The YMCA travelled up and down the country this summer to speak to young people about their experiences of the job centre. Two things became abundantly clear. The first is that young people hate the service, feeling frustrated and dismayed at every turn. The second, that the jobcentre is simply not fit for purpose.
While there were some positive examples of helpful advisers, they were few and far between. Instead, the overwhelming feeling from young people was a disconnect from the services the jobcentre was supposed to supply. They spoke of their desire to find work and leave a life on benefits, but said the jobcentre was doing little to help facilitate this transition.
Many of the young people we spoke to viewed the jobcentre as a “benefits processing centre” rather than a place to turn for support in finding employment. This is because they are experiencing a system that tries to get them in and out of the door in less than seven minutes and pushes them into any type of work rather than targeting a sustainable career path. The people we spoke to also felt that most staff they encountered showed little empathy towards their circumstances and little interest in treating them as an individual.
As an organisation with a 170-year history supporting young people, the YMCA knows that building trust and confidence with an individual is one of the key elements to helping them. But this approach has not been adopted by Jobcentre Plus and the young people who arrive with barriers to employment, such as mental health problems, do not feel comfortable sharing personal issues with staff.
Additionally, it seems that young people accessing jobcentres are provided with the same generic service. Assessments don’t always take into account a person’s previous education or training, for example, so they are not placed into jobs where they can build a career around their skills and talents. This approach is flawed. By grouping everyone together, jobcentres are failing to recognise each individual’s potential.
We found that the system is skewed against young people. Employers favour candidates with experience, which young people cannot obtain unless employers are willing to take a chance on them first. While voluntary placements do exist, the young people we spoke to said they were usually based in the retail sector, and of little use to those who do not wish to go down those career paths.
It is difficult to find anyone with a positive experience of job hunting – the process can be time-consuming, frustrating and disheartening. However, for the young people who commonly access YMCA services, it can be even more difficult. Many of them lack qualifications and have little or no work experience. As a result, job opportunities open to them can be limited and they can quickly find themselves in a low-pay, no-pay cycle.
Youth unemployment is high on the political agenda, and rightly so with 578,000 18- to 24-year-olds out of work. But if the government really wants to effect change, it needs a new approach that doesn’t alienate young people. There are more conditions and expectations being placed on young people applying for benefits; these must be matched with an obligation on the jobcentre to provide personalised, meaningful support to help them into employment.
Too often the youth unemployment debate centres on the failings of young people rather than the failings of the system designed to support them. By shifting the focus, we can create a jobcentre that meets the needs of young people and ends the youth unemployment crisis.
Denise Hatton is the CEO of YMCA England, which has just launched a research report on job centres, Safety net or springboard?
Sign up here for your free weekly Guardian Public Leaders newsletter with news and analysis sent direct to you every Thursday. Follow us on Twitter via @Guardianpublic