Civil servants ‘told to imitate answering machines’

Civil servants covering telephones during this week’s strike action were told to pretend to be answering machines to cope with the number of calls, it has been reported.Staff at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in Carlisle said that during the peak lunchtime hours of 12-2pm, managers gave them a script to read out before hanging up. It read: “Due to the high volume of enquiries we are currently experiencing, we are unable to take your call. Please call back later.”