Jobs Guarantee: Benefits and Potential Problems
Channel: Daily Insight
Date: 04/12/2018

A Jobs Guarantee is a proposed policy where federal funds would be freed up to guarantee a job to all people who are willing to work. The current system means there are many individuals who are involuntarily unemployed — that is, they can’t find a job despite wanting one. A Jobs Guarantee is a proposed way to combat this involuntary joblessness. It does not force people to work — it is not a work-for-the-dole scheme. It allows everyone to have a job if they want one, and offers extra hours to those who can’t find full-time work. The funds would be assigned to individual communities to be used as they see fit on projects that would best help that local community.

So what are the benefits of such a proposal? Well firstly, everyone would be employed if they wanted to be. This would guarantee them an income, albeit, the minimum wage, but an income nonetheless.

For those people unable to work, for example, people with disabilities that prevent them from participating, or the elderly, or the infirm, they would still have access to a publicly funded pension. Welfare wouldn’t disappear, but would only be available to those who truly need it.

It’s not clear how certain members of society would be treated under a Jobs Guarantee. For example, full-time single mothers.

Do volunteer jobs count as jobs, and if so, are volunteers entitled to receive the income from a Jobs Guarantee?

Another benefit of a Jobs Guarantee is that it would improve pay and conditions for all workers. That is, workers that are currently stuck in dead-end jobs or underpaid jobs will now have the power to move into a government run Jobs Guarantee program.

So what are the potential issues with a Jobs Guarantee? Well first of all, there’s the cost. The government will have to find enough money to implement such a scheme.

Another problem is the types of jobs being offered. I’m worried that some communities will simply create bullshit jobs in order to receive the funding. Who’s going to oversee it? Who’s to say that one job is important for one community, but not required for another?

One of the benefits that I mentioned before might turn out to be a problem. The Jobs Guarantee gives existing workers leverage when negotiating with their current employer. Some businesses will be able to match the governments terms, but others will simply not have the revenue to offer such benefits.

Another problem that I can think of is that the Jobs Guarantee could probably only offer unskilled labour. Communities couldn’t expect medical professionals or computer programmers to be available in their pool of workers, so therefore, could only offer jobs that require little skill — cleaning, gardening, digging holes perhaps.

Perhaps training could be part of the Jobs Guarantee, but this in itself might cause some issues. Who gets to do the training and who doesn’t? Surely, we couldn’t allow 50 people to train as librarians if the community only needs three.

And lastly, there will probably be workers who simply can’t do the work — at least, not effectively. Imagine an obese person who can’t find a job due to his lack of skills and fitness, but is guaranteed a job under the program. What if he can’t even bend over to do the gardening? What if he’s not physically fit enough to dig a hole, or clean up the park? Will he still get paid by just showing up?

To me, a jobs guarantee is just not that feasible. It’s a nice idea, but there are just too many variables at play. Personally, I’d love the idea of knowing that if I’m a bit short on cash, I could just rock up to the local Jobs Guarantee program, work a couple of shifts, and get paid a decent wage. However, I also know that programs like these are notoriously mismanaged.

There will be some members of the community who are just not able or willing to put in a days labour. Are they still entitled to a paycheck if they show up?

Lots of participants will probably get assigned jobs that they don’t really want to do — cleaning toilets, painting walls, etc.

However, if managed correctly, a Jobs Guarantee could possibly work, but I just don’t see it happening. I just don’t think the government has the ability to oversee such a wide-reaching program without lots of issues cropping up. There will be people who are incapable of work. There will be lazy people who only put in the minimum amount of effort. There will be jobs created that just don’t need doing. There will be participants getting jealous of others who get assigned to the preferred roles.

A Jobs Guarantee sounds good on paper, but will probably be cancelled after 12 months due to rising costs, inefficient management, and a large number of complaints from the people it’s meant to be benefiting. It’s not to say that we shouldn’t try it, but we’ll have to make sure that it’s thoroughly planned and thought out before even attempting such a scheme.

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