Unemployment reaches new record high
Friday 25th March 2011, 2:59PM GMT.
Deputy Geoff Southern
FURTHER fears were raised about Jersey’s troubled economy today as unemployment hit a record high for the second consecutive month.
According to new figures, at least 1,470 people were out of work in February – 80 more than the previous month and 150 more than in the same month last year.
And the number of long-term unemployed – those registered out of work for at least 52 months – increased by more than 50 per cent during the last year.
Deputy Geoff Southern – a long-time critic of the Council of Ministers’ handling of the recession – warned that Jersey’s economy now appeared to be ‘spiralling downwards’.
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Says the man who wants to get rid of the finance indutry altogether, but hasn’t got even the slightest idea as to where everyone will work.
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I would expect unemployment to continue rising for some time as the economy in the UK and Europe remains weak.
We might see some respite in the summer but it could be back to the upward trend in the autumn.
A possible problem is the emergence of a class of long term unemployed that have little or no chance of ever gaining employment.
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Blip Blip Blip Blip beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
Nurse: Doctor Doctor, the patient is dead!
Doctor: Advise me immediately if there is any change in his condition.
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Isn’t the definition of long term unemployed actually 52 weeks and not 52 months? I don’t think the accepted standard is that you have to be out of work for 4 years and 4 months before you are classed as long term unemployed.
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Wait til june & next batch of school leavers & highlands students!!!
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And so says the man who would abolish GST and load the tax onto employers, effectively a “tax on Jobs”.He will almost certainly join the list of the unemployed (and unemployable)after the election.
Meanwhile,Europe’s unemployed continue to arrive daily and Southern and the other foot-stampers sleep on.
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Yet again some dodgey stats reporting from the JEP. You can’t just say increased by 50% with out telling us the original 100% figure. If it was origally 2 people and one more registered this is an increase of 50% but is only 1 person. Come on. Some sensible reporting please!
But back to the point! Hopefully this new hotline will mean tha only genuine people who are unemployed will get benefits, not those that just don’t want to!
Ill ask again, can we have the number please?
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There is no need for any unemployment…WORK PERMITS..stop the boat people swarming in and undercutting local trades,,,re introduce the work scheme…job done….close the ports to chancers..time to pull up the drawbridge and consolidate.
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One of the major causes of unemployment in Jersey is uncontrolled immigration.You just have to look at the jobs on offer at the social to see that 80% of them are offering less than £8 an hour.Who wants to work for minimum wage on a zero hour contract with no chance of promotion and get treated like crap.Thats right immigrants,who after they realised they’ve been taken for a ride move on,only to be replaced by more.Our government would rather have 10’000 Poles on minimum wage paying ITIS and 1000 unemployed locals rather than having 1000 locals employed on a decent wage and controlled immigration.They get more money that way which they can then waste at their leisure.
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Came back on the ferry from France and I was amazed how many Eastern Europeans were on the boat coming to Jersey. Appreciate many are probably local residents but the politicians really should take a look at how many people are flooding into this small island. No wonder there are no jobs left.
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Not really news. The number of people who choose unemployment as a long-term career will continue to increase as long as we have the current income support system.
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Anyone who looks at the statistics of the number employed which is roughly static, the number of vacancies and the number of unemployed will quickly realise that there are not enough spare jobs to go round.
Government policies such as reducing the number of civil servants plus outsourcing by local companies is only going to make the situation worse.
This is basic arithmetic, not mathematics. I really hope that some of you do not work in the finance industry as you seem to be struggling with basic mathematical concepts which I would have thought were key to a career in the industry.
We are facing a situation where long term unemployment could be a likely situation for some. Innovative policies that seek to deal with this are needed and I doubt that they will come from the ‘pass the braincell’ CoM!
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Apparently building another 4000 houses will make the problem go away.It won’t.
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#11 Dave
“Not really news. The number of people who choose unemployment as a long-term career will continue to increase as long as we have the current income support system”
Typical remark from someone who has’nt a clue…an I’m alright Jack.
After 33 years at the same employer, I was made redundant. Registered as unemployed for six months, BUT DID NOT CLAIM a PENNY (so please do not generalise).
Found another job now….and yes, unlike you I do feel for those whose have’nt found anything yet.
How about you swap roles with one of these ‘income support’ claimants ?
You know the saying…Put up or shut up !!
I have
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Why do they always picture Southern when talking about unemployment??
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Jersey boy – why do yo keep coming in these threads asking for the number for SS, do you not have a phone book? For those who actually bother to do some research, you will know that you have been able to report benefit fraud in Jersey for years. All you need to do is ring the main SS number and give the details to an advisor.
Rocket science it is not.
As for the figures, they will grow. How long until JT/Post etc lay off more?? But we wanted competition didn’t we? Now they have slimmed down and cut prices which we all screamed about, we will pay more tax to keep the laid off peeps in Income Support.
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Work permits please, stuff your five year rule aswell. Please start sorting out the damage done already before everyone really has a reason to moan about unemployment, it will get worse as the divide will get greater, and the young Jersey folk really won’t be left with any inspiration or desire to get on.
It seems there are way to many non locals thinking it is perfectly ok to be racist towards Jersey people and to undervalue their youth and unemployed but I would hate to be in their shoes. Look at the state of the UK, do we really want that kind of stuff going on over here? Well it is and it needs to stop. People come here to get away from it and without realising they are contributing to Jersey becoming that way.
It is fascinating to see the opinions from people who dont come from a small island and how laughable they really are. IF I was to go to Poland, Portugal, or even the UK and carry on the way that some do even with the attitude I would be either shot, beaten up, or some awful thing god forgive. Stop allowing this to happen please ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Equality needs to start with disadvantaged locals first and it always should have.
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I wish Jeff would just disappear, hopefully the next set of elections will see this happen, with him voted out and no votes for Ted and then good riddance the the JDA!
All they do is make stupid comments, create bogus petition’s and waste everyone’s time and that of the states sittings!
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There will also be hundreds of unemployed who don’t register as unemployed as they are unable to claim any benefits whatsoever beause when they did work their earnings were too high to claim. These people just register with the recruitment agenies.
What I don’t understand is if you work 22 years and have paid full contributions any never claimed, when you need help you are told to go away, and what makes it worse is that even if you are unemployed YOU HAVE TO PAY social security £475 per month based on your earnings 2 years ago in 2009. So there are cases where people have to actually pay social security a crazy monthly amount despite having no income.
JERSEY MAKES NO SENSE, IF YOU ARE A MIDDLE CLASS EARNER YOU ARE PENALISED IN A BIG WAY
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Vickie
Are you not tired to repeat yourself?
A hint for you: Copy and Paste (control C and Control V)
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#2 It wasn’t that long ago, and before any benefits were paid unless by the parish to inviduals known to the Connétable that the unemployment numbers rarely went beyond 116. They were the people who were unemployable and known in each parish.
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Close the floodgates
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BOB@19
i can back you up 100% on that as i am one of these people.being told that i owe the ss money but have earned too much in my seasonal job to be able to claim any income support, i work 14 -18 hours per day 7 days a week in the summer the money i try to save is spent subsidising my winter months,
my plan next winter is to get a sick note from my doctor so at least i will get some of my contributions back before the states have bled the pot dry.
it is not a thing that i really want to do but why after 37 years of paying in surely i am entitled to take a little out.
CJ@10
i have seen the hoards of eastern europeans as you mention . Have you also seen the 2 16 seat mini-buses with polish number plates that ply back and forth every day, i seem to recall an ad on the facebook page in polish , though i should have used the translator i didnt but it looked like it was advertising one way fares to jersey in one of the aforesaid busses for £90 (one way) and that was inward.
Bring back work permits besides maybe helping locals get more chance of a job it will also cut down on crime
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Bob – no 19, I am in exactly the same position as you.
I had worked for 30 years continuously in Jersey and paid a large amount in tax and social security during that period. I did a combination of contract work either on an employed or self employed basis. When my business work dried up and my last contract ended I registered at SS as unemployed. I was told that because I had not technically been made redundant and because I had savings, I would get no income support and would have to PAY THEM employers and employees social security (The maximum based on my earnings of two years ago), which is approx £110 per week.
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of course let’s just blame Polish and Portuguese
@noah just to add to your list, I have seen Poles on planes too! some of them buying one way tickets! totally outrageous
why don’t you create another list, why immigrants are more employable than locals? are they better workers perhaps?
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23 noah:
‘i have seen the hoards of eastern europeans as you mention’
Who is hoarding them and where?
Have we got a Fritzl’s cellar in Jersey?
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You can apply to Social Security for a Small Income Exception, if you are unemployed and cannot afford to pay contributions, although it does affect your future entitlement to sick pay and pension payments.
Also, the Advance to Work schemes that Social Security are currently promoting are very limited, as they only seem to take on very few people at a time anyway and I’ve already been refused a place on one of these schemes, although I had hoped that it would really help me!
I’m feeling very disillusioned with it all at the moment and can’t see any way out of this neverending nightmare!
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no 27. Yes that is true, but in my case as far as the SS dept are concerned my savings are above the (small) limit so I have to pay employers/employees NI (110 per week) based on my earnings 2 years ago.
Try living in Jersey if you are unemployed and YOU HAVE TO PAY SS NEARLY £1,500 EACH QUARTER. I guess my life savings will run out pretty soon.
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No 8 – the ‘boat’ people btw are keeping your lazy locals in benefits.
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Dave they are taking the p*** out of you, just refuse to pay and let them take you to court…. they won’t do it.
What’s the point in paying SS when we aren’t going to get pensions anyway?
What is the point in talking to Southern he’d like to see everyone unemployed so that his socialist ideal of equality could be realised.
He won’t be satisfied till we are all equally miserable.
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So this man and Tadier and the handful of no-hopers are the one’s criticising the major industry which employs people. WE MUST keep these guys out, otherwise the percentage of unemployed will be like their clothing – in the 80′s.
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Think you have had bad time guys Made redundant in October owed wages, no notice pay, went to petty debts judgement passed in favour with expenses,no money as yet, as the owner not declared desastre we were not entitled to anything from social, how not declared as could not pay wages is beyond me. Told not qualified for income support after working 43 years without claiming because rent is low even though my wife at 60 has to work to slow up using savings
Now having cancer treatment so unable to work, sent letter been offered £2.99 for clinical costs but dont qualify as not allowed income support who is going to employe me at 59 with my illness
Once savings are all gone do i get help then or wait perhaps when i am not here in 2 years and my wife has no savings makes you proud to be a Jerseyman
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1) It is nice to see some genuine comments on here from people who have personal experience of the subject under discussion rather than the usual list of sad xenopohobes giving it their pointless tuppence worth whilst hiding behind aliases. Well done in particular to DH (14), Vicky (17), Bob (19), Noah (23) and Ex Office Worker (27).
2) Geoff Southern and allies have hardly helped the cause of the low paid and unemployed. To give just one example, I recall how he, Ted Vibert and all the other ‘opposition’ States Members of the time allowed the States to introduce a statutory legal minimum holiday entitlement of just 2 weeks (half the minimum entitlement applicable in the rest of the EU). That was in July 2003 (Employment Law debate). He or any of the others were free to lodge an amendment at that time to force a debate which might have given people at the bottom of the ladder the same holiday rights as their UK counterparts. Eight years on and still the unemployed are being expected to apply for positions with less than half the holiday entitlement they would get anywhere else in Europe. Shameful.
3) As this is Census week I thought it would be appropriate to recall the unemployment statistics from exactly 10 years ago to see how badly the situation has deteriorated:
Number of registered unemployed at the end of March 2001 = 164.
Number of people who declared in the Census of March 2001 that they were “looking for or waiting to take up a job” = 1,022 (more than 6 times the official number of registered unemployed).
I don’t think we will see 6 times the official number claiming to be unemployed for this Census as that would give us nearly 9,000 out of work. However I do believe the Census figure will once again be considerably higher than the official Soc Sec figure and probably understated in any case as many unemployed currently on work schemes or similar initiatives may well end up being counted as students or employed persons.
4) Last Tuesday’s news reports by CTV and the JEP which gave the impression that all unemployed youngsters could claim £90 per week Income Support simply by registering were higly misleading and unbalanced. I complained to CTV about this. Then on Friday CTV revealed in a subsequent news report that 980 of the registered unemployed are currently receiving Income Support, which logically means that if the latest jobless figure is 1,470 then 33% of those registered (almost 500 people) are NOT actually receiving any Income Support benefit- a scandal that needs highlighting, not covering up.
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I’ve also noticed that employers just aren’t interested in anyone who has been unemployed for a long time, so you just end up being stuck in a vicious circle!
I feel that I’m now on the scrapheap and have very little hope of ever being able to work in an office again, even though I do have very good computer skills!
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@34
You have a few options -
1) train up and get new quals (if you can afford it)
2) take a menial job while waiting for something better
3) give up and live on a bench in the park
4) if no-one else will take you on, work for yourself. Set up your own business. If you can afford it!
Half of those options require money and motivation which is hard to come by when it feels like society has rejected you.
The other options basically mean that our community has kicked you in the teeth and want you to hit rock bottom before they’ll help.
Welcome to Jersey!
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Well stop letting all and sundry come to live and work here then!
Then we won’t be paying out so many benifits to non-locals, and maybe we can get a job,housing in our own Island.
Start to think about deporting from the prisons to their own countries, that gets the scum off here too! Less money spent on them from us tax payers!!!
The way the Island is going our children/school leavers really don’t have a future here.
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There seems to be confusion among everyone here between an Income Support claimant (of which I am one) and Jobseeker.
I’m self-employed full time on a low income and receive IS. Many others in employment claim too. Unless exempt from work, jobseekers have weekly meetings with SS staff and are expected to apply for suitable jobs.
There also seems to be confusion here between those of us in receipt of benefits and freeloaders who don’t want to work, but that’s another story.
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36. jerseygirlcapetown – well said, I completely agree that prisoners should be deported back to their hometowns…I’d much rather that our tax money was spent on a plane ticket!!
33. Jerry – thank you for highlighting that 33% of those registered as unemployed are not claiming benefit – I am one of these people and am desperate to get back into work but having great difficulty getting something/anything. Especially as the only experience I have is in one particular role. I’m so fed up with the general consensus being that all the unemployed people are all lazy and must therefore be benefit thieves when there are people struggling to get by who just want a job!!!….. Any job!!!
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I’m going to be made redundant next month, ive got qualies and dont own a home. I have no savings but I do have a few cans of Stella …..what am I entitled to from SS.
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jersey spud funnily the same could be said about England who have to import people to do their so called meanial jobs. Pot and kettle comes to mind.
Day V Lately taking a minimum wage job will increase the likelihood of tax payers funding these workers via allowances and/or rent rebate, whilst those running businesses increase their profits by doing so.
As for unemployment I expect it to go higher. More in equals more out, unless loads of jobs are created to accommodate the rise in the workforce. Not that I can see that happening any time soon.
However those running businesses, building and renting will not mind as it helps keep their profits up. A shortage of labour will reduce their profits, not what they want is it?
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@20 yawn.. go home, not even wasting my breath on you I have local people that I am more concerned about I am afraid. Which is the view that our Government should be taking.
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32 Beano..suggest you get reporter from J.E.P. and take to a meeting with Ian Gorst…good luck
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Sorry to hear about your plight and your dealings with social security. – At least they are not billing you £110 a week social security contributions when you are unemployed.
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42 Truthseeker: Have had meeting with Ian Gorst to make sure he is well aware of the facts as some staff in the front line were playing solitaire as the people waiting were not for their area so unsure he had full facts, but to be fair he agreed to meet me and also agree to meet with viscount department.
Income support no help so choice is to use up savings or as one of their staff said look to cash in your pension,so stupid. or i come off the sick against doctor advice and try to find work so my savings dont disapear. I will look at my JEP contacts as i feel story needs to be told so no one else who is employed finds them selves in this position what is to stop any employer doing this making a nonsense with the present law even if you have contract of employment. Mr Gorst seems to be bound by the viscount department and the policy in place without any count whether it is morally right or wrong.I may launch story yet we have to show some compassion to people that really need some help there are people that are claiming have been left money and their relatives are holding 1,000,s in their bank account for them, the old welfare system was not perfect but i am sure parish adminstrators would have known who was in real need as it was a personal approach we have taken that all away and now just have form filling has to be a compromise between the two
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