pocket the difference

ASDA has been taking advantage of free Govt. sponsored workers too. Notably so during the Christmas period and despite assurances these work placements wouldn't have any impact on existing employees - it lead to them losing their overtime.

it's better to be a shelf stacker than a 'job snob' sez IDS

In a breath-taking display of snobbishness himself - IDS has a little rant about his workfare scheme...

According to him:

Apparently ALL young British people are sitting around dreaming of being reality tv show stars...

A shelf-stacker is of greater value to society than someone of the 'commentating elite'... (whoever they are? Do professional journalists count? The next time he's on TV or Radio will he be saying to the interviewer 'a shelf stacker is of greater value than you?) - and it's apparently insulting to professional shelf-stackers who do a worthwhile job -except that -er, an unemployed yoof with no qualifications can do it for far less than minimum wage. Sooo is it a worth-while job or not? If so then why isn't the yoof being paid the going rate for it in the first place. And does it really take EIGHT WEEKS to train someone to stack shelves?

I think we need a whole lot less schemes and a lot more jobs being created actually.

worklessness programmes

Rising unemployment puts Cameron's work programme in the spotlight

The Guardian gets exclusive access to the scheme to get people off benefits – and finds in Hull, some barriers are hard to break.

Why is that then?

Indisputable facts:

1. There are more work seekers than there are jobs. And jobs are diminishing - not increasing.

2. This means potential employers can be as picky about who they employ as they like - there is no obligation for them to take on any long term unemployed person if they don't want to. Yet there are plenty of scope for exploitation. Hence work for free, Interns or forced Work-for-welfare schemes are on the rise. Which in turn means there is even less incentive for employers to take on paid staff as they have access to a ever increasing turn over of free workers.

3. There's been a long term culture of demonizing the underclass, the unemployed, the disabled, etc. - why? simply because it's a lot easier to blame the victim. Every time there's been an economic downturn there's a very brief spell of sympathy for those people who find themselves unemployed for the first time - but which quickly turns to hostility. The mainstream media enthusiastically colludes with this.

 If they want to halve unemployment - it's simple - stage 1.: divide the area's unemployed people into two groups. Stage 2: train one half as employment advisors  - who then can be employed on fixed short term contracts  to teach the other unemployed half job searching skills and train them to be employment advisors. Stage 3: When their contracts end and they become unemployed - employ the now newly trained-up other half to teach the other half job searching skills and re-train how to be employment advisors. Repeat as often as necessary.