Big companies exploiting young jobseekers?

Hello everyone!

I read another article in the Guardian (I read this one a lot, you probably guessed) it's titled 'Young jobseekers told to work without pay or lose unemployment benefits'

I think unemployment is awful but making people work for big companies for free is probably the worst way to go about this situation. If big companies like Asda, Tesco, Poundland et al can get free labour from the government they are far less likely to recruit more people into paid positions. Also by sending people on these work experience placements and stopping their benefits if they pull out the government are taking away time they could be spending on going to interviews and finding a suitable job. This is taking advantage of poor people who would have no option but to provide big companies with free labour, this is exploitation at it's worse. This offers no solutions.

If the government want to bring in a work for your benefits system they should at least be sending job seekers to charitable organisations, this way at least they will be doing something worthwhile with their time not just put into a supermarket and told to just work. Technically at the government the government are saving big businesses money on recruitment and paying employees, it could be argued that the government are providing private organisation state subsidies they could be in breach of EU law.

I think as usual the government are looking out for big companies and not the "little people".