Learning, Literacy Difficulties, Must Do Jobsearch Online With No Help
Today, I met up again with Eddie (name changed), a 51-year-old Kilburn man who has mild learning difficulties. He currently signs on for JSA. He has worked all his life in hotels and in kitchenwork, but has been unemployed for four years now. He wants another job, but is struggling to find one.
Eddie doesn’t read or write very well. He has no computer at home, which I know for a fact because I’ve been to his flat (it’s the tiny, one-room place you can see in the video below). Anyway, he was upset because at his jobcentre session today, he was given a sheet of paper which listed possible places for seasonal work this Christmas. You can see the list in the photo here – the place of business, the job and then a link to the job and an application form online.
The problem is that Eddie struggles to read and write, as I say. He doesn’t have a computer. He said the jobcentre hadn’t offered to help him apply for any of the posts on the list, or to help him fill in the forms. This means that Eddie is stuck. He was worried about what would happen next. If he can’t show that he’s applied for jobs, he risks sanctions. These things were very much on Eddie’s mind.
The upshot of all of this is that I’m going around to Eddie’s place next week with my laptop to show him how to open some of the links. I’ve already tried some of them this evening. The Argos one takes you to a list of jobs, then more about the job itself and the company offering it (Habitat – £7.06 an hour), then the company website, then the application form. That’s four clicks to get to the form and a mass of text to wade through – a real difficulty for someone who struggles with text.
Same Difference 
To expect someone who has problems with literacy to be able to do this for himself is pure discrimination and therefore, it should be challenged in the courts.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Britain Isn't Eating.
LikeLike