Things are getting beyond belief - Quote Britain's young unemployed are being sent to work for supermarkets and budget stores for up to two months for no pay and no guarantee of a job, the Guardian can reveal.'" www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/ ... intcmp=122 Does it really need 8 weeks of 'work experience' to become proficient at stacking shelves?

Things are getting beyond belief - Quote Britain's young unemployed are being sent to work for supermarkets and budget stores for up to two months for no pay and no guarantee of a job, the Guardian can reveal.'" www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/ ... intcmp=122 Does it really need 8 weeks of 'work experience' to become proficient at stacking shelves?

Quote LeighGionaire="LeighGionaire"Things are getting beyond belief - www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/ ... intcmp=122 Does it really need 8 weeks of 'work experience' to become proficient at stacking shelves?'" No, but it makes it easier to take people on if you know their attitude is good. Employment is a two way contract not some form of right or charity.

Quote LeighGionaire="LeighGionaire"Things are getting beyond belief - www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/ ... intcmp=122 Does it really need 8 weeks of 'work experience' to become proficient at stacking shelves?'" No, but it makes it easier to take people on if you know their attitude is good. Employment is a two way contract not some form of right or charity.

More to the point, why the hell is the taxpayer now subsidising huge corporations that are already making massive profits?

So why are the employers expecting charity from the already poor then?

It would appear that working for some of these companies is charity to the company. When tesco are making £3.5 billion profit surely they can afford to take someone at minimum wage on a trial rather than getting them to work for free.

And from the taxpayer.

Spot on Dally. It's about time employers stopped abusing their powerful positions, paid their employees a decent wage and treated them like people instead of feudal peasants who should be devoted to serving a master.

FFS. If people don't like the nasty employers they should set up their own business and emply others. Why do people see a job as a right? It's a simple contract between two needy parties. If an employee feels underpaid its usually because they are not in a position to demand (deserve) more. That could be because their skills are not great, the employer can only afford to pay a modest amount and the 'ee is content to work for that, etc. The odds have become stacked against 'ers by high NI costs and employment law. For mico-businesses these factors are very big and if they were relaxed employment would increase markedly.

Here we apparently have highly profitable companies (we're talking multi-millions of pounds of profit) that can have young people on so-called 'work experience' for free – they pay nothing for someone to do a job for X weeks, while the state (us) pays that person a benefit that is far below the minimum wage and will be withdrawn if they refuse to carry out this act of charity for the poor, benighted corporate entities.



Well, I can't see anything remotely immoral there.



Never mind immoral – it's utterly counterproductive in terms of the current economic situation.



If Tesco or Sainsbury's really needs a shelf stacker, then they can bleedin' well afford to pay for one – in other words, they can create one of the jobs that the lying bunch of barstewards promised they'd create to provide gainful employment for all the people Osborne would make redundant when butchering public services, as per the open letter to the Chancellor last year from assorted big businesses, just before the comprehensive spending review.



Lying, greedy scum.



If people want to discuss a 'work experience' scheme that primarily illustrates the willingness of people to get out of bed in a morning and go to a place of work, then how about something in the community instead of helping further line the pockets of those who could damned well afford to pay someone a wage to do the work, if it really needs doing?

This isn't about "micro businesses" – it's a subsidy for mega-rich corporations that are already rolling in it. A subsidy from your tax, FFS.

There is no subsidy from 'my' tax. If someone is paid JSA out of tax they still get it whilst working as I understand it. If these corporations are truly being greedy (ie actually earning extra profits out of the arrangement) then they'll pay extra corporation tax, so my tax may be reduced. Much more likely the corporations don't make money - they need to administer and train the people. What they get out of it is good PR, good relations with govt. and the chance to employ the good people they give experience to. The govt. are trying to fix an issue - the can't get a job because of lack of expeience - and you don't even want to give it a chance. Far better to let the kids rot and stay unemployed for years. That way they might vote Labour or for a Far Right party in future.

I agree with this.



Unlike some of the lefties on here I actually don't think its a bad concept the government requiring young people to do some unpaid work for their dole, but it should be within the public sector. Subsidising Tescos like this will not help young people get jobs, they will always have a pool of free young people on the dole to dip into so it just means they will recruit less shelf stackers and get them for free from this government scheme, they won't give the kids a job at the end of it good attitude or not.



If they were taken on in the public sector then effectively it means the state is 'employing' them (on below minimum wage) but at least the state gets the benefit not a private company, and then the state can actively make sure they learn some skills in community projects etc.



I would make it like an enforced national service thing. Aged 18-25 and on the dole for 12 months or more? You get taken on by the government, given a small increase to your dole and made to work on a public sector scheme that gives you life and job skills that will at least give you something on your CV. Yes enforced slavery but at least with benefit to the taxpayer and the young person.