Panorama - yoof unemployment

scorza

scorza

scorza

Caporegime
Joined
22 Jun 2004
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Deep England
Anyone see this panorama programme last night? Basically the reporter took 4 unemployed yoofs - 2 chavs, 2 normal kids and gave them a kick up the backside to try and get them a job. What I liked about it was the fact that it quickly got over the fact that teenagers are awkward, spotty and like to stay in bed a lot, and then took a serious look at the bottom end labour market. Quite an eye opener for me.

One thing I didn't realise is that while these young people are on job seekers allowance, its not always their fault. One of the chavs got a job working at the Honda factory in Swindon - we obviously don't know what he was like when he was there but we do know that he was on time every day and he was enjoying it, only to be told on the fifth day that they didn't need him anymore. He was working via an agency so this was all above board apparently, so straight away he's back on benefits. I don't think he was a bad worker or anything as at the end of the programme they said that he was still working the odd day here and there at Honda, still through the agency.

One of the normal kids ended up in the same boat, doing a few days agency shifts at BMW every now and then, while the other one got himself a job working at a cafe in a shopping centre. The other chav didn't get a job in the end, his nan didn't want him working in food retail as it was poorly paid hard work often with franchise managers who didn't give a damn about their employees (a bad attitude, but I can't help feeling she had a point).

In the end, it did change my opinion a bit of all these young unemployed people. I did feel pretty sorry for them that the only jobs that seemed to be available to them were the crap service industry jobs at food courts, or "flexible labour" agency jobs, and that wages are depressed to the minimum thanks to immigration. I can understand that employers want flexible labour (and don't want to employ someone whose no good and then be unable to sack them), but from the kids point of view, it must be pretty disheartening turning up to work one day only to be told to go home - no wonder so many of them give up and just opt to stay on benefits. Where are all the apprenticeships? the YTS schemes?
 
scorza said:
Basically the reporter took 4 unemployed yoofs - 2 chavs, 2 normal kids and gave them a kick up the backside to try and get them a job.
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Does that not point at the one of the obvious problems though, that many youths are lazy and cba, requiring someone to give them a kick up the backside?
 
Mat said:
Does that not point at the one of the obvious problems though, that many youths are lazy and cba, requiring someone to give them a kick up the backside?
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To be fair, the chavs were miles ahead on this than the normal kids. Both chavs had been round Swindon previously registering with as many agencies as possible. The one who worked at Honda had applied for that job before the Panorama reporter turned up so basically got it off his own back.

They pointed out, that you have to prove you're looking for a job to claim job seekers allowance, but all 4 youths said that its a complete joke - none of them have had to show their log book to the benefits people.
 
there are night schools, courses, self learn, warehouse work etc. there is no excuse for being lazy, other than they can afford to be,

id love to be tucked up in bed right now without a care, or presentations or stuff to be doing. would be much easier...
 
I have no sympathy for these sort of people, if they worked harded or applied themselves harded at a younger age instead of hanging around street corners drinking Buckfast they would be in a better position of getting a job.

I went straight from School into barwork, and got promoted to Bar manager after 6 months or so. After 1.5 years of running a team of seven i then netted a job as a trainee surveyor (land) and am now in charge of three teams.
 
Windle said:
I have no sympathy for these sort of people, if they worked harded or applied themselves harded at a younger age instead of hanging around street corners drinking Buckfast they would be in a better position of getting a job.
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We all make mistakes when we were young, should we punish people for the rest of their lives because of mistakes they make as teenagers? No offense but your comment about Buckfast is presumptuous and ignorant - even for this forum.

Nick - these people were clearly not academically minded, I'm not sure that night school or self-learning would have helped them. The only warehouse jobs that seemed to be on offer were through the agencies, and therefore the same problems applied to them as the car factory jobs.
 
I didn't see this program last night (Is it available on the internet anywhere?) But I agree with some of what you are saying. Often people can be relatively lucky and get jobs easily, but often getting a job can be very hard, especially if you have little or no skills and eduction. When I graduated from University (With a 2.1 BA), it took me a good 9 months of doing agency work in factories and warehouses to get the job im doing now (IT support), and that certainly wasn't for a lack of trying. I can only imagine how hard it must be for someone with a limited CV, and little support from family etc. One thing that working in factories taught me though is that working at the bottom of the labour market is no easy ride by any stretch of the imagination! I now respect those people who work damned hard in basic jobs in order to earn a poor pay. The poeple who I don't have time for are the ones that have no desire to work or better themselves at all.
 
I've started working for Connexions recently and I can now totally understand why some people struggle to find jobs. Poor background, no GCSEs - tons of reasons.
 
In my opinion people grow up and the pressure to do so is way to fast these days, all have jobs, houses, kids and cars by the time they are 21. Let people get jobs and grow up in there own time.

Needless to say, this programme rattled my cage.
 
Tom0 said:
In my opinion people grow up and the pressure to do so is way to fast these days, all have jobs, houses, kids and cars by the time they are 21. Let people get jobs and grow up in there own time.
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In the meantime the rest of us have to foot the benefit bill until they are 'ready' to grow up.
 
You have to remember that these jobs through agencies are a necessary "evil". The flexibility to hire and fire certain members of the workforce easily is what keeps things ticking over. Without this flexibility, the positions wouldn't exist in the first place and we'd have unemployment problems like they have in France.
 
I'm in a similar situation at the moment, I'm trying to help my GFs brother (16) get a job as he's currently living with me and her (family issues, won't go there).
It's berluddy hard motivating him to get a job, I've written his CV for him (which will make it better written than 90% of the CVs for the jobs he's applying for for a start) and he will actually do anything you /tell/ him to do, but won't do anything off his own bat.

For example, an agency rang up and asked him "Did you apply for this job?", he replied "Uuh, maybe..." (apparently he'd just woken up and wasn't fully awake), so the agent asked if he wanted her to ring back.
Needless to say he never heard from a potentially good lead again...

Any suggestions?
 
scorza said:
We all make mistakes when we were young, should we punish people for the rest of their lives because of mistakes they make as teenagers? No offense but your comment about Buckfast is presumptuous and ignorant - even for this forum.
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Who you are as a teenager shapes you for the rest of your adult life. I see it all the time as i live in a fairly rough area. It's made painfully clear at school that working hard will give you a better chance of getting a good job even if you don't then go on to uni. If you can prove your hardworking when you leave school (Regardless of which age - 16 or 18) you have a good chance of making it.

So yes, we should punish people for the rest of the lives. Perhaps it will stop the next generation making the same mistakes because IT'S GETTING BLOODY WORSE!
 
JollyGreen said:
Any suggestions?
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What kind of job? If it’s any job then Christmas Staff are going to be interviewing soon. It might be something to look into, there are pretty much unlimited hours at the bigger chains and the possibility of being kept on till something better comes along. Plus if its somewhere crap then it will give him motivation to find something better. ;)
 
Sounds to me that if he's not motivated to get a job in the first place, he's not going to be motivated to go through the whole process again and get another, better job.
 
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