Bid to ease work scheme concerns

[Win2Win Racing]

The government will attempt to draw a line under the controversy surrounding its work experience initiatives later in a meeting with employers.

More... (http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-politics-17200688)

[Win2Win]

A small number of do gooders screwing up what is a perfectly good scheme :doh1:

Everyone of the dole should be doing some free work to put something back into society. Is it asking too much for a couple fo days a week for them to tidy up the local community?

[barneymather]

If I was a young guy who was used to doing nothing for his dole money, I probably wouldn't like doing the scheme, however it does actually help people. These rabble rousers (who belong to a fringe political group and are basically anti-everything) are hell-bent on wrecking the programme, but what alternative can they offer?

Gordon Brown tried inventing huge numbers of non-jobs in the public sector, paid for by his dozens of stealth taxes of course, and all it did was punch a giant hole in the country's balance sheet whilst contributing precisely nothing to the economy. I can't imagine the agitators trying to scupper this scheme will offer anything more substantial.

A pal of my brother's started on the old YTS scheme in the late 80s and not that many years later he was managing the depot - from newbie apprentice to the boss in a relatively short time and he wasn't the most ambitious bloke in the world either. He resented the low pay at the beginning but if he hadn't got onto that scheme, he could well have ended up long-term unemployed and living an aimless life in poverty rather than having a decent salary and a car by his early 20s.

Certainly, the YTS scheme had its flaws but like the current scheme, it did get young people into work and gave many of them a future. It's not fashionable to say it as the world and his wife want to put the boot into the government and big businesses, but they are trying to help people into a permanent job and not punish them.

Yes, in an ideal world a well-paid job would be waiting for those who want one, however every economy is imperfect and so like everything else in life a compromise has to be found to make progress.

Although you'll never hear the demonstrators admit as much, it should also be said that many teenagers have a lousy attitude to work and resent having to turn up at a certain time, work all day, and take orders from a boss. It's not always wholly their fault as they may have grown up with benefit-addicted parents who didn't care if they went to school, but the lives of these youngsters are going to be pretty pointless if they remain stuck in that mindset. Countless studies will show that many who live this lifestyle will drift into crime and/or drugs, so surely anything which might prevent that, however flawed, should be encouraged.

Part of the reason why many employers prefer to hire from eastern Europe and beyond (the low wages argument is a bit of a red herring) is that firms know these folks don't feel the government owes them a living - few of these countries have a welfare State similar to ours - and are prepared to roll up their sleeves and graft for their income.

We'd all like to walk into a job of our choosing with a salary which we were happy with, however a lot of Britons, young and not so young, see welfare as a lifestyle choice and so turn their noses up at 'menial' jobs. These guys just aren't living in the real world and I don't see why they shouldn't be reminded that the rest of us shouldn't have to pay for them lazing about all day.

People who want to work but just can't find it have my sympathy as I've been there myself, but it's odd that hundreds of thousands of migrants found work in the UK over the past decade whilst a similar number of able-bodied Brits sat on their @rses on benefits. Doesn't look to me as if the latter were desperate to earn a crust.