..and I don’t mean this to cause offence its just a factor of living on an island….yesterday I drove past several fields in St Ouen, the wind was howling and the snow raining down, and in the fields there were polish and portuguese workers, now be honest how many local people would get up and be in a field in those conditions? this isn’t like I said me having a go its just that because we live on an Island we are able to get better jobs than perhaps we would if we lived on the mainland. How many cleaning jobs are done by foreign labour? How many hospitality jobs are done by foreign workers? guys if you want the government to fight for you to do this work I am sure they will but in reality I bet you don’t!
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I left the Army last year after numurous tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, kosovo and thought i would walk into a job. But did i? No chance, I’ve applied for numurous jobs in the construction industry and for the states, with no joy,”Not enough experience”, they said. Oh well back to Afghanistan for me then, As a Jerseyman i feel let down by the Government.There once was a saying “Good old Jersey” Jersey is finished!! The Island needs to look after its people first. All i want to do is work but that looks like it’s going to be 3554 miles away from my home.
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I agree with many of the above posts – no one is interested unless the applicant has experience. How do you get experience if you can’t get a job?
I really feel for school leavers as they must have one heck of a job on their hands finding work.
My sister is 41, unemployed and has been for nearly a year and a half. This is not through choice. She is desperate to get back to work and off of Income Support but no one will give her the chance.
There are plenty jobs out there, don’t get me wrong. But the majority of people looking for jobs (and I’m not talking school leavers now) have rent and bills to cover – packing CD’s for the minimum wage is no good to them – they would be homeless in a month or two.
Employers really do need to see beyond the C.V. (which is window dressing at best, and from experience I can say is often a crock of lies) and give every applicant more than a cursory consideration. They could be surprised.
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You cannot blame J Cats for lack of jobs for inexperienced locals. Companies have to apply for a J Cat license for each and every J Cat post they create. They have to justify why the J Cat is needed to the Regulation of Undertakings and they are not used to simply fill vacancies.
J Cats are demand lead in that companies will only create J Cat posts because there is no one currently available with the relevant skills or qualifications. These posts are always at a more senior level, normally requiring an average of 10 years post qualification experience in the relevant field. Companies would not get a J Cat licence to employ a 21 year old graduate from the UK or elsewhere.
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I decided to take a year out from uni. What a mistake that was!!!!! i’ve been out of work for about a month and a half. U have good GCSE’s and good A levels, yet unless you have experience in simple jobs, they don’t seem to want you. Even though im pure jersey, i can’t seem to find a job anywhere, i even go to night classes to increase my employability…but to no avail.
It also took my boyfriend over a year and a half to find a plumbing apprenticeship. My brother also has a masters degree and works in a job, simply because there are hardly any jobs.
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* My brother has a masters degree and earns minimum wage…thats how bad the job market is at the moment…
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