To take a job with the DWP even though I will lose friends

I think you will be perfect in the job. Be kind and courteous and treat people with respect. It is possible to do this job with integrity. You get nowhere being unkind. I know, it kept a roof over my head as a lone parent for years. Be known as the nice one.

Hey, I used to work for the DWP, I worked on the pensions credits helpline mostly with a few weeks spent in the tax credits dept, claims for people working below minimum wage and needing a top up etc, after the initial 6 months probation period I was so broken by the phone calls from crying pensioners who just needed someone to talk them through how to claim and what they can claim etc, things you are not allowed to tell them, as in someone listening to your calls either live or after shift, will pull you into a disciplinary if you tell them any information bar the information they directly ask for, that I just freely gave that info until I was sacked. I don't regret it. I took calls from mums who worked 40+ hours in three jobs and still couldn't pay their childcare bill, parents who both worked and knew their children were quite literally just existing on the meagre amount of food they could afford. It was god awful to be honest.

Be prepared to see/hear the worst in everyone, or the worst of them, whilst also seeing/hearing people who are quite literally beat down by a system that is failing them and then the other side of the coin are the people who don't really want to work but will 'fill in their job diary' to get the payment and then will question everything, knowingly.
It takes a strong person to do any job like that it's not for the faint hearted.

Sorry probably not the right answer but, in all honesty it's a job and it pays well, if someone will stop speaking to you because you work for the DWP then they're an idiot.

All about priorities. If you prioritise negative threatening “friends” over your quality of life and that of your family or future family then do not work at DWP. Otherwise go for DWP and embrace those genuine friends who stick by you. Shedding negative Nellies either voluntarily or thru their bigoted mindset is a bonus on top of an improved work and personal life.

I've taken part in protests and signed petitions against the way the DWP does things (wrt disability benefits, sanctions, single parents' benefits, the way staff speak to people at jobcentres...etc.etc.). I'd hate to work for them and on the whole would be very wary of someone who did.

However, I have known one or two decent people who chose to work for them in good faith, with optimism, believing they were doing good in working to help deliver a welfare state (in theory an excellent thing).

You'd be working for them with awareness of the problems, but still hoping to do good.

I'd never "disown" a friend for doing that, because I'd understand a friend's reasons. Different if you were working for the DWP because you wanted to hound and harass poor people! Also, I'd understand that you do need a better income and time with your children! If your friend doesn't get that, how good a friend are they?
If I were you, though, I'd try to be aware of the potential impact of moral injury or stress that can come from seeing practices you find unethical and seeing the harm done. Perhaps try to keep note of the good things, too, and be on the lookout for jobs more suited to your outlook, as a long term goal, while gaining experience there.

Of course you take the job! There are many public sector organisations with lots of normal hardworking people carrying out the essentials of day to day services which we all rely on. The policies behind that are often government led and you may or may not agree with some of them - but it's a stupid and sweeping generalisation to say the DWP is immoral!

Without the DWP nobody would receive a pension, or job seekers allowance, or any of a myriad benefits. Now people may support the WASPI women, or feel that the way PIP is assessed is wrong, but those are only small parts of a very essential service. If all the DWP staff went on strike tomorrow I'm sure your 'friends' would be very upset if granny didn't get her pension on time!

It's a bit like saying everyone hates people who work for the tax office. None of us like paying tax per se but if we didn't there would be no schools or hospitals! Your 'friends' are idiots and are not friends.

And when it comes to looking after your family - you do what is best for them (and you). This is a no-brainer.

I hope you love your new job.

I'd say anyone saying that to you isn't really a friend.
I'd rather feed and clothe my kids than have friends any day!

Congratulations, enjoy your new job! Hope you make new, true friends there.

And a crap friend.

Good job some people work for DWP or no benefits would be paid. So that would save the country a bit of money.

I may not like the DWP particularly (in fact, not all) but I wouldn't disown a friend who took a job there. That's just being a complete drama queen.

Specifically for PIP, I am left wondering how the back log of PIP claims will be cleared and PIP administered if no-one especially no-one decent is supposed to work there?

Are PP also saying they wouldn’t apply for PIP if they have a disability as on principle they don’t agree with it?

I could be missing something here, but currently left in La La land by OPs friend and PP who agree.

Take the job, ditch the friends.

Don't tell people

Just say you work in public sector or an office

Take the job and find new friends whilst you're at it.

Take the job and do it as well as you can. You and your family need the salary and the better conditions that go with it. As others have said, it's the government that sets the rules
People that work there are mostly trying the best they can to help people inside the policy framework. I have been helped many times by people working in the DWP, as individuals are often sympathetic and as helpful as.they can be. As to your friend - well, I'm sure they believed it while they said it but they aren't in your situation. Your life is more important.

DWP don’t make the rules - the government does . If your friend wants this to change then she needs to vote in another government.
Take the job , you can & will make a difference to many people.

DWP pays a nonsensical pension early and does not expect people to work much. Put yourself first and take the job.

Tell your friend that the people who work at DWP don't make the rules, they work for the government, Parliament and the MPs make the rules, if they hold such high moral standards they should think about how they use their vote in the next election.

Take the job, the pay increase, the happiness & more time with your family. You can make other friends, these people don’t value your needs and wants for yourself or your family, they are worried about themselves. Make yourself happy and a priority and take the job. Your happiness triumphs your friends, if they don’t like what job you do, that’s a shame.

Oh my gosh - take the job! That's ridiculous - we all need to provide for our families. It's a government job, you're not a loan shark! Good luck op

Ok@WalkingonWheels .

This! Also I can’t recall ever being this invested in any of my friends’ workplaces. Sounds like your “friend” is better off out of your life.

It's really disturbing that you take your friends comments so seriously. You have a family. Unless commiting a crime - your single focus should be supporting your family. Otherwise get your friends to take legal action againt DWP .... for what exactly???

Friend is a fool.
Congrats on the new job!

Yes, the workers are following policy. They're still carrying out acts in order to meet targets. Turning severely disabled/dying people down for money they desperately need and are entitled to as their job. If they can happily do that, or even unhappily do that, just because, "it's a job", fine. But I couldn't be friends with someone who did that, which is the point of the thread.

Imagine a family member with cancer had a few months to live and had to go through this shitty, humiliating, horrible process to scrape together some money, only to be turned down as not being ill enough when they are, just because a random person who needed a job has to hit a target. Appalling.

And to those people who are apparently so lacking in reading skills that they can't see I've said I couldn't be friends with someone who worked in the PIP department, do learn to read.