http://omnyapp.com/shows/2a742a43-9d2b-4886-afd0-a219008683ac/abetz-to-be-copied-in-on-job-searches
Abetz to be copied in on job searches
‘Anyone can see the job search scheme is unworkable’. Computer programmer Bill Malkin at home in Tranmere in Adelaide yesterday. Picture: James Elsby Source: News Corp Australia
EMPLOYMENT Minister Eric Abetz might have to change his email address if government’s plans to force unemployed welfare recipients to conduct 40 job searches a month go ahead.
That’s because a plucky programmer from Adelaide by the name of Bill Malkin has set out to pillory the proposed changes.
He will do so by starting a crowd-funded project to build an internet application that will automatically generate and email job applications to potential employers on behalf of jobseekers. The bad news for Senator Abetz is that the program, which has been dubbed Spambludger, will also automatically send the tens of thousands of job applications made each day directly to his inbox. Mr Malkin, who is currently unemployed, said he decided to put together the crowd-funded campaign to highlight the ridiculousness of the Coalition government’s proposed changes to unemployment benefits.
Another aim of the campaign will be to show how easily the new changes could be gamed.
Under the proposed overhaul of unemployment benefits jobseekers will be expected to apply for at least 40 positions each month. Fit and healthy jobseekers aged under 30 will also have to sign up for 25 hours of Work for the Dole for at least half of each year.
“Anyone can see that this scheme is just unworkable,” Mr Malkin told The Australian.
“There are only a fixed number of job vacancies in the market but there are a huge number of unemployed people looking for jobs. Simply putting in scores of job applications won’t make a difference. It will annoy the hell out of businesses, it won’t increase the number of jobs, or really help jobseekers.
“It will just bog down the whole process.”
Spambludger will work by scanning jobs site Seek and the Yellow Pages online directory for businesses that contain key words being sought by jobseekers.
The program will then generate applications based on the appropriate requirements of the job and automatically email them to prospective employers.
The application will also include a jobseeker’s resume, gender, age, blood group, sexual preference, political and football club affiliations and shoe size. Two job applications generated each day will be sent to employers to fulfil the 40-per-month quota being forced on jobseekers.
However, users of the app will also be able to set up a maximum daily limit of 10,000 applications, each of which will be copied to Senator Abetz’s email inbox so he can “marvel at the success of his scheme”, Mr Malkin said.
Mr Malkin, 61, has worked in the IT industry for more than 30 years. He also works as a volunteer at A Gesture, a not-for-profit social enterprise that trains the unemployed so they are job-ready.
Spambludger has been listed on the crowd-funding website Pozible with a target to raise $30,000 before its October 3 deadline.
Funds raised will be used to keep Mr Malkin fed and housed while he writes the program. If the government is unable to implement the changes to the Work for the Dole program Mr Malkin said all unused funds would be refunded.
At close of business yesterday Spambludger had raised $253.
