The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed plans to close 87 Jobcentres across the country including five in west London.
An exclusive report from our sister site The Mirror uncovered that Jobcentres in Southall, Kilburn, Hammersmith, Hounslow and Edgware are all to close over the next seven months.
The closure of one in 10 Jobcentres across the UK is expected to lead to the loss of 750 jobs itself and may have a knock on effect on unemployment and benefits.
The DWP told Mirror Money the closures will see some smaller Jobcentres merge with larger ones, while others will be co-located with local government premises to deliver multiple community services in one place.
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A further 40 are to be moved into local authority buildings under "efficiency" savings while four will be moved to new premises.
The DWP said the changes will save more than £140 million a year over the next 10 years and will offer better value for the taxpayer - it added that 80% of Jobseeker’s Allowance and 99% of Universal Credit applications are now made online.
After posting this announcement on Facebook, several of our readers voiced their opinions about the decision.
Meherunnisha Kara succinctly summarised the situation by adding simply "oh dear".
But not everyone was in favour of the Jobcentres staying open. In fact many were so put off by their experiences with the service that they were glad they were being shut.
Christine Fewtrell's limited experience with Jobcentres left her feeling like she was treated "with contempt like you're something on the bottom of their shoe".
"If they were a bit nicer maybe more people would get a job feeling like they have some support getting there," she added.
A similar sentiment was expressed by Bobby Sandhu who felt he was "treated like dirt" at Slough's Jobcentre.
Paul Horsfield added that everything a Jobcentre does can now be done online "so it makes sense to cut costs in that way".
Steve Palmer said they should all be shut as they don't help anyone and are "not fit for purpose".
The damning display was tempered by a comment from Amjad Raja who called the government a "complete joke" and questioned how closure of Jobcentres could allow more people into work.
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