The Work Programme New Thread

A question about : The Work Programme New Thread

What do you actually do when you attend? How long are you there? Do you find advisors try and get you to apply for jobs where its clear you havent got the experience and wont get it?

How helpful or not is it?

Best answers:

• I'm not on the Work Programme, but I'll let you in on my prediction of what will become of it next year. Sometime in the latter part of the year, under the pressure of having to find jobs for the continous supply of unemployed that the DWP will funnel to them, the providers will go cap in hand to the DWP for more money as more unemployed means more salaries for advisors and a stagnant economy will mean fewer opportunities for outcome payments. Therefore, the DWP will have two choices; refuse to pay, so then the DWP will have to deal with the long-term unemployed or, and I suspect more likely, the DWP will cough up making the Work Programme no different to New Deal.
• your bang on,but those half wits in goverment have seriously over looked this,they are also planning to close job centres,what a good idea.The work programme is only suitable for younger very in experienced people without a works history behind them.Getting everyone and anyone to do this bag of crap sheme is totally mental and a cost of something in the region of billions by the end of the 2-5yr period.
  They just send people who are 12mths + unemployed to work for an hrly rate of approx Ј2 an hour with the false lure of a job, its slave labour, and big companies are loving this, and so too is every scum bag provider who have signed up to it. When your working for a huge company on that low wage,what makes anyone think they will want to be hired,and especially at times like these when they now have a never ending stream of people being chucked at them by the WORKPROGRAMME providers. They are placing people into temp positions which are not really needed and getting a huge fat cheque from the goverment per head placed via the tax payer,hence the massive overall cost.They had new deal and this is just the same old crap.
  Anyone who wants this great ide banned sign the goverments e petition.
  https://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22934
  How to write a cv,like mines been good for 34 yrs.
  How to conduct yourself at an interview.
  Mindless team building excercises.
  Training which is no good to anyone,any training of any significant value is not available "i wonder why that is?"
  a total waste of tax payers money and politicians being seen tobe doing something for their wages.
• What LadyMissA says is sad but all too true. Many on the WP have been left to their own devices for weeks on ends after having a couple of meetings with an 'advisor'.
  Many will say something like "why do you not want the WP to help you find work?". This is a poor defence. Many jobseekers are not adverse to seeking and receiving help, advice and a bit of guidance. Indeed, no man / woman is an island and cannot know everything. However, with schemes like the WP and the New / Flexible New Deal before it, the issue is not so much the help but the VERY poor help being offered by most providers.
  In fact, LadyMissA has revealed another issue. If the WP is so vital and the work providers do is so important, then surely they should be seeing 'clients' on a far more regular and consistent basis??? It is obvious even to Mr Magoo that WP providers are woefully short on resources including staff. Add the fact that unemployment is skyrocketing, and you have a recipe for disaster. Hence people not being seen for weeks on end!
  Will the WP fail? Probably. There are signs it is doing so right now. However, before throwing in the towel, the govt and DWP will no doubt go on a major rebranding exercise.
• I think the results from the WP will not be known until Spring 2012 at the earliest. Don't expect them to be great! However, it all depnds on:
  A) How you spin / present things
  B) Who your intended audience is
  The newspeak from Govt depts such as the DWP does not help matthers either. What is amusing (not in a hee-hee sense) is:
  "This will involve private and voluntary sector organisations, in order to provide better support for longer-term jobseekers. Local Jobcentre Plus staff can advise on what is available for each individual person."
  Firstly, as I revealed in a post in a previous thread, many charities are feeling somewhat shafted and conned by some WP providers as they are:
  A) Some charities and non-profit orgs are having people sent to them by the likes of A4e to learn basic skills. These charities are not getting paid for thier time or effort.
  B) Some providers have the brass neck to ask charities to provide volunteers to THEIR premises in order to teach skills to clients on the WP. Again, no payment goes to these charities and non-profit orgs.
  Secondly, many JobCentre Plus staff have no clue as to what is available. Poor training, bad attitudes and precious little time to spend with thier 'customers' all contributes to this lacklustre service.
• Well its a right load of rubbish, it really is, dressed up as legitimate but having all the worst elements of capitalism.
  Probably about 3 people in the whole country will get a proper job from it.They will say though that 2 million other people have become more work ready or some other nonsence.
  What I wonder is, if and when the job situation will improve? I've never known its as bad as this and Im in my 40s. I think the labour market/economic infrastructure as a whole has really changed over the last 20 years or so and that maybe this is the way it will stay. Im hoping things will get better but I dont think they will anytime soon.
  I think its totally unacceptable to have nearly 3 million unemployed adults plus 10 million economically inactive adults in this country. What I think would be a better idea would be paying all the unemployed a minimum wage at least and they have to do community work to help the vulnerable.Shopping for the elderly,lunch clubs, painting community centres etc.
• ive signed the petition. I think the gvt will always come up with something though.
• I joined the wp in june when it first started....I have only been asked to see an advisor 6 times over that period! Its a total joke.
  My last visit was on 21st November...advisor said he would contact me by phone on 5th December....Im still waiting.
  I had already made arrangements with a volunteer organisation before the wp even began, I also applied to college, and got accepted to start September 2012. Also applied to do a counselling nightclass for February2012, got accepted for that to....advisor knows all this and to be honest, I dont think he has a clue what to do with me as i have been more than capable of sorting my own future out. Im 47yrs old, and doubt if any employer would be interested in employing me, so I decided to go to college to escape the stress of the dole/wp.
  I doubt I am worth anything financially to my advisor....so I have been "parked" as I suspect many off us have or others will be in the future!