More than 2,000 Islanders helped back into employment last year

Thursday 08 October 2015

The States’ Back to Work Team helped a record 2,140 unemployed Islanders back into paid work last year.

The scheme – run by the Social Security department – works to help match employers and the unemployed, and Social Security Minister Susie Pinel says that she is delighted at their success.

Figures for last year revealed in the department’s annual report show that through the JobsFest, Advance to Work, Community Jobs Fund and Back to Work schemes, the department managed to find employment for 2,140 people – an increase on the 1,818 people that they helped in 2013.

Deputy Pinel said: “The team have got many people back to work who would otherwise be on Income Support, and the figures are phenomenal.

“The team continue to get people back into work and only yesterday I was with an employer who had given a job to someone who had employed someone through Back to Work who had not worked since January.

“This helps us in so many ways, it reduces the need to bring in people and give out licences.

“Some people just do not want to work and we are trying to move on from that benefit culture. We are moving into a third generation of that if we are not careful.

“We want to encourage people back into work, not just for the financial aspect but it’s also about peoples’ self-esteem and self-confidence. We know that people are happier when they are working.”