Job Centres to help those in work boost their career prospects under Amber Rudd plan
3 min read
People currently in work will be able to turn to Job Centres to help them boost their careers and increase their pay under plans to be announced by Amber Rudd.
The Work and Pensions Secretary will on Thursday promise to help Brits with the “daunting” task of changing jobs as she lays out a grand vision for the Future of Work in the UK.
At a speech in central London - likely to be seen as a pitch for the Tory leadership - she will argue a “modern day” Conservative party must give a leg-up to all workers, not just the unemployed.
And she will accuse the Labour party of harking back to the "Dark Satanic Mills of the past" rather than look to the future of work.
Ms Rudd will promise to forge better links between Job Centres and local businesses, including specialists to focus on in-work progression - a plan she has discussed with unions and business groups.
The Government will also train ‘work coaches’ to help people already in work decide when and how to switch jobs.
The Hastings MP will say: “As Conservatives we want every person, no matter their background, to progress in the workplace and outperform what society says they should be able to do.”
She will add: “Changing career, perhaps several times, in the midst of working life can be daunting - particularly if you have a family to look after. I know - that’s the path I took.
“The work we are doing across Government, and particularly in my Department, is designed to support people through this.”
Ms Rudd will promise to help people take advantage of the technological changes that are ushering in the continued decline of automation.
And she will blast the Labour party, which has promised to repeal laws curbing trade unions, over its stance on working rights.
“I understand that the certainty of the old industries, of guaranteed jobs for life, offer an attractive nostalgia,” she will argue.
“But harking back to the Dark Satanic Mills of the past is not the solution. We can’t stop the clock– even if we wanted to.”
Ms Rudd has already made waves at the DWP by scrapping repeated benefit assessments for some disability claimants and promising to reform the Universal Credit system.
But Margaret Greenwood, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: "This speech completely ignores the reality that so many people in this country are trapped in poverty as a result of low paid, insecure work.
"Employment support under this government is based around sanctions. That puts many people at risk of destitution instead of helping them find work that lasts and that lifts them out of poverty.
"Labour will end the cruel sanctions regime, ensure that people receive personalised employment support and invest in skills and training to create the decent jobs that people need."
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