Background to the Research

• Training and employment schemes became the central plank of government policies towards the unemployed during the 1980s and 1990s. The high rate of unemployment in NI ensured that training schemes became a key aspect of policy in the Province.
• The authors focused on the participation and attitudes of the LTU in West Belfast towards training and employment schemes, with a special emphasis on the government's latest response to unemployment in NI - the CWP. The research also explored aspects of labour demand through a series of interviews with human resource/personnel managers of major employers in West Belfast.
  

Research Approach

• A postal questionnaire was sent to the LTU in the West Belfast CWP pilot area and 314 were returned. Interviews were held with staff and board members of City West Action (the company delivering the programme on the ground) and some participants and providers of CWP placements. Questionnaires were completed and interviews carried out with personnel/resource managers of 14 major companies in West Belfast.

CWP

• The main objectives of CWP were to reach male heads of households with children and to test a new way of delivering training. To participate, individuals had to be aged between 25 and 60 years of age and have been unemployed for 12 months or more continuously. They had to have a high level qualification (Degree/HND), a recognised vocational qualification or have completed a Training & Employment Agency training programme (Action for Community Employment, Youth Training Programme, Job Seekers Training Programme). CWP allowed participants to remain on the scheme for up to 3 years. For the duration of the scheme, all benefits are safeguarded and a training allowance of £20 per week is paid. Other premiums may be paid according to skill level and job responsibility.
  

Main Findings

The Unemployed and Previous Training Schemes

• Four in ten respondents reported having been on a training or employment scheme (42% of Catholic/Protestant men; 32% of Catholic women and 52% of Protestant women).
• Just over half (52%) of all respondents had been on more than one scheme - the majority of these were young people. Of the 14 men with 4 or more children, 64% had been on a scheme prior to CWP.
• The main reasons given for taking up training were 'improving chances of getting a job' (65%), 'interest in the skills involved' (23%) and 'could make more money on the scheme than on benefits' (22%).
• 75% of those who had been on the scheme completed it; Catholic men had the highest completion rate (80%) and Protestant men the lowest (66%). Half of these Protestant men left the scheme to take a job compared to only 7% of Catholic men, 25% of Catholic women and no Protestant women. However most of these jobs only lasted weeks or months.
• The most common reasons for Catholic and Protestant women leaving schemes were problems with childcare and other family reasons, although men also cited childcare as a reason. The most common reasons for Catholic men leaving a scheme were wages/allowances being too low.
• Nearly half of all respondents felt the scheme had no effect on chances of employment (51% of these were Catholic men), 23% felt it slightly increased chances of employment and only 15% felt it greatly increased chances (Protestant men were likely to agree their chances were slightly or greatly increased).
• Only 3% of respondents felt pay/allowances were too high, with 28% feeling they were about right. 69% felt they were too low.
• Nearly 30% of respondents rejected more schemes as a solution to unemployment and 55% said the solution lay with 'more real jobs'.

The CWP'S Benefit-Plus Scheme

• 45% of the sample reported they would be interested in a scheme in which they worked full-time, kept their benefits and got at least £20 extra per week. Women (53%) were more likely to be interested than men (43%). Only 39% of Catholic men were interested in such a scheme. 43% of men with one to three children were interested in such a scheme as were 41% of men with four or more children. Men and women without children were more likely to be interested in such a scheme.
• The average premium specified by the unemployed that would encourage them to join such a scheme was £54. Women stated a lower average premium of £49. Catholic men specified the highest premium of £60. All of these amounts were much higher than the total premium available under CWP.

Employers

• All employers appeared to have high standards of recruitment and knowledge of fair employment issues. All reported placing advertisements in newspapers, none reported using word of mouth, personal contact or unsolicited applications.
• Employers identified experience, a stable employment record, personal qualities, skills, references and qualifications as important recruitment factors; none identified age, gender or personal recommendation as important.
• Nine of the 14 employers had recently recruited LTU in sales, skilled manual and semi-skilled manual jobs. In the manufacturing sector a high number of the LTU were recruited for temporary jobs.
• Employers reported that some applicants came to interview only to show they were 'actively seeking work' in order to get/retain benefits.
• All employers said that the length of time someone was unemployed affected their attitude to recruiting them, their concerns focused on motivation and ability.
• Six of the 9 employers who had recently hired the LTU found no difference in their performance and that of other workers. Three of these stated that the LTU workers - especially men with children - were their best and most loyal workers. Despite this, nearly half of employers felt that improvements in the job applications, skills, presentation, motivation and attitude of the LTU would encourage them to recruit more of the LTU.
• Evidence of training or work experience and an increased need for casual labour were cited as factors that would make employers recruit more of the LTU. Few employers felt that an increase in unskilled jobs would make them employ more of the LTU nor would the willingness of the LTU to work for lower wages.
• All employers stated that they could recruit a certain percentage of the workforce from the local labour market and/or from the LTU if it were a condition of public grants.
• Many employers felt the LTU should be given more help to fill in job applications and improve their motivation - although most could find no differences in the quality of applications from the LTU and other applicants. Most felt that the LTU lacked confidence and technique in interviews and this would need to be addressed.
• In general, employers did not believe that current training schemes increased the chances of participants being hired or gaining more skills. Many felt the relevance and quality of the skills acquired were minimal.

Conclusions

• The CWP is underpinned by a 'traditional' view of work as being full-time and carried out by men whose partners take care of the children. One solution would be to introduce part-time/job share CWP posts.
• Childcare provision is a serious impediment for participants in training schemes and this remains the case for CWP.
• Consideration should be given to increasing the premiums to £60 per week.
• The fair employment implications of the distribution of CWP places needs careful consideration. If the scheme were expanded to the size of current West Belfast ACE provision the Protestant share of the LTU would fall from 21% to 15.7% and the Catholic share increase from 79% to 84.3%.
• Employers should share more of the responsibility for actively targeting the unemployed. In areas of high unemployment they need to be encouraged by government to do this. The goal of reducing unemployment needs to be matched with specific fair employment goals dealing with unemployment differentials.
• Government policies need to consider more fully labour demands. Subsidies to employers to create jobs locally should become more of a tool in tackling long-term unemployment. These could be tied to set quotas for the recruitment of LTU - 15% or 20% depending on the circumstances and occupations involved.