Losing a job : finding social work support? : exploring the issue of social work in the area of unemployment

Abstract

Throughout human history the overwhelming majority of people have worked for their living. In past years, the traditional industries of agriculture, fishing, herding, mining, trading and crafts provided economic means of survival for most people. Today, people still do have to work for their living but, in this day and age, the environment is a more complex socio-economic one. A question mark hangs over the future of work since unemployment rates have risen in industrial countries due to recurrent worldwide recessions. The purpose of this study was to verify whether unemployed people feel the need to be helped by a social worker once they get discharged from work, so that the problems that are commonly associated with unemployment could be alleviated. To achieve this aim, interviews with twenty-five unemployed people who were selected by the employees of the Employment and Training Corporation on my behalf from their registers were carried out. The data collected during the interviews provided clear indications that unemployed people do feel the need to be helped by a social worker because the transition period between losing one job while trying to be re-employed in the labour market is not an easy one and so unemployed persons could easily fall into a vicious trap, for example, crime. The unemployed people who participated in my study are expecting that the social worker to be able to inform them about all the services that they can benefit from while they are unemployed including services that the Employment and Training Corporation offers. Moreover, they feel the necessity to be taught new coping skills in order to be able to keep everything under their control. As the unemployed people themselves said during the interviews, the teaching of skills must be carried out by a professional person like the social worker. During the interviews, unemployed people were also given the opportunity to recommend services that they would like to have from the Employment and Training Corporation and they mentioned regular meetings, guidance and counselling. In conclusion, there are problems that unemployed people face which should be addressed by a social worker if this service is available and this, as well as other recommendations, are included in the last chapter of this dissertation.