A.O.S. 'POSSIBILITIES
Sta,—I have read with surprise the description of the Appointments Office of the Ministry of Labour by Mr. Graham Watson in your issue of September 13th. My own experience was so different that an account of it may be of interest. When I left the Army I fortunately was able to return to my pre-war jOb, but I none the less put myself on the A.O.S. list. I was interviewed by a nice but slightly bewildered woman clerk, who did not seem to be the kind of person qualified to give much good advice. The interview lasted ten minutes, and during it I was disappointed to discover that a form which I had completed with some labour had become mixed up with somebody else's papers, and, that the interviewer and I were therefore talking completely at cross purposes. We sorted matters out, but it was awkward.
Since this one interview I have been offered a few jobs, one of which was of a kind which.I had stated at the interview I should not accept, and the others at half or just over half my salary with my present firm. I realise, of course, that one must keep one's sense of proportion in these matters, and I am lucky enough to have a job, though I should like to change it. Perhaps; if this letter is published, it may catch the eye of the
A.O.S., and I may be advised to try again. EX-SERVICE.
SIR,—It is encouraging to read Mr. Graham Watson's commendatory remarks on the Appointments Office Service, although the favourable impression it has made on him does not seem to be shared by all who have been in contact with it. Throughout his article, however, there runs a note of complaint that this service is not being given a fair chance, and that any shortcomings can be explained away by 'the fact that employers are failing to co-operate with it. At one point he says, " That figure (of applicants placed) is solely governed by the number of vacancies notified to it by prospective employers." But is this quite justified?
The following figures are given in the August issue of the Ministry of Labour Gazette. They relate to the Appointments Register, which appears• to be separate frOm the Technical and Scientific Register, and are quoted for men only. On June /8th there were 4,72o vacancies outstanding, while, between then and July 15th 2,395 additional vacancies were notified and 1,15o were cancelled or withdrawn. 1,370 vacancies were filled during the period, and at the end of it there were 4,595 still outstanding. On this date 19,252 men were registered as unemployed. Thus in a four- week period, at the end of which 19,252 men were still looking for jobs, 1,370, or 7.1 per cent., had been placed in employment. Throughout that period over three times that number of vacancies were on the books. I may have gained a wrong impression from these figures, but they do not seem to me to support either Mr. Graham Watson's strictures on employers or his admiration for the Appointments Office Service.—Yours
faithfully, Joint MUNRO FRASER. 19 Gardner Mansions, Church Row, N.W. 3.
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