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Labour's "Get Britain Working" plans branded "delusional", "out-of-touch" and "all so 1980s"

ended 26. November 2024

Following the Government promising major new reforms to “Get Britain Working” again, including revamping the UK's job centre network, business owners have questioned the relevance of the plans — and their timing. One said: "The timing of this announcement is absurd. How are you going to get Britain working again when major employers have said they will be freezing or cutting recruitment post-Budget?" A second added: "Finding a job has been done online or via recruitment agencies for some time now. The reported £240m seems a hefty renovation sum and out of touch with the digital age of job search." A third said: “If the government thinks that spending taxpayers money rebranding job centres is tackling the main drivers of employment inactivity then they are delusional. Pushing for young people to take jobs, whilst also making them massively more expensive to hire, means there won’t be the jobs on offer.” More views will appear below until 09:00.

12 responses from the Newspage community

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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
The timing of this announcement is absurd. How are you going to get Britain working again when major employers have said they will be freezing or cutting recruitment post-Budget? The government are clutching at straws and have no idea how to fix this economy. You don’t need a degree in economics, you just need common sense, which our cabinet seems to lack.
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Sam Alsop-Hall
Chief Strategy Officer at Clive Henry Group
The Government would be better off turning the job centres into hotels to house “working people” who now can’t get a job. This government clearly doesn't understand how economies work and perhaps Starmer & Co are planning ahead.
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Rohit Kohli
Director at The Mortgage Stop
We’ll soon have plush job centres without any jobs. UK businesses are still reeling from the disaster of a Budget, with many cancelling recruitment plans. I have no clue what the goal is here other than a vanity project that comes straight out of the 1980s. The whole thing has a Yosser Hughes whiff about it.
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Stephen Perkins
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
If the government thinks that spending taxpayers' money rebranding job centres is tackling the main drivers of employment inactivity then they are delusional. Pushing for young people to take jobs, whilst also making them massively more expensive to hire, means there won’t be the jobs on offer. Taxing employers does not increase opportunities or appetite to hire, and the National Insurance rises will see more people laid off. Also, having to google the new name for the local job centre is another issue.
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Patricia McGirr
Founder at Repossession Rescue Network
The Government should hang their heads in shame. Hot on the heels of a major tax grab that has decimated employers and reduced job opportunities we’re now spending it on paint. That said maybe there’s method in this madness, since freshening up employment centres might make the wait for non-existent jobs a tad more comfortable.
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
Surely the people going into job centres aren’t concerned about the aesthetics? They want and need work. £240m would go a long way and is the equivalent of approximately 10,000 minimum wage employees.
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Ben Perks
Managing Director at Orchard Financial Advisers
For 20+ years, job centres have really only been used to make sure people claiming Job Seekers' Allowance are up, out of bed and trying to find work. Finding a job has been done online or via recruitment agencies for some time now. It seems a hefty renovation sum and out of touch with the digital age of job search.
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Ranald Mitchell
Director at bad credit mortgage specialists Charwin Mortgages
Throwing money at job centres won’t fix the hiring crisis. Businesses are struggling to recruit because they’re being squeezed by high taxes, soaring costs and collapsing confidence, not a shortage of workers. Maybe the government will next invest in rain dancers to prevent future flooding.
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Emma Jones
Managing Director at Whenthebanksaysno.co.uk
I think there is a lack of planning here from Labour as they are contradicting many of their policies that were promised. Things that will help unemployment include better funding for those with children with complex needs to allow parents to work that want to. There also needs to be more education in schools around careers from a young age. Crucially, the recently announced rises in tax and NI majorly impact the smaller business that can assist with this unemployment issue rather than the reverse, which is making it harder.
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David Stirling
Independent Financial Advisor at Mint Wealth
These new job centres are akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic: ultimately pointless and part of an unfolding tragedy. The Government don't seem to be able to spot the looming iceberg they have created with their Budget with the economy sinking week by week. There doesn't seem to be anyone at the helm with an ounce of business acumen or real life experience. Thinking the unemployed of the UK will be job-hunting in the high street rather than online is all so 1980s.
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Simon Bridgland
Broker at Charwin Private Clients
Unless the jobs on offer are fresh and upto date it’s pointless. The jobs on offer were historically jobs no one wanted or that were woefully out of date. Pointless having a venue to visit, who does that, not the yoof.
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Carol Vickers
Owner at Created by Carol
As a working disabled person, I've found that the problem often lies with the employers. I have faced disability discrimination in almost every job I've had, from employers outright refusing all reasonable adjustments, to ghosting me when they find out I use blue badge parking. Until employers are made to abide by the Equality Act in their recruitment and workplace policies and actions, disabled people will always struggle to get or keep a job. The Government's implication that disabled people don't want to work will only exacerbate this.