This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/30/europe-jobcentres-failing-unemployed
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Europe's jobcentres: are they failing the unemployed? | Europe's jobcentres: are they failing the unemployed? |
| (11 months later) | |
| How useful are Europe's jobcentres? Every country has some form of back-to-work bureaucracy. But as correspondents of the Guardian, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung and El País found, they are often little more that gatekeepers to the benefit system rather than an actively engaged labour market broker for the 25 million people on the continent looking for work. | How useful are Europe's jobcentres? Every country has some form of back-to-work bureaucracy. But as correspondents of the Guardian, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung and El País found, they are often little more that gatekeepers to the benefit system rather than an actively engaged labour market broker for the 25 million people on the continent looking for work. |
| France | France |
| "Arm yourself with courage and determination. There are many of you and the jobs are ... not as numerous." On its website, the national French jobcentre, Pôle Emploi does not give false hope to the one in five young French people looking for work. | "Arm yourself with courage and determination. There are many of you and the jobs are ... not as numerous." On its website, the national French jobcentre, Pôle Emploi does not give false hope to the one in five young French people looking for work. |
| In this jungle, Pôle Emploi tries its best to support young people not by offering them jobs, but rather by directing them to perhaps more appropriate set-ups, or by coaching them to begin their careers themselves. People are divided according to profile. Some can get refresher courses operated by the army or "second-chance schools". Young people living in an area covered by a urban contract of social cohesion – the Cucs – are also entitled to special treatment. Since 2008, 45,000 of them have been given a "contract of autonomy", which provides an allowance and a personalised follow-up during the job search – and even after hiring. Those who lack training are pushed to resume their studies in key sectors, including apprenticeships. Some may take a detour through the Civis, a civil service to "build an access route to work." And the others? They are in the same boat as their elders, with offers of CV workshops, help to relocate or get a driving licence, and even childcare are offered if needed. But things are still difficult for the long-term unemployed. "There is no real device for the young, long-term unemployed graduates, which is a fairly new category in France," says Marie Claire Carrère-Gée, chair of the Job Advisory Board organisation. | In this jungle, Pôle Emploi tries its best to support young people not by offering them jobs, but rather by directing them to perhaps more appropriate set-ups, or by coaching them to begin their careers themselves. People are divided according to profile. Some can get refresher courses operated by the army or "second-chance schools". Young people living in an area covered by a urban contract of social cohesion – the Cucs – are also entitled to special treatment. Since 2008, 45,000 of them have been given a "contract of autonomy", which provides an allowance and a personalised follow-up during the job search – and even after hiring. Those who lack training are pushed to resume their studies in key sectors, including apprenticeships. Some may take a detour through the Civis, a civil service to "build an access route to work." And the others? They are in the same boat as their elders, with offers of CV workshops, help to relocate or get a driving licence, and even childcare are offered if needed. But things are still difficult for the long-term unemployed. "There is no real device for the young, long-term unemployed graduates, which is a fairly new category in France," says Marie Claire Carrère-Gée, chair of the Job Advisory Board organisation. |
| UK | UK |
| The UK unemployment service is heavily privatised with jobcentres effectively policing the benefits regime for 12 months while people look for work. If no job is found by the state then the unemployed are handed to private companies to help and cajole people to work for a year. If that fails, people will be made to do compulsory work in the community for six months, a punitive policy import from the US where it is better known as "workfare". When the coalition government assumed power it scrapped Labour's youth jobs programme, saving £1.3bn, ministers claimed. Two years later with youth unemployment at 22% – the second highest rate in the G8 – and with one in 10 of 15-to-19-year-olds officially not in education, employment or training (Neets), the government announced its billion-pound "youth contract". Alarmed that youth unemployment spiked past a million, ministers quietly dropped their opposition to meddling in markets and sought to intervene to create jobs. The government did not want to "lose a generation". | The UK unemployment service is heavily privatised with jobcentres effectively policing the benefits regime for 12 months while people look for work. If no job is found by the state then the unemployed are handed to private companies to help and cajole people to work for a year. If that fails, people will be made to do compulsory work in the community for six months, a punitive policy import from the US where it is better known as "workfare". When the coalition government assumed power it scrapped Labour's youth jobs programme, saving £1.3bn, ministers claimed. Two years later with youth unemployment at 22% – the second highest rate in the G8 – and with one in 10 of 15-to-19-year-olds officially not in education, employment or training (Neets), the government announced its billion-pound "youth contract". Alarmed that youth unemployment spiked past a million, ministers quietly dropped their opposition to meddling in markets and sought to intervene to create jobs. The government did not want to "lose a generation". |
| At the heart of "youth contract" is a £370m sop to business. Private companies will be paid £2,275 for every job created for a young people who have been on unemployment benefits for 9 months or longer. | At the heart of "youth contract" is a £370m sop to business. Private companies will be paid £2,275 for every job created for a young people who have been on unemployment benefits for 9 months or longer. |
| There will also be money for work experience and cash to pay for extra staff so that young people get to see an employment adviser once a week while without work rather than fortnightly. Being young and unemployed means living on £56 a week so any help should be welcomed. | There will also be money for work experience and cash to pay for extra staff so that young people get to see an employment adviser once a week while without work rather than fortnightly. Being young and unemployed means living on £56 a week so any help should be welcomed. |
| But many are sceptical that any of this can work. The government has cut staff in jobcentres from 45,000 two years ago to 35,000 today. The youth contract, which aims to hire another 4,000 advisers, is belated recognition that cutting jobcentre staff during a recession was a bad idea. There has also been controversy over unpaid "work experience" programmes, many of which offer only questionable experience and do little to improve the job prospects of the young people it is supposed to help. Past experience is that young people who have refused to take part in such schemes have been docked benefits. Yet experts say that work experience has not worked. | But many are sceptical that any of this can work. The government has cut staff in jobcentres from 45,000 two years ago to 35,000 today. The youth contract, which aims to hire another 4,000 advisers, is belated recognition that cutting jobcentre staff during a recession was a bad idea. There has also been controversy over unpaid "work experience" programmes, many of which offer only questionable experience and do little to improve the job prospects of the young people it is supposed to help. Past experience is that young people who have refused to take part in such schemes have been docked benefits. Yet experts say that work experience has not worked. |
| According to the influential Inclusion thinktank: "The youth work experience scheme has had no additional impact on the speed at which young people leave benefit, and may have actually led to them spending longer on benefit than they would have done." | According to the influential Inclusion thinktank: "The youth work experience scheme has had no additional impact on the speed at which young people leave benefit, and may have actually led to them spending longer on benefit than they would have done." |
| Spain | Spain |
| The Spanish government admits its job services find work for barely 3% of the jobless people who turn up at the door. The body that oversees businesses employing seasonal workers says temporary work brings the figure down to 2.2%; the experts recognise the higher figure, while acknowledging the absence of entirely reliable data. | The Spanish government admits its job services find work for barely 3% of the jobless people who turn up at the door. The body that oversees businesses employing seasonal workers says temporary work brings the figure down to 2.2%; the experts recognise the higher figure, while acknowledging the absence of entirely reliable data. |
| More than 1.7 million people under 30 are without work, and this group, along with women and long-term unemployed people, has overwhelmed the employment services. Spain's publicly run employment offices have never been characterised by a wealth of resources. When things were going well, the abundance of jobs hid the fact that Spain spent just 0.16% of GDP on training unemployed people, and 0.13% on attending to their needs. The deluge of the newly jobless has forced them to raise that expenditure to 0.19% and 0.16% respectively. It's not much, when compared with countries such as Austria, Denmark and Germany, where despite much lower unemployment rates, spending reaches 0.7%. Now come the cuts, and spending on employment policies – which includes these two indices – has been cut by €1.5m (£1.2m), to €5.7m, of which €2.5m will go towards funding recruitment. | More than 1.7 million people under 30 are without work, and this group, along with women and long-term unemployed people, has overwhelmed the employment services. Spain's publicly run employment offices have never been characterised by a wealth of resources. When things were going well, the abundance of jobs hid the fact that Spain spent just 0.16% of GDP on training unemployed people, and 0.13% on attending to their needs. The deluge of the newly jobless has forced them to raise that expenditure to 0.19% and 0.16% respectively. It's not much, when compared with countries such as Austria, Denmark and Germany, where despite much lower unemployment rates, spending reaches 0.7%. Now come the cuts, and spending on employment policies – which includes these two indices – has been cut by €1.5m (£1.2m), to €5.7m, of which €2.5m will go towards funding recruitment. |
| Germany | Germany |
| In Europe's number one economic powerhouse, the number of unemployed was just under three million in April 2012. The unemployment rate was 7%, compared with 10.8% across the euro zone. More than 41 million people are employed - more than at any time since Germany's reunification. A miracle? Not at all. Germany has reformed the employment agencies, but that's only part of the success story. | In Europe's number one economic powerhouse, the number of unemployed was just under three million in April 2012. The unemployment rate was 7%, compared with 10.8% across the euro zone. More than 41 million people are employed - more than at any time since Germany's reunification. A miracle? Not at all. Germany has reformed the employment agencies, but that's only part of the success story. |
| Just 10 years ago, Germans had the Federal Employment Office. The then chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, started a radical reconstruction with the Hartz reforms. | Just 10 years ago, Germans had the Federal Employment Office. The then chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, started a radical reconstruction with the Hartz reforms. |
| The former Federal Office became perhaps the most modern German authority, efficiently organised like a company. Employment offices became agencies, in which supervisors measure everything by how quickly people are integrated into the labour market. In 2005 the government combined unemployment and welfare benefits. People who cannot claim unemployment benefits because they are long term unemployed will only receive the so-called Hartz IV benefit – €374 (£300) a month for a single person plus rental costs. This has increased willingness to take low-paying jobs. "Candidates are more willing to compromise with regard to wages and working conditions," says the head of the Institute for Labour Market and Occupational Research (IAB), Joachim Möller.Jobcentre applicants are profiled, just like in criminal investigations. Everything is broached: unemployment history, education, illnesses, addiction problems, to create a profile. The case managers take care of the most serious cases, those who are hard to place. The jobseekers are treated as clients in the jobcentres. Clients have appointments and queuing is supposed to be a thing of the past. The principle behind it is "support and challenge". Everyone should strive to work or at least work to get further qualifications, to improve their chances of getting a job. And the mediators and case managers help with this. Since the beginning of the Hartz reforms, unemployment has fallen by about two million. More than half a million long-term unemployed found a job. But the German job miracle has it's downsides: Many of the new jobs are insecure or poorly paid. The agency work has increased fivefold since 1994. The low-wage sector has grown rapidly. More than four million people have less than €7 gross income per hour. On the other hand, low-skilled workers now have much better chances to land a job than seven years ago, even though the jobs often do not last long, and the ascent to a more stable and better paid position is often difficult. | The former Federal Office became perhaps the most modern German authority, efficiently organised like a company. Employment offices became agencies, in which supervisors measure everything by how quickly people are integrated into the labour market. In 2005 the government combined unemployment and welfare benefits. People who cannot claim unemployment benefits because they are long term unemployed will only receive the so-called Hartz IV benefit – €374 (£300) a month for a single person plus rental costs. This has increased willingness to take low-paying jobs. "Candidates are more willing to compromise with regard to wages and working conditions," says the head of the Institute for Labour Market and Occupational Research (IAB), Joachim Möller.Jobcentre applicants are profiled, just like in criminal investigations. Everything is broached: unemployment history, education, illnesses, addiction problems, to create a profile. The case managers take care of the most serious cases, those who are hard to place. The jobseekers are treated as clients in the jobcentres. Clients have appointments and queuing is supposed to be a thing of the past. The principle behind it is "support and challenge". Everyone should strive to work or at least work to get further qualifications, to improve their chances of getting a job. And the mediators and case managers help with this. Since the beginning of the Hartz reforms, unemployment has fallen by about two million. More than half a million long-term unemployed found a job. But the German job miracle has it's downsides: Many of the new jobs are insecure or poorly paid. The agency work has increased fivefold since 1994. The low-wage sector has grown rapidly. More than four million people have less than €7 gross income per hour. On the other hand, low-skilled workers now have much better chances to land a job than seven years ago, even though the jobs often do not last long, and the ascent to a more stable and better paid position is often difficult. |
| The "support and challenge" concept is also found in another countries. In Denmark they have the "rights and obligations", in the Netherlands "give and take." Many countries have tried themselves with new labor market reforms. But success does not only depend on how well the employment agencies and intermediaries work. Crucially is how all parties work together: and that has recently worked particularly well in Germany. In addition to the labor market reform there "is an employment-friendly wage policy, which has spurred the labour market particular in periods of economic boom, and slowed down cost pressures during the downturn," says the IAB research institute. In addition, enterprises and government have successfully held on to qualified and well-integrated staff during the crisis, in previously unprecedented numbers. | The "support and challenge" concept is also found in another countries. In Denmark they have the "rights and obligations", in the Netherlands "give and take." Many countries have tried themselves with new labor market reforms. But success does not only depend on how well the employment agencies and intermediaries work. Crucially is how all parties work together: and that has recently worked particularly well in Germany. In addition to the labor market reform there "is an employment-friendly wage policy, which has spurred the labour market particular in periods of economic boom, and slowed down cost pressures during the downturn," says the IAB research institute. In addition, enterprises and government have successfully held on to qualified and well-integrated staff during the crisis, in previously unprecedented numbers. |
| Italy | Italy |
| Since the reforms of the 1990s and 2003, when the so-called Biagi law was passed, the Italian state has had only a symbolic role in helping people to find jobs. Jobcentres – which have replaced the old employment exchanges and are now run by local government – fill just 3% of vacancies. In 2010, according to Isfol, the research arm of the employment ministry, job applications and offers of employment had to be posted in jobcentres – if only for a short time – to be valid. Ultimately, however, these costly centres exist simply to provide information and to help "protected categories" such as disabled jobseekers. More than three million people are registered with job centres, 90% of whom claim to be "available straight away" for work that never comes. And there is a notable difference , to put it mildly, between the services offered by job centres in some areas of the north and centre of Italy and those offered in the south. The decision to move away from a public employment monopoly to a system that involves agencies and other private organisations has had drastic consequences. But the results simply aren't there – recession aside. According to Isfol, the need to find a job has led many to resort to personal contacts. Three out of 10 people have succeeded in getting employment after listening to suggestions from friends and acquaintances or through family connections – 40% of young people and only 12.7% of them graduates. Seven and a half per cent of people use this informal way of finding work. | Since the reforms of the 1990s and 2003, when the so-called Biagi law was passed, the Italian state has had only a symbolic role in helping people to find jobs. Jobcentres – which have replaced the old employment exchanges and are now run by local government – fill just 3% of vacancies. In 2010, according to Isfol, the research arm of the employment ministry, job applications and offers of employment had to be posted in jobcentres – if only for a short time – to be valid. Ultimately, however, these costly centres exist simply to provide information and to help "protected categories" such as disabled jobseekers. More than three million people are registered with job centres, 90% of whom claim to be "available straight away" for work that never comes. And there is a notable difference , to put it mildly, between the services offered by job centres in some areas of the north and centre of Italy and those offered in the south. The decision to move away from a public employment monopoly to a system that involves agencies and other private organisations has had drastic consequences. But the results simply aren't there – recession aside. According to Isfol, the need to find a job has led many to resort to personal contacts. Three out of 10 people have succeeded in getting employment after listening to suggestions from friends and acquaintances or through family connections – 40% of young people and only 12.7% of them graduates. Seven and a half per cent of people use this informal way of finding work. |
| As mentioned above, the state manages to find work for, at most, three out of 100 people. Meanwhile, agencies offering interim work, recruitment companies, schools, universities, training colleges, unions and other organisations account for around 7% of all jobs – and 13.5% of the jobs that are filled by young people. Job adverts in the press lead to an offer of employment in only 3% of cases. "Spontaneous applications" to potential employers work better: these account for 17.7% of jobs (almost 24% for young people.) Finally, 18.3% manage to find work by taking competitive public exams. | As mentioned above, the state manages to find work for, at most, three out of 100 people. Meanwhile, agencies offering interim work, recruitment companies, schools, universities, training colleges, unions and other organisations account for around 7% of all jobs – and 13.5% of the jobs that are filled by young people. Job adverts in the press lead to an offer of employment in only 3% of cases. "Spontaneous applications" to potential employers work better: these account for 17.7% of jobs (almost 24% for young people.) Finally, 18.3% manage to find work by taking competitive public exams. |
| Poland | Poland |
| As well as finding the unemployed work, labour offices also organise free training on how to make career decisions and negotiate job interviews. Those already in work can also receive free training funded by the EU.There are foreign-language classes, IT classes and courses on improving communication skills and coping under stress. The labour offices also offer financial inducements for taking people on. For a year, employers will receive up to zł.600 (£110) of a new employee's salary, equivalent to a month's unemployment benefit. | As well as finding the unemployed work, labour offices also organise free training on how to make career decisions and negotiate job interviews. Those already in work can also receive free training funded by the EU.There are foreign-language classes, IT classes and courses on improving communication skills and coping under stress. The labour offices also offer financial inducements for taking people on. For a year, employers will receive up to zł.600 (£110) of a new employee's salary, equivalent to a month's unemployment benefit. |
| The state also makes the required monthly medical and social insurance payments for the employee during this period. However, to claim these benefits he or she must have started the job within 12 months of finishing university. | The state also makes the required monthly medical and social insurance payments for the employee during this period. However, to claim these benefits he or she must have started the job within 12 months of finishing university. |
| A graduate who has been registered in the labour office for at least three months can, after writing a business plan, receive a grant to open his or her own firm currently zł.20,496. Additional reporting by Julien Dupont-Calbo (Le Monde), Manuel V Gómez (El Pais), Roberto Giovannini (La Stampa), Thomas Öchsner (Suddeutsche Zeitung), Aneta Zadroga (Gazeta Wyborcza) | A graduate who has been registered in the labour office for at least three months can, after writing a business plan, receive a grant to open his or her own firm currently zł.20,496. Additional reporting by Julien Dupont-Calbo (Le Monde), Manuel V Gómez (El Pais), Roberto Giovannini (La Stampa), Thomas Öchsner (Suddeutsche Zeitung), Aneta Zadroga (Gazeta Wyborcza) |
| guardian.co.uk today is our daily snapshot of the top news stories, sent to your inbox at 8am |