Change needed at job centres
Sep 17 2009
Jobcentre Plus is in desperate need of reform, says the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
A survey of 2,500 FSB members found that one in three (34 per cent) thought that the organisation was ‘ineffective’, while almost half (49 per cent) did not know if it worked well or not.
The research comes after the Office of National Statistics reported that youth unemployment (under-25s) had reached 947,000, the highest level since records began.
Nine per cent of small business leaders said they planned to take on more staff in the next six months, but fewer than 20 per cent said they used Jobcentre Plus offices to recruit, choosing instead to use advertising and recruitment services.
John Wright, national chairman of the FSB, says: ‘As small businesses are the country’s key employers, and are known to give a larger proportion of jobs to those who have previously been unemployed than big businesses, it’s time the government reformed Jobcentre Plus and made it work effectively.’
FSB proposals for reform include establishing greater links between job centres and businesses to focus on employers’ needs, appointing a dedicated small business manager in each job centre and greater scrutiny of how funding is spent.
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