Background to the Research

• Northern Ireland is similar to the rest of the United Kingdom in relation to the main barriers to employment; lack of educational qualifications, adequate training and appropriate skills. This study highlights the fact that within Northern Ireland, there are other contributory factors that affect access to employment, for instance, religion, transport, and locality.
• How do we define unemployment? There are many people who do not work yet they are not registered as unemployed, namely, the 'hidden unemployed'. This creates a major problem, as policy makers fail to account for them, and as a consequence they inevitably ignore the social reality of unemployment.
  

Research Approach

• Survey data from 552 unemployed and inactive people via community groups in Belfast and Derry was primarily used along with Census data to attempt to gain access to as wide a selection of the unemployed as possible. However, the survey, which was carried out by the authors, was not conducted using a random sample so generalisations may be problematic.
• Five case study companies (which had, in total, locations at 12 sites in Belfast and Derry) were analysed to see if appointees had come from other jobs, education or from unemployment. There were 356 respondents from this sample with a mean age of 26. Interviews were also conducted with personnel managers in the five companies to find out manager's attitudes to the unemployed and on the nature of their recruitment practices.
• In an attempt to ascertain the spatial dimensions to job creation the authors collected detailed information (within the five case study companies) on the addresses of applicants for a variety of posts from 1993-1995. This generated 13,000 applications. Data was collected on the age and gender of the applicants and the type of job for which they were applying.
• Job Centre staff in Belfast and Derry were interviewed to discover their attitudes towards the unemployed and the labour market in general.
  

Main Findings

Census data

• Census data revealed that males far outnumber females as claimants of unemployment benefit, and that over 50% of the unemployed have been out of work for more than a year. Moreover, a high proportion of the unemployed who had previously been employed in semi-skilled or unskilled work had been poorly educated.

Survey data of unemployed people in Belfast and Derry (552)

• There was, overall, an even spread of people in the 16-65 age group who said they were unemployed, although there was some bunching in the 20-34 year old age group.
• Over a third had no qualifications (in Belfast over 40%), and the majority, about 70%, resided in Housing Executive accommodation. A salient point to note is that most of the unemployed lived in households were there were other people unemployed.
• The 'chill factor' discouraged many unemployed people from finding employment. For example, 34% of respondents said they would not travel through an area of the opposite religion, although only a third of those questioned said they had access to their own transport. The sample also revealed that 55% said they would not work in a workplace predominantly of the opposite religion.
• 90% of respondents were pessimistic about finding employment and thought that 'people like them' could not get jobs. Competition with the 'hidden unemployed' for those officially registered compounded the problem of looking for employment as this group were not officially registered as unemployed, even though they were actively looking for work. Essentially they did not have the same 'stigma' attached to them as those who were officially registered as unemployed, and thus had a better chance of gaining employment.
• In the sample, 30% of the respondents claimed to have turned down a job offer due to low wages, insecurity, and childcare.

Data from five case study companies

• Interviews of personnel managers from the five case study companies revealed that attitudes towards the unemployed varied. According to the authors this was a 'vexed area'. However, some managers stereotyped the unemployed as lazy, unreliable, and lacking in discipline. Essentially, unemployment was seen as a 'stigma'.
• Two employers from the study noted sectarian dimensions that influenced recruitment habits; however, the authors argue that this finding is difficult to substantiate, since employers were not likely to say openly that they discriminated against some employees because of their religion.
• The sample of appointees showed that over half (54.2%) came from other jobs as opposed to 18.5% who came from unemployment.
• A study of the addresses of applicants, numbering 15,000, revealed that jobs were either undesirable i.e. low paid, part-time, unskilled or mainly for females, in which case they were viewed as uneconomic and too insecure an option. Conversely, jobs for professionals or skilled employees did not help the locally unemployed who lacked education and training. Usually, people from other regions of Northern Ireland filled these positions.

Interviews with Job Centre Staff in Belfast and Derry

• Employers blamed unemployed people for their employment status, they claim this was largely due to the their apathetic attitude towards work.
• Religious 'chill factor' was a determinant in finding work, mobility was restricted, and many decided to remain in their own areas.

Conclusion

• Conventional measures for tackling job creation are flawed. It is wrong to assume that if jobs are brought to Derry or Belfast they will be filled by local people.
• The growth in part-time employment has created the wrong type of vacancies for male unemployed.
• There is a need for more research into employment practices in Northern Ireland.