Ret. posted
I doubt if that happens on any significant scale. A few hundreds perhaps.
The reason they do that is because the authorities make it difficult for them to continue claiming unemployment benefit (or whatever it is called this month). So they get moved off the jobless statistics onto a different benefit.
And do you know why that is? Because there *are* no jobs that provide anything like a living wage, unless you already have desirable skills and experience. There just *aren't*. You look. Go and find some and cite them here. You'll see.
What there are, are part-time, temporary and agency jobs where you get paid minimum wage, you get a day here and a day there. Often you get paid a short day. Often they book you for a day and then they ring and cancel you at 7am and you don't get paid at all. Or they book you for three days and you get the work done in two and so they don't employ you for the third day.
One of my sons - who I know to be an excellent and punctual worker - is going through exactly this at the moment, after he lost his previous job when the building firm he worked for went bust. He is being treated disgustingly by these agencies, but it is normal practice because there are no full time jobs available locally. They can treat people like this, so they do. And it is not just a result of the "downturn" - it's been going on for years.
You're lucky, Kev. Other people aren't. Don't be too smug about it.
I agree, but so long as there are nowhere near enough proper jobs to go round, there must be a financial safety net for the unemployed.