DWP Jobcentres are failing both job seekers and employers looking for staff by forcing candidates to apply for jobs they are “entirely unsuitable for”, a leading research institute has found.
A focus on meeting job application targets to avoid being sanctioned means that jobseekers end up bombarding employers with applications for roles that are inappropriate for them, wasting everyone’s time.
Researchers at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) heard from people currently using the DWP’s Jobcentre Plus service, which takes the approach: ‘Any Job, Better Job, Career’ (ABC). This encourages people to apply for any paid role, ideally full-time, before progressing to a better job. If the jobseeker doesn’t follow the steps advised by their work coach, they could have their benefits cut.
Melanie Wilkes, associate director for work and the welfare state at IPPR, said: “The Jobcentres’ approach of relying on sanctions to push people into jobs reinforces insecure, poor quality work and is simply a waste of everyone’s time.”
Sandrine Mpongo, a London-based 38-year-old lone mother to two sons, was unemployed for two years due to the high cost of childcare and inflexibility of work coaches at the Jobcentre, who tried to push her into full-time work.
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