Public pay the price of job cuts

It might not make front page news, but the public pay the price when support staff are axed. More than half a million jobs have been lost in local government since 2010. The trend has been to make ‘efficiency savings’ by axing the jobs of support staff, administrative and clerical workers. But making so-called back office staff redundant is a false economy. The vital role of admin workers is seriously undervalued. Frontline workers face mounting pressure as they struggle with ever-expanding workloads. The social worker, trying hard to keep a family together, relies on vital support from behind the scenes to enable them to spend time with troubled families. Juggling casework with ever-increasing piles of paperwork won’t help keep families together. Despite endless workplace reviews,  the threat of redundancy and increasing workloads and pressure, most of these workers support change if it improves services for the public Responses to UNISON’s 2016 survey of more than 2,200 members working in councils and schools shows that 62% of administrative and clerical workers have considered leaving their employer, while 40% tell us they are actively looking for another job. They gave low pay, feeling undervalued and a lack of promotion prospects as key reasons. This is hardly surprising when 41% of these workers report having had no training in the past 12 months. Reviews and reorganisations are rife in local government too. Some 77% of those surveyed told us they have faced re...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article austerity local government public service champions Save Our Local Services save our services Source Type: news