Research Approach
- The supply-side
emphasis of government labour market policies has led to a neglect of
labour demand in policy debates with respect to both unemployment and
inequalities in unemployment. This summary presents the findings from
interviews with human resources/personnel managers of major employers
in the West Belfast area. Fourteen employers in the area were interviewed,
of which, six were locally owned, five multinationals, two British owned
and one publicly owned. Four of the companies were in the service sector
and the remaining in manufacturing. Approximately two thirds of the
companies employed 30-150 people, the remaining employed over 150 people.
- Two methods
were used in the study of employers. Once an employer agreed to participate,
a questionnaire which asked for basic data on employment and recruitment
levels and personnel policies was sent, and each employer was subsequently
interviewed about more qualitative and sensitive issues. The interviewees
were asked detailed questions about their recruitment practices, their
attitudes to, and experiences of, hiring the long-term unemployed, their
assessment of the usefulness of the government's training and employment
schemes, and their attitudes towards different types of policy interventions.
Main
Findings
Recruitment
Practices
- All employers
interviewed appeared to have highly professional recruitment procedures,
were very knowledgeable and interested in fair employment issues.
- There
were very similar methods of recruitment across firms or across employee
categories. All employees reported that they placed advertisements in
newspapers for each category of employee (although not for every employee
recruited). Private employment agencies and backfiles were used only
for managerial/professional workers and for some clerical office staff/sales
personnel. Job Clubs and T&EA's pre-employment programmes were used
to recruit semi- and un-skilled manual workers and some skilled workers.
None of the employers reported that they used word of mouth, personal
contacts or unsolicited applications.
- Several
employers commented that whilst newspaper advertisements assured very
high numbers of applications, several dozen of these would be 'token'
applications, whose sole intentions are to demonstrate that the person
is 'actively seeking work' so that s/he may receive benefits. Such applications
also contributed to the problem of people not turning up to interviews.
- In the
recruitment of skilled, semi-skilled and 'unskilled' manual workers,
employers identified 'experience' and 'stable employment record' as
'very important'. Personal characteristics/qualities, 'skills', 'references',
'qualifications' and a 'history of previous unemployment' were all identified
as 'important' to the recruitment decision.
- Several
employers commented that the unemployed, especially the LTU, 'don't
really have a lot to talk about' during interviews and that it was often
'difficult to keep a conversation flowing'.
Attitudes
to the Long-term Unemployed
- Nine
of the employers had recently employed LTU people. The responses varied
considerably by sector and industry, and the age of the firm. The types
of jobs for which the LTU were recruited were sales, skilled manual
and semi- and un-skilled manual. In the manufacturing sector, a high
percentage of the LTU were recruited for temporary jobs.
- All of
the employers said that the length of time that an individual had been
unemployed affected their attitude towards hiring the person. The explanations
fell into two broad categories: 'motivational' and 'ability'.
- Six of
the nine employers who had recently recruited LTU people said that there
was 'really no difference' between the LTU and other workers in terms
of work performance. Three of these employers considered the LTU recruits,
especially men with children, to be their best and most loyal workers.
The three employers who found differences in performances between the
LTU and other workers identified poor time-keeping and high rates of
absenteeism as the most significant problems.
Increasing
the Recruitment of the Long-term Unemployed
- Approximately
half of employers said an improvement in the job applications, skills,
presentation, motivation and attitudes would encourage them to recruit
more LTU. Other factors identified included evidence that unemployed
applicants had recently received some training or work experience through
a government scheme. Few employers felt that a shift towards more jobs
requiring low skills would increase recruitment of the LTU. Three out
of four employers also said that a greater willingness on the part of
the LTU to work for lower wages would not encourage them to employ more
LTU.
- One employer
was opposed to the introduction of a national (or European) minimal
wage set at around £4.00 per hour.
- Many
employers said that more help should be given to the LTU with filling
in applications, CVs and improving their motivation.
- In general
employers did not believe that training and employment schemes were
helpful either in terms of increasing participants' chances of being
hired or in improving skills. Indeed, a few employers said that they
would not consider hiring anyone who had been on either the Job Training
Programme or the Youth Training Programme. One important exception cited
by employers however, was a customised training service run by the T&EA
which is available to multinationals. Employers noted that since the
skills learned on the programme were customised, they were directly
relevant and of a high quality. In addition, several employers said
that it gave them the opportunity to hire unemployed people.
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