DWP job losses avoidable


The PCS civil service union has demanded the government allow civil servants to work from home rather than lose their jobs when 43 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) offices close.


The government last month launched a voluntary redundancy scheme affecting 1,000 DWP staff, but has refused to consider working from home as an option.


PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Right at the outset DWP said that these closures were not about reducing staff and that their aim was to redeploy everybody.


“We always knew that was an impossible aim, given some of the closure locations, and this proves it. 


He said that not only has the DWP refused to consider the working from home option, “but it seems happier to offer exit packages to staff rather than retaining their experience by allowing them to work from home”.


The union has vowed to fight for every DWP job because of the impact the cuts will have on its members and the communities they serve.


Serwotka said: “We’re furious the government has launched a voluntary redundancy scheme before doing everything possible under civil servant protocols to mitigate the need for redundancies.”


He added that the government is trying to rush through “these devastating and unnecessary cuts and, when they fail to reach their desired number of voluntary redundancies, the axe will begin to fall on those who do not want to leave”.