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Reuters
Job seekers will be coached and advised about moving to “developed areas” as part of the growing 238 million employment program, the government said.
Job entry targeted support is to help those who have been out of work for three months due to Kovid-19.
Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa Coffey said it would “help people in need”.
But Labor said the plan “provides very little new support” and that it was “a little too late.”
Last month, official figures showed that the UK’s unemployment rate had reached its highest level in two years, with young people in particular being hard hit.
Ms Coffey said the Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) scheme “would boost the potential of more than a million people in Britain.”
“We have provided unprecedented support for jobs during the epidemic, including subsidizing furloughs and self-employed incomes. We are doing as much as we can to save people’s livelihoods, but unfortunately not every job can be saved.”
The Department of Labor and Pensions has said it is hiring an additional 13,500 “work coaches” to help deliver the new scheme.
Chancellor Ishii Sunak said the plan would “provide new opportunities for those who have unfortunately lost their jobs, to ensure that no one leaves without hope”.
“Millions of livelihoods and businesses have been protected since the epidemic began with our unprecedented support, but I’m always clear we can’t save every job.”
“I’ve talked about the detrimental effects of being out of work, but through JETS we will provide new opportunities to people who have unfortunately lost their jobs, to make sure no one is left without hope.”
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However, Labor’s shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said: “The government’s own entry could cost at least four million people their jobs during a crisis. This could lead to partisan plans and meaningless slogans.
“This new scheme offers very little new support and relies on overwork coaches already on the ground, while many new work coaches have been promised that have not yet been completed.
“It’s too late for the government to get an empty grip on this job crisis.”
‘Difficult trade-fs’
Mr Sunak, who is due to address the Conservative Party conference later, said the government had faced “difficult trade and decisions” during the coronavirus epidemic.
He will say that while he can’t protect every job, “the pain of knowing it only increases with each passing day”.
Mr. Sunak will say his “single priority” as Chancellor is to “support as many people as possible and give as many people as possible a chance.”
“We will not let talent get in the way, or waste it, help everyone who wants it, get new opportunities and develop new skills,” he said.
In an interview with Surya before his speech, Mr. Sunak also defended his Eat Out to Help Out scheme which may help him in raising another wave of coronavirus cases following his suggestions.
The Chancellor said the scheme has helped create two million jobs and has no regrets in getting paid.
Mr Sunak also pushed for the idea of further lockouts, which he said were detrimental not only to the economy but also to society.
He said the lockdown obviously has a very strong economic impact, but it has an impact on many other things.
At the 22:00 curfew on pubs and rest restaurants rent, Mr Sunak said ministers were enforcing such rules “to cut this in the bud”, but he acknowledged it was “disappointing”.
“Everyone is very frustrated and tired and bored about all this,” he told the paper.
Labor’s shadow chancellor, Nellie Dodds, said her party had urged Mr Sunak to launch a payroll scheme that encourages employers to keep more staff, but “he ignored these calls and now that the Farlow scheme is nearing completion, nearly a million Jobs are at stake.
“When he speaks at the Conservative Party conference, the late Sunak will have to promise to catch up before the job crisis gets too late,” he said.
“If it doesn’t, the risk of Britain’s unemployment crisis is greater than we’ve seen in decades – and Sun Shi Sunak’s name will be everywhere.”
The government’s new wage subsidy program, the Job Support Scheme, will be replaced on November 1, shortly after the Furlo scheme ends this month.
Under the job support scheme, if bosses bring workers back part-time, the government will help employers with at least three-quarters of their full-time pay.
According to official figures, around three million workers – or 12% of UK workers – are currently on partial or full-time leave.
