Jobs, jobs, jobs

A4e is advertising what looks like a fantastic job - Trainee Strategy & Policy Assistant. You'll need at least a 2:1 degree or a Masters, you'll be mingling with politicians and travelling abroad. An ideal opportunity. But there's something of a puzzle. A4e never gives salary figures but this doesn't mention pay at all. Despite saying, "We will expect you to roll up your sleeves and put a lot into your work. You will be used to that from things you have already achieved at school, university or elsewhere," there's not a whisper of remuneration, and I'm wondering if this is, in fact, an "internship", i.e. an unpaid job, although it doesn't say so directly.

Former A4e employee Hayley Taylor has a new job, a paid one. She "will front Fish4jobs’ regional job fairs, providing face-to-face advice to jobseekers and will host a series of online career workshops hosted by Fish4jobs with practical advice on writing an effective CV and giving a successful interview. Fish4jobs marketing director Sarah EL-Doori says: 'At Fish4jobs we want jobseekers to find the right job to match their skills and experience. Hayley is a fantastic ambassador for us with her practical approach and success rate at helping people find a new role.'"

There's work for A4e in Saudi Arabia. On 2 July Roy Newey tweeted that he was "very excited to get invite from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to design cost operate 5 new job placement centres - this year. Impressed with a4e." Now, lots of British companies make money in Saudi Arabia, so it would perhaps be unfair to single out A4e for criticism here. But when, on the same day, Newey says, "Amazing opportunities for a4e to learn and contribute to global ideas on improving people's lives. An honour to have a seat round the table," you feel that the slogan jars a little. But then he was off to meet the President of Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia and here

I don't know why I was initially surprised to read that A4e is seeking business in Saudi Arabia. Roy Newey arrived there on 4 June and tweeted that he was " looking forward to meetings with government to support skills and employment programmes." Why should I think that this is a step too far? After all, it's just business, as it is for many other companies and governments who regard the nature of the Saudi regime as irrelevant to trade and profit.

There has been only one more review (that I've seen, anyway) of The Fairy Jobmother, and that's in the Independent. The writer, Laurie Penny, calls it "possibly the ghastliest piece of poverty porn ever made" and she doesn't get any more complimentary as the piece goes on! One could almost feel sorry for Hayley Taylor. If she had stopped after the US series she would have retained some dignity. This new series was obsolete before it began. There has been no reaction from those papers (the Mail and the Express, for instance) which have demonised the unemployed; perhaps it embarrasses even them. Most of the media have become bored with the concept and are turning to more intelligent examinations of the problems of poverty and unemployment.

There has just been another reminder of how history gets rewritten. Iain Duncan Smith has been on the radio defending his government against the criticisms of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He described the Work Programme as if it's a wholly new idea to involve the private and voluntary sectors in getting people back to work. Don't ever ask how well, or badly, the private sector has performed; just forget the last contract and give them the next one.