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

[Sunsnet]

I currently work a minimum wage job in retail. It's long hours, exhausting and for really shitty money. Sometimes I earn less than minimum wage as I'm salaried and not entitled to overtime.

I've just been offered a job with the DWP. I'll earn 50% more, have a WAY better pension plus more benefits. I'll even be able to work fewer hours so I can spend more time with my family and STILL be better off than now. BUT, I have friends who think the DWP is immoral and by working for them I will be implicit in that immorality.

I agree that the way the DWP works at the moment is immoral, but surely we need good people to work there to ensure that people who need the help and are entitled to it actually get it. Or am I just clutching at straws to justify my position?

I have one friend in particular who says they will never speak to me again if I take the job. This friend is independently wealthy and never needs to work again, I am not. I do not own property, have a family to support, I'm a single parent and I have no qualifications so have no hope of a better job.

Would I really be that awful a person to sell out and take this job?

Well you're talking to one right now and I can tell you how upsetting and offensive it is when people too ignorant to expand their mind to think weirdly, people are not all the same. There's job centres, fraud teams, organised crime, pension teams, national insurance etc. A lot of us work really hard to provide a good service and protect the money people pay into the system for it to be directed at the most vulnerable in society. While getting called a c word, threatened, followed and assaulted by claimants.

I too have had unpleasant experiences with the dwp while working there and not, so I get it. There's arseholes everywhere.

So open your mind, eyes, whatever you like and realise that there are plenty of people who are literally putting themselves in danger to try and make the few people they personally deal with lives easier.

My voluntary work is with asylum seekers. I hate the Home Office and its (lack of) values with a passion. But I've met a fair few immigration officers in my role, and they're just human beings trying to earn a wage and keep a roof over their families' heads. I wanted to dislike them but I couldn't. And there's no way I'd dump a friend who needed a job and was offered one there. I'd just hope that she could gain experience quickly that would mean that she could get a more satisfying role in the future.

Congratulations on your job @Sunsnet , and your 'friend' dumping you will be no loss

@Girlssjustwanttohavefun I'd just like to say that when my late husband was assessed back in the day (before PIP) after having a mental health breakdown, he was treated with great sensitivity and calmess by the man who was his assessor, though of course the various questions had to be asked. Obviously the interview was very stressful for DH and it was visibly very clear that it was so. But I was very grateful to the staff member, and at the end, as I was leading my shaking husband out, I mouthed an emotional 'thank you' to the guy.

It wasn't his fault that his department insisted on putting my husband through that rather than accept his GP and psychiatrist's reports. I imagine that he hated having to do it, but there we are.

If your rich friend inherited money as you say, then almost certainly one of their ancestors did something deeply immoral and exploitative to get those riches. Also, if they are so concerned about social justice they should give up their trust fund and hand it to the poor. Loaded lefties rarely put their money where their mouth is. I used to work with loads of them and they are very much in favour of sacrifices for the sake of social justice so long as it’s other people making them.

There are those who want to stand on the sidelines of life passing criticism, and there are those who roll up their sleeves, get involved, and change things that need changing. Do take the job. Your friends sound authoritarian and quite disturbingly narrow-minded.

“Would I really be that awful a person to sell out and take this job?”

Grow up. Everyone needs to work to pay their bills and that’s all you’re doing. Your friend is a moron threatening to disown you for taking a job because they don’t like it - if you never hear from them again, good riddance!

It's a straightforward equation: you've bills to pay, it's better money and a pension, so go for it girl!

Thumbs up to your conscience, but you can't live on fresh air and altruism. Pragmatism has to win in the end.

When I started work for dwp, people distanced themselves. I was fine with this and started to watch them - I have no issues with reporting them if they are cheating the system. Tax payers money, we are paying for people to cheat.

So the people you know - are they legitimate?

But, just as a heads up. The press about dwp is true. There's a lot of dwp c/s claiming uc and working as the pay is poor. There's bullying that is everyday. There is a really big divide/gulf. So if you have a higher level job, pay will be fine. But beware of civil service politics (and I dont meant government ones). Go in with your eyes wide open.

A true friend would never blackmail you or use conditional friendship tactics - how old is she? 9?. She sounds an idiot and unless she wants to pay your bills, she can do one. Her opinions don't put food on your table and she is not a friend

Take the job would be my advice. Real friends will remain your friends, fair weather ones will drop you anyway when it suits them, don’t be led by them.

Wow, your friend’s opinion and your own, of the DWP is incredibly insulting. There are issues across the civil service, there are some people working specifically at DWP who I don’t doubt are not good at their job, but there are also hard working people who are absolutely trying their best to undertake their role at the DWP.

I think the job is probably a good secure option for you and your children, but your distain for the department and your potential future colleagues makes it sounds like you wouldn’t be a good fit. One of the biggest issues in civil service departments at the moment is employees not engaging with their work, lack of understanding of the bigger picture and fighting (non-constructively) against the department that employs them.

I’d suggest not taking up the job offer if you have such distain for a potential employer.

P. S, would this one friend in particular, the super wealthy one, pay you the difference in income so that you could stay in your present job? No? Thought not. She/he is not a true friend.

You don't need their permission.

Havent read every post but take the job

Personally I wouldn't want to work for an organisation I didn't feel was in sync with my personal ethics and values - but I appreciate that I have the luxury of being in a financial position that enables me to do that.

I think that's the point... Not to you specifically at all :) but so many think they understand what the dwp do. The majority of people haven't got a clue what the people of the dwp actually do, evidenced by a lot on this thread

Lose the « friend » take the job, congratulations, true friends would never judge you based on what you decided to work at in order to keep yourself and your family well looked after xx

Someone who ever says « I won’t be your friend anymore if….. -anything judgemental- » is already not your friend…

There is nothing immoral in you working hard for your family. To have ethics in a place that does have a bad reputation for some takes courage. Your friends should see the efforts you are making and support you.

good luck in your new job 👌🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

Take the job and get new friends!

I don’t understand what is immoral about working for the DWP ?

Take the job. Your friends are being awful and I’d be inclined to challenge them on it, but if you don’t want to get into this then just say you’ve taken a job with the civil service.

What a ridiculous thing to say. Op has said she's a single mum, the chance of a better standard of living for them....of course she should take the job 100%. The people that work there are not monsters. Also the people threatening to stop being her friend are not friends at all! No true friend blackmails another one like that.

FFS the DWP are not collectively immoral. Yes there are flaws in the system but thats the fault of our corruption govt, most people in organisations like DWP are genuinely trying to make a difference to people's lives. You're better off without 'friends' who think their political views are more important than you earning a decent living from a decent job.

Take the job

ditch the deadbeat friends

I know exactly how you feel! I took a job in the Public sector last May after after years of working various admin roles in the private sector and the wages, pension and WFH flexibility has made an enormous difference to my quality of life. I say 100% you should take the job! Do what is best for you Xx it’s not immoral at all. And that “person” is not your friend! No friend discourages you let alone refuses to speak to you! She needs taking down a peg or two! She sounds jealous and tone deaf to the outside world. Wealthy people and their ivory towers, things can change in the blink of an eye, what if her circumstances were to change and then she needed help, support or to claim from the DWP. She has a horrible snotty entitled attitude and you are better off without her! You are not an awful person nor are you selling out! I hope you take the job X