Job centres to open late to help older workers switch role

‘Outperform expectations’

JOB centres will stay open in the evenings and at weekends to help older workers change career.

Amber Rudd said she wanted to make it easier for employees to search for a new job or get advice on how to retrain.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said the shake- up would bring job centres into line with the banks and GP surgeries that have extended their hours of operation.

‘However it’s not just important to get people into work, it’s vital we help people get even better work earning even more money,’ she said.

‘So opening up job centres in the evening and on Saturday will help people who are busy working, by making our services more available at convenient times. Because the job centre is not just a Revolution: Amber Rudd place for benefits.’ Job centres in seven areas – Chester, Dudley, Oldham, Poplar, Todmorden, Wick and York – will open in the evening and on Saturdays as part of a trial before ministers decide on whether to extend the system to all 600 across the country.

‘Work coaches’ will also offer advice to clients outside regular working hours.

Miss Rudd said the new opening hours would help people better themselves in work, access higher pay and protect themselves from technological changes, such as automation.

‘I want everyone, no matter their background, to progress in the workplace and outperform their and society’s, expectations,’ she said.

‘From stay-at-home parents, particularly women, to older workers wanting a new career, offering more job centre availability could make a massive difference, and I’ll be watching this trial closely. As the Prime Minister said in Parliament this week, this is a Government which raises people up.

‘It’s one step in making sure we offer a welfare system fit for modern life, and a job centre network that is supporting record high- skilled employment and helping British workers thrive in the 21st century.’

Official figures released earlier this week showed a record 32.7million people were in work in the first quarter of 2019.

The unemployment rate is 3.8 per cent – the lowest since 1974, when Harold Wilson was prime minister. The average wage rose to £27,456 a year, up 3.2 per cent in 12 months.

More workers were found to be switching jobs, with over one in ten jumping ship in the past year. This compares with one in 20 when the financial crisis was raging in 2009-10.

Job centres first opened their doors in the 1970s, replacing employment exchanges, which were poorly regarded.

They were designed to improve the labour market by helping employers fill vacancies and by providing training to jobseekers.

Under the Thatcher government in the late 1980s, they were merged with unemployment benefit offices.

With New Labour, job centres and benefit agency offices were integrated into a network of 800 ‘job centre plus’ sites.