Now let’s get Jersey working!
Friday 27th January 2012, 3:00PM GMT.
Social Security Minister Francis Le Gresley
EMPLOYERS are being urged to help the unemployed find work.
The States Back to Work team wants to hear from employers who may have vacancies coming up in the next few months and about the skills needed for the posts.
The team, led by Social Security, was set up last year with the task of finding long and short term ways to reduce the number of Islanders who are unemployed.
Social Security Minister Francis Le Gresley said that the team had been working on a number of initiatives, including the expansion of existing successful schemes, but that one of the most important aspects of their work had been to increase consultation with employers to make sure that any strategies were tailored to meet demand in the market place.
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It’s an obvious question but what hasn’t this initiative been in place since the crash, sounds like a common sense policy that should have been in place all along.
Still better late than never, what about UK style accept a job or lose your benefit policy, it would get the lifestyle unemployed off their arses. I was unemployed in the UK in the early 80′s 4 million on the dole and no jobs to be had.I did a 1 year stint on the Community Programme ( not to be confused with community service for criminals ) it got me back into the working habit, taught me a skill and subsequently got me a job. No shame in copying proven UK policies.
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Too much red tape better to stay small & avoid all the paperwork ie Social security,Itis etc etc,holidays,sick note time,sued for slightest problem etc etc & a major ecession on top of that with no guarentees of business improving in the near future.
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and what are businesses going to give them to do??? RETAIL DEAD, tourism going nowhere. construction dissapearing down a hole in the ground
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Why don’t they start by helping employers by scrapping taxes to make 0/10 the same for all?
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Spin and nonsense and a waste of time and money.
There ARE no new jobs coming. No one has any money due to overspending and overtaxing by our “leaders”, so people arent spending, so businesses of all types and sizes are failing and reducing costs NOT employing more people.
end of.
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DON’T PANIC DON’T PANIC… DON’T PANIC…. AAARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.
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Have a look at the corner of Hilgrove Street and Halkett Street. This vacant site could be emplying local building workers if, after 13 years of planning applications, etc my company would be allowed permission to build. Will Lily Langtry on a penny farthing bike ever come back to haunt us? Heritage think she will.
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The Royal Court and the Court of Appeal upheld the planning refusal to demolish in 2004; if the building has been allowed to run to ruin becuase of a truculent refusal to accept that then it is a bit silly. Just get on with doing up the Video Centre and stop moaning about it at every opportunity.
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If there was an item about cars he’d say “look at this site, blah blah-it can’t be a car park because heritage won’t let it!”. If it was an item about child care it would be “look at this site, blah blah-it can’t be a nursery because heritage won’t let it!”.
If it was about public conveniences it would be “look at this site, blah blah-it can’t be a toilet block because heritage won’t let it!”.
TURN THE RECORD OVER.
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WHY don’t they start by enforcing the Reg of Unds contracts – local labour or nothing “oh it’s difficult to recruit” – try!. Also force employers to train up local people to take management posts instead of 5 year contracts that are eternally extended.
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Get real Mr.Le Gresley
There are very few if any employers out there looking to increase their steff numbers, not until the ecomony starts up again.
I employ over 20 staff and even when I need more I won’t take on as I can’t lay off again if things turn down unless I pay redundancy money. My clients will now just have to be a little more patient and expect delays in their work.]With all these new labour laws wrapped arouind the Employee, the Employer is hesitant in taking on new staff. ( I wonder who was the driving force on these labour laws !! ) you can’t have your cake and eat it.
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You just take staff on on temporary contracts. You don’t have to pay sick money, pension, etc, just renew every month if the work is there. Even the States are employing loads of people this way now
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Taking on staff on temporary contracts doesn’t work because a tribunal would view it as continued employment. If you re-employ the same person within a period of six months the old contract is seen as part of the current one.
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i would guess that many local firms employing the people they have working now , are looking for the next job to send the as is workforce to. but still outside contractors are arriving and pricing work that local firms can do.
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although money and long term employment is important, what is more importantant is that people must work in the comunity, be involved, and not get paid for nothing.
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What I hear from employers is that many young get so much for staying at home that they do not take the jobs offered for any time.
Cut the benefits and you will find the list is less.
When the parishes were in charge of such benefits the unemployment total was never so large. Why not change this?
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If j-cats do what they were supposed to do then maybe there wouldn’t be so many unemployed.A j-cat license is for 5 years during which you train up somebody and at the end of 5 years you leave with the trainee taking up the position.In reality this never happens.J-cats don’t train anyone and end up here forever.
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Who says that is what J cats are supposed to do? I was certainly never told that and if I had been I wouldn’t have come. Why on Earth would you come here with the higher cost of living,inferior health and education systems, biased housing rules etc if you knew you’d be chucked out like an old cabbage a few years later?
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ex J Cat
In the regulations hidden away it does require the J cat been employed to train local employees and when the license expires the purpose is to have a trained locally qualified person who can takeover the J cat job.
However in real life this does not happen.
Bermuda run a 5 year license and at the end you are asked to leave unless your employer can prove behind doubt that you are required. This works well by controlling the population and providing the locals a chance of being trained and moving up the ladder. Again its not perfect but it works.
http://www.gov.je/Home/RentingBuying/HousingLaws/Pages/JCatEmployees.aspx
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so I spend 3 years at Uni – then another 4 years post grad work to get my doctorate – then 12 years of various promotions and come to Jersey and you expect me to “train” a replacement in 5 years – get real – silk purses and sow’s ears springs to mind
The J cat concept is outdated as the thinking on Jersey -
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Don’t come then, please if you don’t like the terms. It’s your choice.
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they do in guernsey , i belive , and they are doing ok.
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ec J Cat
Pull the other one!
Something DID attract you to this island….now what could that have been?
Perhaps it was the perks and higher salary you receive (to help you survive on the higher cost of living)….or perhaps lower crime and better weather.
Your stupidity at mocking the healthcare and education levels in Jersey is unbelievable…..these people are mostly J-Cats!
What was you area of “expertise” when you had a J-Cat??
You people always think you are above everyone else….it’s sickening!
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Many years ago I managed a supermarket, and people used to say, why do you empoy so many Portugese, and I said because no Jersey people applied for the jobs, and if they did they thought they were doing you a favour. I don,t suppose things have changed much since then.
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Employers can only offer jobs if they have them, they cannot create jobs for the sake of it?? DOH
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The ebb and flow of the employment market is very liquid. It is rather like a bath with the plug out, to keep it full you can turn the taps on (create new jobs) or put the plug in (help businesses retain their employees).
This approach could pay-off but it may be better to support existing employers to sustain and/or expand. If the rate or redundancy can be slowed then sooner or later employment figures will rise.
I don’t mean to knock this innitiative but maybe an alternative approach would work better. The underlying principle being that it is better to prevent the accident in the first place than it is to patch-up the injured thereafter.
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Ex J cat – fantastic answer.
No 15…have to agree 100%..the locals dont want these jobs so let the ones who are willing, have them. Am so sick of this apartheid between locals and immigrants.
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See my comment in no14
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The guy has always been a “my own lawyer” who thought he knew it all at CAB.
Now he is Social Security minister. Social security is a ponzi scheme.
Has he employed any of the ATW youths from States schools. I have and they didn’t get a full time job because they couldn’t (1) spell (2) speak (3) answer a telephone (4) turn up on a Monday.
It is Education and Social Security and their own employees who have failed, it is an absolute disgrace.
Don’t pay these waster politicians either.
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What type of business are you?
What were the jobs you gave them?
Did you provide them with the correct training and motivation to get out of bed on a Monday?
To me you saying that you did not give one of them a job is a failure on your side and i would question what did you do to help these young ones?
I remember the YTS scheme in the UK and all it was to employers was a free worker to sweep the floor and make the tea, the young workers were treated badly by their co-workers and did not learn any thing, hence in the end it was stopped and re-branded into something else.
You give a young person the correct training and give them something to get out of bed in the morning by giving them a chance then i am sure they will. Ok we could argue there are a minority of young ones who are going though the changes in life and don’t want to work for what ever reason, but the majority do want to work and may not be as bright as others or have some kind of disability.
Seems you have a grudge but it is not with the kids…..
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Mark, I hear what you are saying and agree with some of it, but anyone who has been an apprentice knows that you do…. get the p!ss taken out of you, make the tea, sweep the floor, muck out the canteen etc,etc!! It’s part of the process to teach newcomers that they are not above any job asked of them throughout their working life. This goes with you throughout your time spent working and if you paid attention and were not precious as a youngster you find you lead from the front in later life and are still not scared to do the sh!t jobs even if you are the managing director. You see too many times nowadays young people with the attitude (with no experience to back it up) that they are above the essential menial jobs that are the building blocks for a successful career. Problem is now that people pander to them instead of giving them a (metaphorical or not) kick up the ass and tell them to get over themselves!
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Totally agree Time Served. You don’t take on a job at the lowest rung of the ladder with the view that ‘this is it’, you take it on with the view of working hard, doing the job the best you can and moving up the ladder. And for that you get paid, maybe not the best wage, but at least you have an income.
Still, I do think there is a need to give just the smallest bit of leeway (and I do mean the smallest bit) because it is a huge change from school hours and long holidays to a full-time job, there is no harm in giving a little bit of transition time as long as you use your disciplinary policy properly. Even a good kid could struggle with such a big change in routine.
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Ex J Cat “Who says that is what J cats are supposed to do? I was certainly never told that and if I had been I wouldn’t have come. Why on Earth would you come here with the higher cost of living,inferior health and education systems, biased housing rules etc if you knew you’d be chucked out like an old cabbage a few years later”?
You’d come because if you worked for the bank I work for you’d be getting a promotion, all moving expenses would be paid, accommodation would be free and in some cases the bank would pay for food, baby items, gas & electric and in one case a foreign holiday.
5 years living for free on the gravy train before moving on to the next juristiction, often Guernsey, Isle of Man or Gibraltar and so the merry round goes with free or heavily subsidised accommodation for the chosen few.
When they removed the limit on J cats many stayed and waaited out the 10 year qualification period ( 10 years for J cats remember ) then bought a house with the money they haven’t been spending on rent in the past 10 years but hush – don’t mention it in the office, like as not the department head is one of them and that will scupper your appraisal.
Sucession policy NOW.
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Some of us are not bank workers. Some of us are nurses, teachers, social workers not on especially high salaries and with none whatsoever of the perks you mention. On a nurse’s salary for example rent here is very high, you won’t be able to save much, not at all if you’re supporting a family, and so why would you come here to take up a promotion you could also have got in the UK? Well, because it’s arguably a nice place to live. That is the selling point. But not so nice if you’re going to be required to leave a few years later, worse off than you were before you came.
I honestly didn’t know about the conditions for bankers, which do seem very cushy (obviously I don’t mix in the right circles). Maybe it is the rules applied to banks that need tightening up then?
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But ex J-Cat
You just ridiculed our healthcare service in a previous post….that includes YOU…..and plenty of other J-Cats.
Are you saying that we are employing sub-standard “essential employees”??
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Here Here 19 well put.
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“It’s the economy, stupid” Bill Clinton
Get the economy right and the work will follow.
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ex j-cat
Who says that is what J cats are supposed to do? I was certainly never told that and if I had been I wouldn’t have come. Why on Earth would you come here with the higher cost of living,inferior health and education systems, biased housing rules etc if you knew you’d be chucked out like an old cabbage a few years later?
So why did you come here?
And more importantly why did you come here without even knowing what you were supposed to do for a j-cat license.
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Answer to your first question – I came because the job was advertised for precisely my skills and experience, I was up for a bit of an adventure and it seemed like a nice place to live (it is). I still consider myself very lucky to have got my job, though anti-immigrant comments on here do upset me as no doubt they upset others.
Answer to your second question. Nobody told me.
I was just told that J Cat means “essential employee.”
Honest answers.
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One of the biggest problems are companies trying to cut their costs towards their staff while at the same time trying to fill their pockets with huge profits. Workers are never rewarded for their hard work and are expected to except min wage. If any one outside tries to apply for a public sector vacancy, human resources have the applicant jumping through hoops just to reach the interview stage, and yet there are loads of internal vacancies within the States whereby workers can swap jobs with no or little experience. It seems a shame the number of people unemployed but at the same time there are constant vacancies advertised within the States department. Apprentice schemes should also be brought back with the emphasis of asking school students in their final years if engineering or plumbing would be their preferred option to study.
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…..there are jobs out there if you look for them – I have 5. Granted each are only a few hours a week, and not nescessarily the best pay, but combined help keep my family finances afloat.
People who want to work will find work, no matter in what capacity.
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How about creating jobs to improve the island’s infrastructure? The roads and sea defences need repairing, grass verges and hedges need cutting, litter and refuse needs to be cleared from our streets. How about making those on benefits work for their money?
How about making the ultra rich paying more tax to pay for additional jobs in the island.
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You made my day, a genuine LOL moment
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I absolutely love this comment. We need like buttons on this site
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What is he thinking of? It reminds me of something else but I can’t say what that is here.
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What the hell is going on ?!!
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he must have a strange outlook on life.
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