Jobless ‘not helped by benefits’
Tuesday 22nd March 2011, 3:00PM GMT.
Economic Development Minister Alan Maclean
HIGH levels of youth unemployment are being made worse by a benefits system which does not encourage young people to take jobs in lower-paid sectors like retail and tourism, the Economic Development Minister says.
Senator Alan Maclean is concerned that the current income support system is acting as a disincentive to some young people who are choosing to remain unemployed – and claim their £90-a-week benefit – rather than take up roles like receptionists and shop assistants.
He now wants the system to be looked at to ensure that everyone, not just young people, is encouraged to seek work wherever there are jobs available.
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Looks like the guy read my comment about incentives (no.12) here:
http://www.thisisjersey.com/2011/03/16/benefits-system-out-of-control/
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This means they should be re-looking at the minimum wage you mean. The incentive for some people to work for very little is now a fundamental problem for the Government but they set the minimum rate.
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it is quite simple – nobody should be entitled to unemployment benefit unless they have paid taxes and social security contributions for a period of at least 12 months in a set period (in Switzerland it is a 2 year period).
it stops school leavers automatically choosing benefits from the start and this forces them to take any job if they want to benefit from benefits in the future. most will find that they actually enjoy working as they get to meet people and feel useful and most will gradually see the benefits of working to move up the ladder and earn more rather than dropping out.
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How on earth did we manage before benefits came on the scene?
But manage we did and did very well thank you.
There is something very wrong with this system and don’t take much working out either.
Copying UK has come back to haunt those in power and now I doubt very much if it can be rectified.
Too late now to do much about it,you have made your bed govt.
All you can do is learn by your mistakes,stop copying other countries and think for yourselves for once.
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I do not see £90 a week as much of a disincentive to find work.
That is less than 15 hours worth of work per week at the minimum wage.
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The current over generous income support system is acting as a disincentive to find work for all unemployed claiming income support – not just the young!
Anyone who is unemployed and wishes to receive income support should be expected to work on community projects in return, for example cleaning beaches and national trust land, doing pensioners gardens etc.
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Why stop at the unemployed youths?
What about all the others that are claiming benefits that they do not deserve and end up earning more from it than the rest of us poor sods who work hard?
Maybe I’ll take up drugs, give birth to numerous amounts of children and go on benefits so I can make more than I would if I were working…
Yes, let’s carry on rewarding those that do nothing but taint our society (!) Talk about a backward system…
Nevertheless, at least someone has finally flagged up ONE part of the deranged benefits system. Hoorah!
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What a shocker; and the tax payer is keeping them in the lifestyle that they have been accustomed – where is the incentive to get out to work !
Cut back on the benefits to help find some of those savings that the States are looking for !
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Whippee the penny has finally dropped…money for nothing why bother look for work that is there attitude…when I was out of last year I went for assistance and I was declined and got an extremely bad reception from the individual working on that day.
However I have paid my taxes and social for 25years but that didn’t make a difference spend everything you have and then we will give something.
Why is there certain strokes for certain folks…housing and income support given out very easily..while others have to struggle? Can the states really answer this…???
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Give them 3 month to find a job.
Can’t find one: the job center arrange 3 suitable job interview for you.
You don’t attend or decline the jobs, you lose your benefits.
Simple , effective and motivating.
I was impressed when I came to Jersey to see so many saturday boys/girls working in shops.
They obviously discovered how boring and difficult work life is and obviously choose the easy road….
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At my work I recently interviewed a young chap who was looking for work. He was interested in the work, and I think he would have fitted into the role nicely. However he was not happy with the wage packet – he was hoping for more money a week that I was getting! So he decided to stay on the advanced to work scheme and benefits through social security. Suffice to say I was very surprised by his decision.
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Hullo, whats this !! Someone with brains ???
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In other news, bears crap in the woods…
Thanks for the insight, Sherlock Maclean!
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Reading some of the comments relating to this matter are quite funny. whilst some i tend to agree with. £92 pound a week is not a lot of money to live off fair enough if you are a kid living a home with your parents you should not be getting this amount of money as it is not justifyable. i have read previous articles about all these jobs out there people saying there are thousands which is just nonsense if someone shows me where there is thousands of jobs i will eat my hat. we are in a recession which more than likely isn’t going to change for the near future. people ranting that my hard earnt tax money going to these lazy lay abouts. there is a lot of people on benefits that have worked all there life and find themself in this predicament isn’t that what you pay your taxes for? or do you just want to just keep topping up the rainy day fund. the person who wrote they should arrange interviews for people is a good idea if they dont turn up of refuse they lose benefits. in the same breath they have to make sure employers don’t exploit this by just offering minimum wage. the government need to change there whole policy of just focusing on finance this island has so much potential if it was just run in the right way. office work is not for everyone!
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Hi Pip,
When you are on a zero hours contract and do not know if you will do any work when you turn up to (hopefully) work, it is easy to settle for a guaranteed £90 every week
The absurdity of it all (people paid more in benefits and allowance than they can get from working 35-40 hours/week @ minimum wage) hit me today when I found a parking ticket on my car after returning to it 15 minutes late (I must have missed the PCO by seconds)
If it had been money that I had earned from working, I would have been extremely upset… but I just went down to the Sand Street Office and gave the SOJ / Jersey taxpayers £40 of their benefits back
I could appeal against the decision, and I could be successful because I was delayed by a doctor’s appointment that took longer than I thought it would, but I am not going to appeal because the cost of any administration and correspondence with SOJ employees would probably be more than £40.
The absurdity of forcing the SOJ / Jersey taxpayers to spend more than £40 in an attempt to get back £40 that they gave to me in the first place was just too much
I am not fussy about the work that I am willing to do (but I do have an ongoing health problem), but there really are far more unemployed people than there are jobs at the moment; a successful applicant for any of the jobs currently being advertised will have to beat hundreds of other applicants
Sometimes, I think the only solution will be paying people (including adults who were born here and have lived here all their lives) to relocate / leave the island (in addition to the SOJ / Jersey taxpayer funded emigration scheme, also known as “university”)
I do not think there has ever been a permanent “large number of long-term unemployed / not enough job” situation in Jersey before, and we do not know how to deal with it
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It is hard not to agree with the general concensus here.
There are without doubt times when people fall upon hard times and a benefits system is invaluable in keeping their heads above water until they get back on their feet.
This is a totally different scenario sadly. When peple are choosing benefit, however small, over work they are making a conscious choice to drain money paid in by hard working citizens. This cannot and should not be tolerated. If a person wants to opt out of employment then let them be poor, nobody should be forced to work if they can be self sufficient. Leaching benefits from everyone else is not self sufficiency. It is becoming a parasite.
There are some sound ideas here, a limited period on benefit, interviews sorted, lose benefit if declining work. There are many areas where people on benefit could do unpaid work, but surely we have to take care not to use them as cheap labour where a valid position could be created?
I also feel that not allowing people to go from school to benefit would have great advantages.
I wold have no problem seeing this culture squeezed out of Jersey, and beyond if possible.
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Pip Clement
I do not see £90 a week as much of a disincentive to find work.
That is less than 15 hours worth of work per week at the minimum wage.
Really, thiink about it, the kids live at home and as they only receive £90 a week their parents don’t take any money off them for upkeep. So £90 a week spending money plus whatever they can scrounge from their gullible parnets, they are better off than I am in full time employment.
Agree you should have to pay into the system for a minimum period before getting anything at all out of it
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At the risk of repeating myself the Winter Work scheme should be bought back,it gave a decent wage and self respect, if you did not turn up…NO DOSH….also the work permit scheme worked very well…and took up the slack in season then reduced in the winter…exactly what an island community needs….why oh why do we let these twerps keep on spending our money reinventing the bloody wheel when this has all been sorted years ago…incompetent Politicians and non job civil servants ..that’s why
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I am a child of society I am what you made me !
people are getting what they are entitled to, the claimants didnt set the rate or criteria
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as said earlier the minimum wage needs looking at firstly.
if you look at what the gov say that the average wage in jersey is approx £600 per week and what a minimum wage packet contains £250 then you get nearer to the root of the problem.
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Our glorious government have copied the failed UK example, which the new governmet is having to unwind.
We should copy them and unwind this massive unaffordable scheme.
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Why are we paying dole money to teenagers who should be learning the value of money? They should be on work schemes before they are paid taxpayers money from people who are bothering getting up in the morning and working for a living.
When I was growing up the dole was thrown out by the states umpteen times and rightly so, this has been slipped in by the back door by the likes of southern and his social gang along with Gorst and Routier.
It’s a disgrace that hard working taxpayers are paying for these lazy kids for doing nothing. They should be learning the value of working for a living and not get paid until they have done some work for it.
STOP THESE BENEFITS NOW.
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What nonsense a government minister a multi millionaire estate agent there’s a upstanding job does not give a damn about the unemployed as for the rest why don’t you try and live on £92 pounds a week no chance right well shut up and help to change the current system of a government of millionaires a government that does not give a damn for the working people Jersey
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this is such rubbish, by far the biggest rip off merchants on this island are the tax evaders who barely stay 90 days a year, look up not down, they are ripping off tens of millions of pounds, not a few quid a week
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there should be a big sign on the way into school.
hard study= a possible job
possible job= money
xbox skills not required.
it is very sad in these times that there are no jobs for our local born young people.
fi you are not on a bus route or the times of the bus are not good, its bicycle or scooter.
its about £200 plus to insure a scooter plus the cbt test(£80) ,licence £20.00 and another test six months down the line, fuel and up keep lets not forget the hp payments , with a scooter costing £1200 new ( need something relable) how does this fit in with minimum wage, and something to parents , for food, light and in some cases a proportion of the rent?
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Alan Maclean’s got a point. If you are unemployed with no skills or qualifications become an estate agent. Its the way ahead in Jersey, right Alan?
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Some of these comments have made me laugh,
first a lot of jobs advertised want experience even in the hotel industry, an other question is where are all these jobs, please take a look at gov jersey jobs,also all the people moaning about social security payments how many are receiving mortgage relief,yes you are also being subsidence to.
Well Jersey it is about time you did something for teenagers, bring back traders, improve the minimum wage,have you had a look at private rents! as teenagers and young adults with out children are able to register for social housing, or would you like them to stay at home or live in rooms in lodging houses or help you pay your mortgage by you renting out rooms. Yes things do need to change
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stop giving every tom dick and manuel benefits then ,,,, simples
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I agree that the benifits scheme needs looking at but I also believe that there are not enough jobs!.
Maybe if we send all the non locals home and up the minium wage we would not have a problem.
I am worried for my children when they leave school that they too won’t be able to find decent employment and salaries.
I think the goverment need to revisit the minimum wage and employers need to stop being greedy by paying the kids salaries that they can not live on!.
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The polish certainly were quick on working out our benefit system.Get a guy,preferably with housing qualies,have kids,then dump him, milk him and milk housing and get as much benefit as you can.They love it here, they never had so many frebbies in their life before.
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No brainer.
1. Leave School, work unsocial hours in hotel, aquire work skills, disipline e.t.c. £250 week.
2. Leave school, spend summer on beach with mates, get out of bed mid morning,aquire playstation skills. £92 week pocket money
Such a shame. The best thing about Jersey used to be that anyone could get a half decent job. Not so easy now
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So says the wealthy ex St Michaels school pupil! Oh, how the other side lives…………….
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#24 ‘there should be a big sign on the way into school.
hard study= a possible job
possible job= money
xbox skills not required.’
Aren’t there any ‘Arbeit macht frei’ signs left lying around from a previous regime?
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I would like to see where all these jobs are? Even sales assistants jobs are receiving hundreds of applicants. It is nearly impossible even to find low paid work, which I would be more than willing to take. I am a young post-graduate and lecturer from Jersey, my family has lived in the Island since the 1500s and I sadly cannot return home due to appalling job prospects. That £90 a week would merely cover food and essentials. Applying for jobs (printing CVs sending letters, interview suits and bus fairs) is not a cheap process. Our young people, the future of this Island, are the victims of Capitalist boom and bust mentality. We are alienated and not given a chance to start a meaningful career in society. Rather than lambasting us for taking the end crusts of a crumbling welfare system, maybe, I would humbly suggest, that the states considered measures to provide fulfilling employment chances.
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Small minded people thinking if you recieve income support your scum, tell that to the many ex posties, ex Jersey Telecom staff that after years have found themselves in a job market flooded by immigrants and in need of income support! The states are even having to pay their mortgages for them! Are these the Chav’s you narrow minded hard workers are talking about! Wake Up!! Oh and does anyone notive that it’s the States of Jersey creating these unemployed folk?
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lets not bash the polish they are hard working people id say the local people are the lazy one`s they dont want to work everone should drive around the states estates n see the nice range of motors they have
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We have requested work permits for years, but obviously “people who count” are making too much money out of all the low paid immigrants, so the voters were ignored.
No there are no jobs for locals, and fulfillment may be history after today’s UK budget ………..
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I do worry about the future of the Island / where all of my sibling’s children are going to find work (or those 1000+ babies that were born last year)
The kind of development that will guarantee jobs for all of the children of all the people living here at the moment just isn’t sustainable; it is like living on a 21st Century equivalent of Easter Island
And when the people that can afford to leave (like the high earners who are responsible for most of the Island’s earnings-from-abroad) realise what is going to happen and actually leave, their departure will make the situation that they leave behind so much worse
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Clanger Maclean at it again…paddling in waters he clearly does not understand…this, Tim nice but Dim,approach is not what the island needs and demonstrates the massive disconnect between Govt and electorate, ask any man on the street what is wrong and you’ll get a near enough answer without all the bells and whistles of multiylayered civil service and political lies….err sorry Spin to all the Tim’s. Blade and truthseeker are both right..a work programme..is needed…could it ever catch on ‘Money for Work’ not a hard concept to grasp once you get your head round it…don’t show up or playing with your I-Pod…NO DOSH…….?our roads ,pavements hedges all need attention,one ganger from Public Services and a crew of unemployed….No Zoro!! how could that possibly work get back on your horse and up into the High Sierras.
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I am on benefits and I hate it. I desperately want to work.
However, if I get a job, even a low paid one, I will have to pay for someone to look after my child. I am currently only ‘granted’ a few hours per week free childcare, but not enough to even get a part time job.
..and before you judge me, there are a number of ways that a mother becomes a ‘single’ mother. It is not always a lifestyle choice.
The upshot of this is that if I were to be employed, either full time or part-time, my benefits would be cut to the point where the cost of childcare outweighs my income; thus making it wholly uneconomical to work.
If someone can offer me employment that would pay enough to enable me to pay extortionate child care costs AND be able to put food on the table (is that too much to ask?) I would be very happy to hear from you.
Alternatively, the States should fund nursery places for mothers who want to get working and perhaps introduce a sliding scale of benefit reduction so that a person is encouraged to work because they know that they will be better off doing so. As it is I would be very much worse off, as would my child.
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Economic Development Minister Alan Maclean, is being simplistic and self serving. Any disincentive to work will not help, though a contracting economic activity across Europe has had a far larger impact. The fact of the matter is that there are fewer job to go around and more immigrants coming in to fill the few jobs on offer.
I suggest that Alan Maclean get out and look at the many fulfilment jobs which are filled by immigrants on short term contracts (day rates), where ‘Mates Rates’ are more applicable than local employment legislation. There is a whole web of immigrant labour, boarding houses and gang masters. Fine for the employers but hardly the basis of a sound economy.
It is this lack of a sound economy which is the prime reason for youth unemployment; unemployment of any kind. Benefit payment tend to track the ups and down of the economy, over to you Alan.
Well said ‘thewrongstuff’ (15)
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I have every sympathy for youngsters trying to find jobs in the current market, and I am sure that they are not the real reason why the benefits system is in such a mess. A benefits review must be undertaken which makes it clearly beneficial for people to work, i.e. reduce some of the benefits, reduce nursery fees and increase the minimum wage. The States are making it far too easy and cost effective for people to stay at home and claim benefits. As for the job situation there is no easy answer, maybe by some miracle the Island can get the tourists back as many people will not wish to travel abroad given the many disasters that are currently unfolding worldwide. Whilst I am not suggesting we cash in on these tragedies, the reality is people from the U.K. will be looking for new holiday destinations and maybe now is the time to really think about what Jersey has to offer in terms of value, accomodation and all weather entertainment that will appeal to families.
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19 Noah…
Your moaning about the minimum wage being only £250 per week. and that the average is £600 per week.
If you want the earn over the minimum wage then its a 5 step process
1. Work hard at school and get good grades
2. head off to university and do a worthwhile course.
3. Get a job in a company that probably pays just over minimum wage.
4. Work hard, gain experience and get promotion.
5. Enjoy your hard work with a nice salary packet.
if you not bothered about working hard or study then its an easy 2 step process
1. leave school with no qualifications
2. Earn the minimum wage all your life.
The choice is simple, rather than moan about how low minimum wages is, work hard to get a decent job. minimum wages jobs are there for people with minimum skills and experience. improve either and earn more money.
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I agree with jay
Posted March 22, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Give them 3 month to find a job.
Can’t find one: the job center arrange 3 suitable job interview for you.
You don’t attend or decline the jobs, you lose your benefits.
Simple , effective and motivating.
I was impressed when I came to Jersey to see so many saturday boys/girls working in shops.
They obviously discovered how boring and difficult work life is and obviously choose the easy road….
I have just landed a nice job after being on jobseekers allowance for a few months and despite the fact I have taken a £5000 drop in salary, I was more than happy to jump at the chance of being employed as I am all too aware of how little jobs there are at present.
Its a shame none of my peers agree! There comes a time, after you have made your unemployed bed that being on benefits is all you know. you will become lazy and acustomed to £90 a week although the majoriry are earner a hell of a lot more without any ligitimet reasoning. Job seekers allowance needs to be scrapped along with Incomes support and a new system put in place. Workzone could do a vast amount more than what they are and with schemes such as ATW in place, Jersey could change its ways this summer and save our next generation from being wasters for the next 60 years!
Overall, get real if you think anyone is going to work for about £100 more than what they are on for 42 more hours graft! Put them all on community service and see what the changes in unemployment figures show!
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£90 a week benefit, wow!!!
Am i right in saying min wage is £6.20 an hour?
Most jobs want you to work 37hrs, do the math Alan – £229 less social.
Now, what would I want to do, sit around on my backside, blow my £90 on fags, booze and takeaways and not be able to fuel up my vehicle, go out to no-where as I have no cash – no the majority would rather be paid min wage, if there were a job to go to!
Are we not been repeatedly told by the states, social in particular that firms are cutting jobs or not replacing staff due to the economic climate we are in at present and there not enough vacancies Mr Maclean?
So tell me, where are all these jobs as I am sure Social Security would want to know so they can inform the job seekers of them. Just remember everyone, there are some that you can not employ as they are totally unemployable – look back 10 years to see how many were unemployed then, a handful.
No this is pick on benefit month, lets slag this department down to justify your own position Alan.
And before anyone starts, no I am not in favour of the benefits system, it is a copied version of the UK that has failed to, but hey, the states had money to burn on such a ridiculous system, that is why they are in such a mess.
Bring back the welfare system, seems this system worked properly, were you had to prove you needed assistance.
Rant over
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I finished school and went straight to national service where I was getting paid £70 a month with laundry, food, and accommodation (single bed in a set of 6 bunk beds) for 10 month of hard work.
Here you get £90 per WEEK to do nothing.
They could at least trim some bushes, clean the beach, paint some walls… at least do something
How do you get the jobs from the polish back?
Stop employing them and employ kids who aren’t have a clue of what sweat and hard work means… Dream on…
Kids here are must be either really spoiled or really useless.It s either “look at me” or “what the fu..k you are looking at”.
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Potato digging season is coming so how about anyone on the benefit and capable of physical work is told they need to be at a certain farm on from a certain date and they work digging potatoes for two months rather than bringing in temporary labour?
The farmer pays them for the hours they work and they have no benefits during this time as the pay should exceed the benefits.
Any farmer refusing to use these staff in favour of temporary foreign staff are not eligible for any subsidies etc.
Anyone who is physically able and refuses the work has their benefit halved as they are not willing to work. That should flush out those who do not want to work and those that do.
I used to work on a farm in my teens in the summer and it was hard work but there should not be a free lunch for those capable to work when it is available.
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Democracy
by the people for the people
Jersey
by the rich for the rich
SOD THE PEOPLE
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(32) c le verdic. work will set you free.
above the entrance of that awful place.
i have worked in buildings, where various bullet point signs are posted, they do make you think , well i think about them, the staff may hate them.
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They are better off trying to get into the States because you sure as heck don’t need any brains to do that job.
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Why give them the money for free?
Hard labour… the island would be sparkling, one supervisor to 5 grafters, paint brush/broom/shovel.
They don’t work they don’t get paid.
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14. Local Lad
“office work is not for everyone!”
No it’s not, I’d much rather work outside but I don’t have much choice in the matter. The key word in your sentence is ‘work’, which by definition is not supposed to be fun. Very few lucky people on this planet actually enjoy their jobs, it’s simply a means to an end.
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Jobless not helped by subsistance wages which seem to becoming more the norm now. Pay peanuts and you get few takers.
Work kills and maims lots of the participants plus much of it is at odds with an enjoyable life style.
Work hard and die early often go hard in hand. No wonder more and more are dropping out. Yes work is marvellous isn’t it?
Robert do you HONESTLY believe that most people would work if they didn’t have too? I bet 9 out of 10 would elect to spend their time on more fulfilling past times.
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Adrian
The point is if they refuse this seasonal work when they are physically able they would then not get any benefit.
They have the option not the right!
Else why should I pay tax because I choose to work and provide for my family.
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soo tired of people thinking someone on benefits would sooner be paid £90 to live on a week..instead of a proper weekly wage of £250.00 plus..there are jobs out there,there are also hundreds of people applying for them.only 1 will get lucky.why dont we jump on people who have kids and expect child allowance.if you cant afford children then dont have them.tax relief on morgages,cant afford a house then dont buy one.your rents to expensive,get rent subsidised? then move somewhere cheaper you can afford.the truth is we all get help one way or another,try having some empathy for people who need the help.you never know when you might be in their shoes!
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I don’t agree with this head line, I am 23 and one of the lucky ones to be in employment, however I have many friends who have been unemployed for 1 – 2 years now.
Its not that they don’t want to work due to bebefits, they will happy except any job avalible, its just that the amount of sorry, and we regret to inform you rejections they have is beyond a joke – they don’t have very good school grades, but they are not stupid – They interview very well when I help them out, they use all the hints and tips that one would expect when applying for a job – its just that Jose or Vladmir were just that bit more suitable every time.
Who is going to employ a young local resident that has not worked in over a year due “insert reason here” – it stinks of “i think this perosn is lazy” when infact they are being scrwed by the system. A forigne worker that has recently landed on the island seems to have the motivation and drive more then a local unemployed person in the eyes of an employer, sadly this is so not true as my friends are depressed about not getting work, screw the benefits, they see it as jerseys way to say “better luck next time” -
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sorry for spelling errors, I just typed it – as I thought it…
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Saw Maclean talk at a local dinner recently – going on about making Jersey strong – seeing EVERY store everywhere sell Jersey milk products as they are soo good. Have EVERY tourist wanting to come to our lovely Island.. Absolutely FANTASTIC news.. THIS is exactly what we need.. After 15-20 yrs of destroying our milk industry so we now have almost no farmers and turning every hotel into flats its GREAT this is going to be reversed, clearly making jobs for locals – ooops sorry I mean jobs for imported workers. TOTAL *******ks I think. A very small proportion of those unemployed “love it” – most that lose there job feel worthless, un-needed, cast aside and each kick is one nearer to the one that makes them give up altogether. GET A LIFE Maclean. Actually – GO GET A PROPER JOB.
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I agree, smellysock
£90 a week is quote a bit money if you do not have much in the way of expenses (someone living at home with well-off parents, but who does not want to pester their parents for money would be in this situation), but I think many people would rather work / earn more
However, the difference between not working for £90 and working for 28.5 hours @ mininum wage (£6.32 / hour) to double your money (£180) might not be worth £90 for many people (that is an effective or marginal wage of £3.16 / hour)
When I was on Income Support, I asked for less than £90 / week because I did not need it, but they are not able to pay anyone less than the minimum
I now have a small surplus that I do not to do with; I am going to ask them if they want it back, but I might spend it on training / education if they do not (some people are just taking the money and running)
If I could get my health sorted, I would be willing to do most things for more money (when the weather is like this, picking potatoes looks quite tempting), but the competition for jobs is simply too intense
At any given time, X number of people are going to be out of work because there are not enough jobs (and the fulfillment industry has taken a hit from the recent UK Budget), and it looks like it is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better
Voluntary work is fine, but one problem is not being to commit to much because you will be off as soon as any job turns up, so you just do not do that much of it
I am a highly intelligent (and educated) person that would be able to most jobs full-time if I did not have a chronic / long-term health problem, but there are lots of similarly intelligent (and educated) people out there that are looking for (any) work too
As I said above, the problem is a permanent / persistent surplus of people to vacancies, and this seems to be a new development for the Island
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my friends daughter applied for a job as a receptionist at an hotel . she did not get the job , when she asked why, he was told that it was because she could not speak polish ??
go to the Elizabeth Quay every evening when the boat from St Malo arrives and take note of the 2 Polish registered 16 seat mini buses that drive of of it full of immigrant workers . this is every evening of the week.
dont blame the claimants dont blame the immigrants and dont blame the system as these people are not abusing anything it is their right and entitlement.
DO blame the government for not doing their job as it should be done.
re introduce work permits.
besides cutting unemployment it would also cut the rising crime rate
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John,55
Good letter,I also know young locals who are extremely frustrated by their continued unemployment, employers definately favour immigrants and trott out the same old “c**p”, they always turn up,they do not complain, they work hard, they should be honest,THEY ARE CHEAPER.
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John
I appreciate the situation that your friends find themselves in and sympathese that for lower paid jobs its not necessarily a level playing field. But often for low paid “basic wage” jobs its not your grades that get you a job, it’s being able to demonstate a willingness to work hard, and rightly or wrongly, jersey people come across as not willing to put in the hard work for minimum wage.
I’d suggest they apply for Jersey Pottery, who were only 2 weeks ago complaining that no suitable locals were applying for jobs.
Its increadbly demoralising working hard at school and getting decent grades only to be turned down for a job you could do with your eyes shut. I’ve been there and at one time worked 4 different jobs to keep my roof over my head instead of claiming social.
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WORK PERMITS please… and please stop the racism and snobbish attitude towards Jersey folk they aren’t all lazy, (fed up of hearing it and folk trying to justify their being here)
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Please stop saying there are not enough jobs in the Island, in my view there is enough jobs for every lazy person claiming benefits, whoever runs the seytem should see more clearely this people are just using the hard working people who pays Tax and their contributions to support then,and not forgeting all the single Mothers who have a full F..king job.
I know somone who’s 33 years old with four kids and never worked in her life, she has everything for free, what’s the point looking for work when benefits pay’s all, benefits even pays for some to buy drugs ,cigorrets, and drinks, the system realy stinks.
The States should give to all Benefit claimants something to do. From cleaning Parks, Roads, Beachs etc etc before giving them money. I have started workong i was only 13 and up to this day, never found myself with out a job. Se what i mean!!
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But there IS a shortage of vacancies!
Unless you are saying that the many hundreds of people who keep applying for the 100-200 vacancies on the “Jobs in Jersey” website (192 on there at the moment, but there will be duplicate entries) and failing to get any of them should all become self-employed
I accept that there are massive problems with the benefits system (I am being paid too much, and they only ask to see bank statements instead of bank statements and credit card statements = easy to transfer the money to somewhere where they will not look), but there is also a shortage of job vacancies
The level of unemployment in the UK is currently 2.5 million / 8%
Do you really think that they are choosing not to work?
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Massive influx of foreign workers in recent years = less jobs for local people. It isnt rocket science.
Immigration needs much tighter control.
…. and anyone living at home with parents should under no circumstances be entitled to collect £90 a week just to sit and play on Play station all day. Makes me sick.
Jersey = Farce
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@63 C F
Read the news! 1500 out of work, 10% have been for over a year! Where exactly are all these jobs then?!
Just because there’s a bunch of senior positions in the paper each night (many of which are already filled but they have to make it look fair) and very specialised positions with experience and quals required – what is there for the rest of us?
Each ‘layabout’ who decide to take the easy path for now, allows someone more deserving a slightly better chance of finding work.
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There should be NO unemployment here.we are in a position to control it totally..it’s a lack of political will…WORK PERMITS should be introduced immediately and the restoration of the work scheme,close the ports to Freeloaders and those who slip in under the radar and undercut local tradesmen.check every person and vehicle coming off the boat to see if they have a legitimacy.if not Offski.
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Alex 65 –
Massive influx of foreign workers in recent years = less jobs for local people. It isnt rocket science.
Immigration needs much tighter control.
…. and anyone living at home with parents should under no circumstances be entitled to collect £90 a week just to sit and play on Play station all day. Makes me sick.
Jersey = Farce
There is no immigration control as far as I can see, we need work permits and have needed them for the past 20 years.
As for kids sat at home on the playstation all day, this is disgraceful, no wonder I keep getting killed on Killzone 3, the little buggers are never off it.
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Thank you for your advice CF but please tell me, who is going to look after my child while I clean the streets? A street cleaners wage will not cover the cost of childcare, pay the bills and put food on the table.
Should I strap said child to my back as I sweep the pavements?
I would otherwise happily undertake such jobs if the SS were not going to strip me of help entirely, thus leaving me far worse off. Some incentive eh?
I look forward to your next nugget of caring advice!
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#70 Not all companies are irritated by people who ‘cold-call’ for work, and so not all companies need to advertise. Just be thick-skinned enough not to be upset by a lack of replies from those that it will irritate. It’s worth a try.
#69 The child’s other parent (save for obvious exceptions)? You could work different hours to each other to minimise childcare costs? Still, you make a very good point, the States due to working.
People who intentionally move away from free childcare to chase the extra £ then expect strangers (taxpayers) to fund their childcare don’t help your situation either. Helping with childcare costs where the recipients are in genuine need of such assistance is one thing, there situation is another entirely.
How we get back to community, more two-parent families etc. I don’t know, especially with a growing amount of people putting their own happiness over the best interests of their children, but it would help those very children if society moved in that direction. Maybe we should try financial discincentives and we could educate today’s youth better on relationships and the responsibility and sacrifice (financial/personal) that you should be ready to make if you want to have children. Whatever we do we certainly need to try and stop the current acceleration away from reliance on ourselves, family and friends, TO the taxpayer.
The more we tax people the more people will wonder why they bother. If you can’t beat ‘em and all that…
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They almost got it right!?!
They just didn’t join up the dots and conclude that Civil Servants should be paid less so that Jersey people do not expect to get paid ridiculous wages for doing nothing.
A civil service wage (I don’t call it employment) is no different to living on benefits except you earn more than £90 per week and there is less work to do… have you seen those income support forms? All you have to do is vote for the status quo at election time.
Cut taxes and you would find there would be more jobs around.
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Alan, I know one man who lives at the bottom of our street who earns £43,000 per year plus expenses, is a millionaire, and not so long ago took £50 million of our money promising that he was going to create lots and lots of jobs for these unemployed people. Now, he refuses to tell us where the money has gone, and there’s less jobs around than before. Who should I report him to?
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Some of you folks make me laugh. Honestly.
Why do you think the Italians, then Portuguese, then Kenyans and finally Polish workers were brought to Jersey in the first place? Yeah, you got it. ‘cos you locals wouldnt bother even considering working in farming, hotels or catering. and it is still a case, see Pottery looking for locals to work for them.
I came here 9 years ago on permit and worked my a**e up and I am now a trust company manager and I am proud of it. I am the best example that it is possible. That hard work pays even though you have to start from the very bottom. However most of you guys dont have to ‘cos you have your parents’ safety net so why bother. I pay taxes and I never claimed a penny from SS and never will.
Now here is a thing: roll up your sleeves and get a job. Cant get it? get back to school and acquire the skills. If you think being local is enough to get you a good well paid job then think again. otherwise just stay on benefits like you always have ‘cos the good news for you all is that in this place nothing will change so rest asured that £90 a week is always there up for grabs.
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Don’t worry about the youngsters being ‘given money on plate’, because it’s better for the economy that they have some spending power. They will spend it all, it will spread around the system, and most of it will come back to the States via various forms of taxation.
It’s better to keep money moving around the economy as it keeps those who still have jobs in work.
I’m sure that a computer simulation would show that it’s better to shell out benefits than to have a large number of people absolutely skint and tempted towards crime too.
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72 . Gary
It sound similar to the building development who went pear shape at the Odeon cinema.
73.polish foreign worker
You are so right:
We only recently discovered that Jersey public school is rubbish nation wide.
Dandara,Jersey Potteries and more can’t find any local willing to work hard for basic money, must mean something.
Jersey is one of the only place where you can work without a proper diploma. The employer gives you a chance, if you do the job ok , they keep you. If you are rubbish they let you go. So why locals cant find work?
In my days of catering, I can’t remember many (or any) locals working around me. They all seemed to be coming from the Uk or Portugal.
We took a jersey boy to work with us, and after 3 weeks he was fired because he was smoking in the ladies toilets when it was perfectly ok to smoke outside.
This is the type of mentality, discipline and common sens that you get from some local teenagers.
Good luck with the next generation…
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Why are the problems not obvious to the politicians?
Young people living at home with a disposable income of £90 a week are hardly likely to feel pressurised to find employment. If they do look for it however, in whatever sector, they are likely to find that a couple of dozen other people have applied before them. Of those others, just how many are not local?
So many jobs, not only those in the much mentioned retail and hospitality sectors are taken by Europeans, no wonder there is resentment and disillusionment amongst the young and just about any local person seeking a job.
We need to prioritise our own people if we do not want to lose our next generation to opportunities outside the island, dispersing local families, destroying our social base and creating a fragmented society.
This is not zenophobic, it is practical.Jersey has always benefitted from a multicultural input, but we simply do not have the infrastructure for an unlimited amount of foreign incomers AND for our our locally born young people wanting to remain in their native island. Surely they should have priority?
Housing and work permits should be a must and benefits paid to only those who have contributed or to parents of job seekers under 21 with those dependents living at home. THEY are the ones who REALLY need the benefit!
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@73 Well done luvvie, but think you should curb your assumptions that everyone who speaks english has mum and dad to bail them out or a mum and dad and/ or is on benefits. also, did you know that being local intelligent and no qualifications doesn’t always mean doom and gloom or a crappy job? the other benefit to being local and hardworking and intelligent is that people know you and know you are.. so there LMAO
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@76 Well said, I totally agree and your points are bang on and flawless.
The problem with nearly all of our politicians is, they have no idea what it is to struggle without a private education, no parents, no support from family and basic no expertise in real life struggles. The only rare few who are of any moral ethic and who are not afraid to question one of those being Alan Breckon, lots say he is too left wing, I would say he has not fallen into the trap of being complacent like the rest and is probably a rare example of what a minister/ senator should be.
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@76 You have 5 year rule for work and 10 year rule for housing in case you have forgotten so you locals are prividged from the very start. Obviously from what you are saying it is nowhere near enough because simply being local does not secure a good well paid job. How unfair! Guess what: you can bring all the restrictions you can think of againts the foreign workers (that to my knowledge should apply to UK citizens as well even though noone seems to bother mentioning it here) but it will not get you a proper job unless you change your attitude from “I am local and that should do” to “I will show you what I am worth”. Once that attitude changes you will not need to look for the restrictions, you will be good enough to get any job out there. Until then though I refer you to income support section of SS department at La Motte Street.
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@73 Have you fallen into that finance industry mentality that you are more important than anyone else? That’s a dangerous way to think… you are working class, if you are going to live here best know your place.
You are trapped in a dead end job with no escape route. You did not go to Harrow or Eton so forget prospects of real promotion I’m afraid.
Still you probably put some local out of work by doing their job 2/3rds as well for 1/2 the money so you’re job is safe for now… until the company leaves Jersey of course.
@76 The problem is that the government keeps raising taxes and trying to do things, we were much better off in the 70′s with no tax, minimal government and everything left in the hands of businessmen.
If we had less Civil Servants then all our problems would be solved.
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@ Polish Worker – No ones forgotten about the 5/10 year rules that are in place…problem is that they don’t work!!!
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@80
Define “finance industry mentality please”. I don’t have that nor do I think I am more important than others. If you read my previous comment you would know that I live here long enough to know my place. Thank you very much for reminding me though. One more year and I am in the “first class citizen” club. All I am saying is that your faith is in your hands. And no, it’s not a dead end job with no escape route ‘cos you can always re-qualify and adapt, but this is something that’s beyond the locals’ understanding ‘cos it’s not given and there is no preference of any kind provided. And don’t mix “putting local out of work” with “being better than the competition” as there is a substantial difference between the two. I applied for the trainee position like anyone else without any experience would do. I don’t comment on my pay grade and my prospects. We will see in a few years time. I started as a trainee 4 years ago and look where I am now. Sky is the limit as far as I am concerned but this is another mental barrier you are clearly not capable of breaking.
@81
They work jersey spud. I waited 5 years to get a job in the trust company and I have to wait one more year to buy a property here whereas during that time you could have had 5 years experience in the same trust company and 5 years of mortgage paid off.
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@ 82. polish worker – What’s funny is that I do have 5 years experience working in Trust/Company Administration!!! And yes……I started off as a trainee and worked my a$$ off. In early 2007 I went to the bank to enquire about a mortgage however they were only able to lend me approx £105k based on my salary and that was at the time when the prices of one bedroom flats were around £160k – £200k which I could not afford. So please don’t tell me what I ‘could’ have done….
And you’re trying to say that you don’t think you’re more important than others?!?!?
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@82
no I dont, what I am saying is that I have one more year to be almost equal to those fortunate ones who were born here. And dont blame me for the banks’ criteria of granting mortgages. Nothing to do with me. Who do you think is responsible for the property prices over here? Us, immigrants? Please, blame your wealthy fellow citizens who disregard people like you (and me). But puting that aside you were are still are able to rent out any property out there for fraction of what I pay for an unqualified matchbox flat I have to live in with my family. Do I complain though? No ‘cos that is not my mentality.
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all i can say is work permits are needed and the jobs left from bringing in work permits should be allocated to the kids and also adults who cant be bothered to get a job if they do decline the job offer the there benefit should be stopped i am sure they will soon get a job once it is stopped.
i agree a lot of foreign workers work hard however i know for a fact that there are CV’s handed into an office that my relative works in and these CV’s are from local people of the island and are being dumped in the bin the polish workers simply because the applicant isn’t polish, maybe we should start looking after our own more just like the foreign community and we might get somewhere!
i dont agree totally with comments made by people about girls having kids for benefits it is true some young girls do this however some girls are put in a position where they have become pregnant without wanting to be but dont agree with having an abortion which is used a lot as a form of contraception these days!!!
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