• PENSIONSANDSAVINGS.COM

    From Ros Altmann:economist and pensions,
    investment and retirement policy expert

  • pensionsandsavings.com

    A day at the JobCentre – what I learned about over-50s employment

    A day at the JobCentre – what I learned about over-50s employment

    Out of work over-50s suffer from poor tech skills, loss of confidence and ageism

    Some JobCentres offer specific over50s training for IT, CVs and interviews

    Volunteering is a great way into work – half of over-50s volunteers find employment

    Having spent a day at the Streatham JobCentre, I thought you might be interested in some of my observations.

    What’s it like?:  The Streatham JobCentre is managed by a passionate woman called Denise who is clearly on top of her staff and encourages them to do their best for those who come through the JobCentre doors.  There is plenty going on.  Apart from the Advisers for JobSeekers Allowance (JSA) and Employment Support Allowance (ESA – which used to be called Incapacity Benefit) there are computers available for applicants to use, training sessions (some specifically for over-50s) and different seminars on various floors.  I was told that over 90% of JSA claimants find work within 12 months, but older applicants are less likely to find work than the young.

    Current situation:  The local economy has been picking up in recent months, with far more jobs available.  Initiatives to encourage more work experience and apprenticeships for the young have had a real impact, but those who have been unemployed for longest are in the older age categories.  Some applicants have problems of drug and alcohol addiction (in fact the JobCentre staff had to help out someone who was drunk when I was there) as well as homelessness.  Specific staff are dedicated to dealing with these issues which are so challenging when seeking employment.

    Training provided by JobCentres:  The JobCentre runs a range of different training courses and I sat in on one for the over-50s.  Not all JobCentres have prioritised older jobseekers in this way, as they have discretion on how they spend their budgets.  Older people tend to have specific needs, including requiring help with CV writing, interview techniques and new skills relevant to a modern workplace, including competency based application assessments or psychometric testing which older people are not familiar with.  The course I attended offered practical tips to a group of 12 older jobseekers on how to network, how to build a personal ‘brand’, how to think about persuading an employer they will fit into the workforce, as well as being given a ‘skills healthcheck’ form, to help identify the particular skills they are good at.

    Particular problems for over-50s:  I was told that the biggest barriers for older workers are lack of up-to-date skills, lack of confidence and the ageist attitudes of employers who automatically assume older jobseekers will be less valuable to them than younger applicants.  Improving technology and social media skills of over-50s is vital as so much recruitment is on-line.  Many of those I met explained how being turned down for countless jobs leads to a loss of confidence, then to depression, which further reduces employment chances and they end up on ESA.

    Promoting over-50s’ skills:  All the advisers and training staff that I met commented on specific attributes they believe over 50s bring to an employer.  These include loyalty, life experience, reliability, patience, organisational skills, time management and the ability to engage well with other people, including customers or even mentoring younger staff.  It is important to change the way employers think about over 50s, appreciating that experience DOES matter.

    Volunteering can be a good way into work – 50% of volunteers find a job:

    Encouraging older jobseekers to take up volunteering has achieved good results.  I met a firm which places volunteers locally, in roles including working in hospitals, food preparation or teaching.  There are websites such as ‘Do It’ – www.do-it.org.uk or Community Service Volunteers, who run a specific programme for over 50s volunteers http://www.csv-rsvp.org.uk/site/home.htm or for volunteers with professional skills at www.reachskills.org.uk .  Volunteers are effectively benefitting from work experience and can get references that ultimately lead to paid work.  In fact, I was told that half of the unemployed who do volunteer work end up with a job, therefore a greater emphasis on encouraging volunteering could be beneficial.

    New Enterprise Allowance:  Many over-50s would like to work for themselves, especially if they find themselves discriminated against in the application process.  The Government’s new Enterprise Allowance scheme, offering loans to set up a new enterprise, has the potential to help many over-50s find their own niche.  Self-employment can suit older people well, allowing them to combine caring with working from home or at flexible hours perhaps.

    Tailored help for over 50s:  Over 50s may need special help to adapt to the modern working world.  They may feel they don’t ‘belong’, or have outdated skills and need to learn new techniques.  There is a skill gap in jobsearch for older applicants, who need to learn about online applications, social media, electronic CVs and even Video CVs.  Further funding for training over-50s would be helpful.

    Could Government subsidies for taking on younger workers be extended to older apprentices?:  Employers taking on younger workers aged 16-24 are paid £2275 if the young person stays employed with them for over 6 months.  There are no such subsidies for older workers, which means employers are biased against taking on the over 50s.  Having had tremendous success in reducing youth unemployment, I hope we may see subsidised training, work placements or apprenticeships to help reduce long-term unemployment and re-skill older workers.  From an employer perspective, training or recruiting an older person can improve their workforce stability, since older people are much less likely to move jobs than the young.

    Zero hours contracts can be a barrier to employment:  Many of the job vacancies that exist are in the care or hospitality industries, but they are often zero hours contracts.  I think there needs to be careful consideration of the appropriateness of using zero hours contracts, especially in an industry like carework, in which staff continuity and reliability are so important.  With an aging population, it is inevitable that demand for care services will rise sharply in coming years and I think the industry needs to evaluate its approach to staff reward and retention.

    Conclusion:  Streatham JobCentre is making progress in specifically helping older jobseekers, but the particular initiatives they have introduced need to be rolled out more broadly across the country. Volunteering can also help increase employment prospects.  If we are to tackle the issue of recruiting older workers, more interventions will be required to ensure the barriers they face – lack of skills, loss of confidence and ageist attitudes, are overcome.

    Case study – Martin:

    I met Martin who left his previous job 6 years ago to train as an electrician.  He did three years’ training, but then found he could not be a self-employed electrician without further qualifications, costing about £1000.  He did not have the money for this and was very distressed to realise he could not do the job he wanted.  He explained how he then decided he just wanted to work, and did not mind what work he did.  He sent his CV to 20-30 employers a day for over 6 months and found no work.  He tried Universal JobMatch but his CV did not pass the computer process-driven assessments used by many firms nowadays.  CVs need to be tailored to keywords that computers search for to select candidates for interview.  Eventually, he was offered a job as a careworker but that offer was withdrawn because the company could not contact his references in time – his previous firm may have changed hands or the person who knew him had moved on.

    It was heart-rending to hear him describe how he would look out of the window each morning and see people going to work and felt inadequate. He said ‘when you’re not working it takes away from your humanity’.  He ended up on ESA with depression but has now recovered and just found work.  He was really excited to be starting a job at last.  I suggested to the JSA advisers that when someone first signs on after redundancy that they should be asked if they can provide references immediately which can be placed on their file, so that they are readily accessible if an employer needs references quickly.

     

    Case study – Kafa:

    Kafa lost her husband a few years ago and had been looking after her 17 year old daughter, but now wanted to find work.  She was on JSA for a time but couldn’t find any work, then her Work Adviser suggested self-employment.  She received a £2500 loan and help with a business plan from the New Enterprise Allowance, bought some stock and set up a business selling hair pieces and jewellery at markets.  She is really happy to be working and proudly showed me some of the items she sells.


    21 thoughts on “A day at the JobCentre – what I learned about over-50s employment

    1. My only problem with Job Centres etc as someone who is long-term unemployed but getting no benefit (too much in savings and used up the contributory JSA), is the subliminal lowering of expectations in terms of nature and level of job without rationally developing the realism. To be fair some of the work programmes help as best they can.
      However those who are confident and entrepreneurial enough can do really well as shown above!

    2. One other comment, many of us have been brought up saying mistakes are very bad! However it is better to try and be wrong…this implies a mindset which needs to change in a technological shift. It may be that giving people a simple smartphone (eg as gift) would help plenty as tablets are too expensive!

    3. I am 55 have Autism spectrum disorder. It is all very well suggesting taking loans out for development if you have savings to fall back on. I served a 4 year engineering apprenticeship in the 70’s. was made redundant. worked as a clerk for 6 months then postman 5 years, trained 3 years as a tv engineer (irrelevant now) Installed sky tv, cable tv then automated detergent pumps. After all this I am delivering groceries for Tesco. retraining in an engineering related skill would be good but not if I can’t afford it. The job centre must have put on a good show for you as they were no help to me. I need little help to apply for jobs or CV writing, which is all they offer. I simply need training to adapt my skills to a current need.This would be much more effective than paying private companies to teach people who are not interested in writing CV’S and how to handle interviews which few will attend. I have tried to keep up to date all my life with no financial help from anyone. The money is being wasted on flawed theories.

    4. This ia rehash of gov.uk I am 50+, grad, digital marketing qualification, work experience & spent past 9 months making job apps & not one interview. Ageism is not the fault of older workers so stop stereotyping us as unskilled and reluctant to change to meet modern job marker. It is the employers. Unemployed do everything they can to get a job.

    5. I agree. I have all the skills and knowledge for a simple job even if it is only data entry – however, no employer wants me. Today I went for an interview the minute the “employer” saw me he said – this won’t take time – in less than 5 mins I was out.

    6. I fully sympathise with the unemployed. Keep going keep persevering you will definitely do it and find a job that suits you well. I wish you the best of luck!!! I was in a crappy state if mind and negativity takes over when your unemployed especially when you look back on your life to what you were to what you are now, it’s almost suicidal at times. But keep your chin up, you are better than this. Keep persisting what ever it is you are doing. All the best!!

    7. Over 50 and unemployed, no references, no help from the job centre as I’m not on benefits. Ive had one interview in 5 years of looking, Ive lost all hope of ever getting out of the no money dpepression cycle, because no one is interested in giving someone a chance anymore. Ladies dont stay home to bring your children up because you are thrown on the scrap heap afterwards.

    8. How about this for a story. My work coach has referred me to three one hour sessions on job skills for the over 50s, to be held at my local Job Centre. I I am volunteering at present, which most websites recommend to gain experience. I help the over 50s to apply for work, including teaching IT skills. My work coach says this will give me ‘experience from the other side’, but I have several pieces of paper to show I have completed similar courses previously.

    9. After caring for my Brother for 20 years he died last week. Having a partner who works i find that i am not entitled to any financial help at all. I am supposed to let her pay for everything until i find a job…i am 57 so not much chance of that so i am working short term for an agency in a warehouse…cant even get jsa!

    10. Sadly the opportunities are not out there for people over 50 years old. I am 57 and was self employed for many years, but I cannot physically do what I used to. Why aren’t we honest in saying that the high levels of immigration and technology has had a huge impact on job opportunities?

      1. You have hit the nail on the head with your comment, a relative 54 working in a factory very hard and heavy work could no longer lift the work which had increased in weight and also increased in volume. Having asked for some assistance in moving the heavier products and it not being forthcoming, they asked the HR what will happen if they could no longer carry out a lot of the work due to reasons I have given, the reply, was if you can’t carry out the work you are contracted to do then you will be dismissed, this after 20 years with the firm.
        So rather than being dismissed they left. Not a lot of sympathy there then and naturally no assistance from job people, one commenting , well you decided to leave your job so it is up to you to find another, we can’t help you.

    11. I’m a 47 year old female, not on benefits, have a degree and plenty of work experience and have been out of work for 8 years following the end of a fixed term contract and taking some time off after death of my partner. I agree with most of the comments here that if you have a long career gap for whatever reason and are over qualified and are over a certain age, you become invisible. The media only focus on the 18-25 year olds struggling to get started but what about the rest of us that have skills and qualifications, are reliable and valuable but are forgotten and ignored? I’ve kept myself up to date with technology by doing online free courses and also spent savings (until they ran out!) on a college course. We need employers to value us and human beings to review the applications and give us an interview. I’ve even offered to work the probation period without pay!

    12. I am 62. Ive just finished a level 2 floristry course. ive been out of work for 3 years. I wouls love to work part time. Employers just dont want a 62 year old woman. I have lots of experience. life skills etc. What am i supposed to do?

    13. It will be extremely interesting to see how the young generation will fair when they are the over fifties. For all the computer skills and virtual reality hypes, they are not the skills that cook, clean, care, teach self discipline, have empathy with others and conscientiously slog on through life to work at building self. sustaining communities that case for all, not just number one.

    14. I voluntarily ran free of charge back to work courses at Jobcentreplus and they seriously worked. Confidence and motivation was restored, new off the wall approaches tried and proven successful and the transformation in people was often remarked upon by Work Coaches. People out of work for 20 years found jobs! Here is the bad news. Just before day three of one course, with a room full of people, along came a work coach with the news that attendees would no longer be allowed to use the loo’s. With some people in the room having IBS, this was intolerable and myself and one jobseeker set off to find a solution. A local hotel said “Computer say’s no” so we visited a nearby GYM, used their loo’s, got permission for attendees to do the same as a one off and negotiated a 25% discount for those attending. Result!

      The barriers (and boy are there some of those!) put up by JCPlus and the cruel and illogical imposition of sanctions eventually made me decide to walk away and find an alternative venue. Mind sets need to change from punishment to praise and reward. How about well done for a change?

    15. I’ve been given nearly a year”s warning of redundancy which is great and better than most people in the same situation but unfortunately 8 months in and still no sign of a new job. I’ve only had two interviews; for the second a pamphlet was helpfully placed on the table in the reception area describing how the organisation was essentially aiming to employ fewer white men over the coming years. Not encouraging! So along with ageism there is racism and sexism to deal with. I was born in the east end of Glasgow with a shared toilet and would love some of these priveleges I’m accused of having!! Anyway delivering for Tesco seems a distinct possibility at this stage and wouldn’t be the end of the world.

    16. I have been sent on allsorts of courses and Back-to-work schemes by the Jobcentre over the last few years. I’m now 57. I know how to use computers and the internet, I know how to fill in application forms, I am perfectly capable of composing a letter and compiling a CV. I am educated to Degree level. I do not require help with any of those things. Yet I have been sent on these useless courses time and time again. I have been sent on Work Experience placements to do unpaid work, sometimes mandatory, and then expected to refer to such experience as “voluntary work” on my CV. I already do part time voluntary work of my own accord and have been doing it for two years now, but it still doesn’t stop the Jobcentre from referring me to one course after another for the sake of it. I have just recently completed 12 months on the Right Steps to Work course run by a private company called Standguide, and now they are wanting to refer me to another course run by Interserve, but haven’t given me any information relating to the course or told me anything about the course content or expected outcomes. Prior to Right Steps I did a Manual Handling certificate course at the St.John Ambulance centre situated in another city and wasn’t compensated for bus fares. Prior to that I did ECDL training at an organization called Dip/Learndirect. Before that I had done 6 weeks of Work Experience at Oxfam. Prior to that I had done a mandatory course entitled ‘Skills Conditionality’ run by a company called Pinnacle People, and situated many miles away, it took me the best part of two hours to get there and consisted of four weeks sitting in a classroom discussing CVs and interview techniques etc. followed by a four weeks unpaid work placement at Pets At Home, where there was nothing for me to do. These courses and schemes are pointless, useless, a waste of time and a waste of public money. They are all about transferring public money into Private companies, whilst harassing the unemployed.

    Leave a Reply to trev Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *