The employment minister Chris Grayling has branded critics of the government's work experience scheme "job snobs".
He defended the project after protestors, angered by a job advert seeking permanent workers in exchange for expenses and jobseeker's allowance, forced the closure of a Tesco store.
Under the sector-based work academy scheme, unemployed people undertake unpaid work experience to boost their career development options or they lose their unemployment benefits.
Mr Grayling said: "The allegations about this scheme are absurd and those who are particularly targeting the supermarkets, which have been very helpful to us in supporting this scheme, are frankly job snobs about the nature of the work those supermarkets are doing."
He went on to explain that the government project has helped to tackle the record number of young jobless people, boosting CVs and employability skills thanks to six-week work placements.
Tesco said it had amended the "misunderstood" advert and blamed a computer error by Jobcentre Plus.
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I'd like to ask Mr Grayling how many of those who have been on a 6 week "job skills boost" have actually gained employment? Six weeks is not long enough to gain any real skills that will get you an interview. To say this is boosting skills and employability is laughable. If it were on a voluntary basis I would support it.
How many of these “skills boosting” opportunities are open to all at companies that take young people from the Eton and Harrow brigade. Not many I’ll bet.
This is not a real opportunity to learn useful skills and gain something tangible for young people’s CV’s if it were I would wholeheartedly support it. It is slavery by another name and a chance for the government to say it is doing something useful and take a number of young people of the unemployment book.
The names Thomas Mr Grayling and until you can show me positive proof that young people are gaining jobs through this scheme I will be doubting.