Jobcentre Plus advertises job vacancies for employers by using a computer system called LMS (Labour Market System) which can be accessed by customers through Jobpoints (touch-screen computer terminals) and via the Jobcentre Plus website and the telephone service Jobseeker Direct (0845 60 60 234). It also administers claims for benefits such as Jobseeker's Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support.

The forerunners of the Jobcentre Plus were the government-run Labour Exchanges, originally the vision of Winston Churchill, President of the Board of Trade and William Beveridge, who had worked for a more efficient labour system in the early years of the 20th century. This was intended to address the chaos of the labour market and the problems of casual employment.

In 1908 Beveridge was commissioned to devise a scheme which would combine labour exchanges with a new government-funded unemployment benefit. The Labour Exchanges Bill was rushed through Parliament and passed in September 1909 and, after months of planning and recruitment of clerks, 62 Labour Exchanges were opened on February 1, 1910. The number of offices rose to 430 within four years. At the suggestion of the Prime Minister David Lloyd-George, from January 1917 the Labour Exchanges came under the new Ministry of Labour and were renamed Employment Exchanges, so as to more accurately reflect their purpose and function.

The National Insurance Act was passed in 1911 and the first payments were made at Exchanges in January 1913. Initially this covered only elected trades, such as building, engineering and shipbuilding. Weekly contributions were paid by workers, employers and the State in the form of stamps which were affixed to an Unemployment Book (later called the National Insurance card). When no work was available, benefit was payable.

The basic rules and administration regarding claims and the disallowance of benefit remain unaltered today. From 1918, payments were also made to unemployed ex-soldiers and their dependants, as well as to civilians who found themselves unemployed due to the decline of war production industries. The out-of-work donation scheme (the original "dole") was originally only a temporary measure.

As unemployment benefit was payable only for those with a contributions record, and even then for only twelve months for each claim, there remained a group on long-term low incomes, without access to benefit. That was relieved after the enactment of the National Assistance Act 1946, when payments began to be made to jobseekers on low incomes regardless of contributions.

Initially benefits were paid weekly, in cash, at the Employment Exchange. From 1973, a new network of Jobcentres began to be opened throughout Britain.

Private organisations are now under contract with the government to provide services to benefit claimants through initiatives such as Employment Zones and Pathways to Work. Staff of the Department for Work and Pensions give help only to those in so-called "high priority groups", that is, those who are long-term claimants of Jobseekers Allowance, lone parents or those receiving other benefits such as Income Support or Incapacity Benefit.

However, jobsearch facilities are available to anyone via the Jobcentre Plus website, through touch screen interactive jobpoints in local Jobcentres and over the phone via Jobseeker Direct (0845 60 60 234). The Jobcentre Plus website is the UK's most visited recruitment website with over a million visitors each week. Vacancy information is also available through the UK government's direct.gov.uk portal. As of spring 2010, the Jobcentre Plus website no longer contains job posts itself, and redirects all jobseeker enquiries to run through the Directgov jobs portal, which lists job posts sourced from the JCP network.

Jobcentre Plus also offers services to employers and employment agencies - who can register their vacancies online through the Direct online service or by calling Employer Direct. Vacancies are available immediately through the channels above - (online, phone, and interactive jobpoints).