Couldn't the Charge of Slave Labour Have Been Predicted?

[rov1100]

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1074610.html

What did the government expect when these youngsters were paid a pittance for a week's work. Its not as if the jobs led to higher skills or motivation. There must be a fairer way for both the youth and the companies they work for gain something if so what could be done?

[anotheoldgit]

You say that this scheme won't lead to higher skills or motivation, well I feel I must disagree, and here's why.

Higher Skills:

Well perhaps not high skills but at least higher skills than they will have by just sitting at home or roaming the streets, it will teach them work ethics.

MOTIVATION:

It will motivate them into the working life experience, getting up in the mornings, commuting to their place of work, being disciplined into working a full day, and then returning home after a satisfactory hard days work.

I don't know what the public want, first they complain of the lax-a-day youth, spending most of the day in bed, while still being paid by the government, and then they complain about 'slave labour'.

While not being ideal, and the fact that venues of working places could be better, surely this scheme is a start, which could later be improved upon?

[Postdog]

MOTIVATION

I think it will just motivate them more to feel bitter and twisted about their lot in life.

[jno]

I sometimes wonder if people know what slavery really meant.

[factor-fiction]

One thing people may be forgetting is that companies like Tesco has a large pool of applicants to select from and is selective (I know because my son, who had worked in Next and other retailers, was rejected by Tesco at the psychometric testing stage) and in most cases probably would not have selected these young people who are being offered places.

In my experience, offering work experience to these trainees is useful to the trainee but is actually quite a burden to the employer. Yes, the employer may save on wages but needs to train and supervise them and no doubt has to maintain training logs and other paperwork for the DWP.
I think the scheme is worthwhile and those protesting by blockading stores etc will only succeed in making firms pull out of the schemes- and that will only harm the young people who will miss out on a chance to gain experience and put something on their CV.

In many areas it is now accepted that unpaid work experience is valuable- internments in Graphic Design etc, volunteering in schools to help get you into teaching, medical students doing voluntary work with paramedics etc.

Most 15-16 year olds do 2 weeks unpaid work experience whilst at school. It is so important for them. Will protesters claim that these students are being exploited and should be paid a normal wage?

[modeller]

factor 30 It seems to me that you are only looking at the positive side of the scheme which is little different to the failed scheme used by Gorden Brown .
Y

[modeller]

You are not alone Chris Grayling did the same on the news today .

Here is the emaill I sent to him which paints the other side of the picture.

There is a lot of hot air being expressed in the media about this so called Slave Labour being used by companies like Tesco who employ free labour via the government work experience scheme.
The justification for the scheme is that it encourages youngsters to get into the routine of going to work, which sounds great in theory but what it doesn’t tell you is that this free labour is being used to replace paid labour and it is being used at all levels , not just those on the minimum wage.
Unemployed qualified graduates are being used to replace equally qualified paid staff. In some cases two or more semi-qualified free placements are being used to replace one qualified person on the basis that between them they will do the job and its free.
This case of Tesco is only the tip of the iceberg many companies have been exploiting the various schemes for years. There was a time when organisations use to employ extra labour at certain times of the year, like Christmas but now they can do it for nothing .
In addition the so called recruitment companies who organise many of these schemes have become wealthy at the taxpayers expense. As you know four managers of A4e the biggest recruitment company were arrested this week for corruption. and the owner has walked away with £8 m of the taxpayers money.

[rov1100]

///the employer may save on wages but needs to train and supervise them///

factor30 It was reported that Tesco used these youngsters as shelf fillers. I knew of a shelf filler who worked part time for unsocial hours but picking up in excess of £150 pw.

[rov1100]

AOG I don't disafree with the points you are making but at least they could have paid them the minimum wage for the job.

[factor-fiction]

So do modeller/rov1100 prefer to leave these youngsters on the dole until they find a job rather than try this intervention strategy?
We've already seen some firms pull out of the arrangement because of pressure from protestors. Is that good news then?

[boxtops]

we have apprentices working in some health settings - yes they are paid, but while they are there, they study for an NVQ and Apprentice qualification which will serve them in getting onto the job ladder - it's work experience, better than sitting around on the playstation or hanging around in shopping malls.

[rov1100]

Nobody could disagree with that boxtops. Nor could many compain about working for free if they could pick up valuable experience for a future career. But it seems the main work providers were high street chain stores who already pay the bare minimum to its staff.

[modeller]

Factor you speak as if these schemes are similar to apprenticeships. T

[modeller]

factor# So do modeller/rov1100 prefer to leave these youngsters on the dole until they find a job rather than try this intervention strategy? #

cont : They are not anything like apprenticeships. . There is little or no skill involved in the majority of these retail jobs. These schemes , and there have been many over the past 30 years, do serve the purpose of getting youngsters out of bed, which is good, but if they are being used to replace paid labour then you are increasing the numbers on the dole. It is no coincidence that firms take up the greatest number of free placements over the Christmas period. In the past that would have been paid casual labour now those paid casuals are on the dole and the work is being done for free.

As I said earlier this principal of free labour is also being exploited at a higher level by firms who are taking on graduates to work for little or nothing with the vague promise that there might be a paid job sometime in the future.