The view from the other side

Continuing this theme of recruitment consultant hatred here is a view from an acquaintance from the other side:

It was the worst job I have ever had in my life.

Not only do you have to be professionally two-faced, lie on a daily basis to both clients and candidates but you also have to be completely cold-blooded and uncaring.
I worked in quite a small market placing people into Social Housing positions. The jobs weren't particularly well paid in the first place, and then you had to take a cut of it - so a £10 an hour placement quickly became a £6 an hour job for the candidate.

I went home thoroughly demotivated every day. The culture is competative and the majority of recruitment consultants only cared about how big a margin they could negotiate and how much money they earned. Very, very few actually had anything interesting about them.

Apprentices to be paid £2.5/h

From here

So apprentices are to be paid £2.5/h erm apprentices are already paid £95 a week so what is the difference then?

British companies don't want British workers

So much for Gordon' s promise of British jobs for British workers here

Really? (daily wail alert)

Or here?

I don't blame the Polish for seeking out work; seeking out opportunities to work is commendable. I don't blame the Indian people for dismantling the UK IT industry either. I blame Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for destroying the country. To actively encourage job destruction through unfair competition is treasonous. They are meant to make decisions that help the British people and Great Britain. My conscience is clear. I never voted for these vacuous c*nts and never will. The country is now infested with illegal immigrants and limp-wristed liberal types. I got fed up with hearing about globalisation and how inevitable it all is.

Britain just allowed the flood of Polish people even though it didn't have to. It was a spiteful and calculated move to drive down wages. I don't mind the Polish. They all seem fairly decent but that doesn't mean it's right to alienate the British unemployed. What annoys me is that in a relatively short period of time the country has lost its identity. Why would I want to endure illegal immigrant ex-soldiers from Somalia and the like? Why is everyone shocked when all the lawless immigrants kill and rape us? It's racist to dispute these issues because we have become useless pussies. We cannot even say we hate a religion in our own country! Why the hell did my grandfathers bother fighting in WW1 and 2? What a waste of time. It's ironic to remember that Hitler had a lot of respect for Britain. Gordon Brown and Tony Blair don't even have that respect.

How wide spread is this?

A quick search revealed lots of these scams:

WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: NPS/40698


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


NOTTINGHAM, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE


06/08/2009
............

WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: BTR/17661


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


BURTON-ON-TRENT, STAFFORDSHIRE


18/01/2010
............................

WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: CRY/67747


MEETS NAT MIN WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM

WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: ROI/72250


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


ROTHERHAM, SOUTH YORKSHIRE


18/01/2010
..........................

WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: CHL/65855


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


CHESTERFIELD, DERBYSHIRE


18/01/2010
...........................................

WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: BAL/67828


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


BARNSLEY, SOUTH YORKSHIRE


18/01/2010
CROYDON, SURREY


25/01/2010
...................................

WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: CVD/71725


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


SHEFFIELD, SOUTH YORKSHIRE


06/08/2009
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: ROI/72250


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


ROTHERHAM, SOUTH YORKSHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: CHL/65855


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


CHESTERFIELD, DERBYSHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: BAL/67828


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


BARNSLEY, SOUTH YORKSHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: DCG/30621


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


DONCASTER, SOUTH YORKSHIRE.


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: MHH/15262


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


MANSFIELD, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: RET/24937


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


RETFORD, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE


20/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: HUD/87506


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


HUDDERSFIELD, WEST YORKSHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: MAC/50174


ON TARGET EARNINGS OF £30,000 PER ANNUM


MACCLESFIELD, CHESHIRE


18/02/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: OLH/75310


ON TARGET EARNINGS OF £30,000 PER ANNUM


OLDHAM, LANCASHIRE


18/02/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: HAF/57244


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


HALIFAX, WEST YORKSHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: LPP/43459


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


LEEDS, WEST YORKSHIRE


06/08/2009


WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: ROC/63531


ON TARGET EARNINGS OF £30,000 PER ANNUM


ROCHDALE, LANCASHIRE


18/02/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: FTS/131763


ON TARGET EARNINGS OF £30,000 PA


MANCHESTER, LANCASHIRE


06/08/2009
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: NPS/40698


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


NOTTINGHAM, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE


06/08/2009
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: BDC/129220


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


BRADFORD, WEST YORKSHIRE


06/08/2009
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: SCN/11981


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


SCUNTHORPE, SOUTH HUMBERSIDE


20/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: LOS/32064


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


LINCOLN, LINCOLNSHIRE


20/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: BTR/17661


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


BURTON-ON-TRENT, STAFFORDSHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: NOR/32172


ON TARGET EARNINGS OF £30,000 PER ANNUM


NORTHWICH, CHESHIRE


18/02/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: YOR/142611


ON TARGET EARNINGS OF £30,000 PA


YORK, NORTH YORKSHIRE


06/08/2009
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: GNT/11459


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


GRANTHAM, LINCOLNSHIRE


11/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: BOL/99226


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


BOLTON, LANCASHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: SKP/32569


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


SKIPTON, NORTH YORKSHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: HUW/34304


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


HULL, NORTH HUMBERSIDE


06/08/2009
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: WBA/26668


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


WIGAN, LANCASHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: MEL/22103


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


MELTON MOWBRAY, LEICESTERSHIRE


11/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: BCK/33771


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


BLACKBURN, LANCASHIRE


18/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: PRS/112945


ON TARGET EARNINGS OF £30,000 PA


PRESTON, LANCASHIRE


06/08/2009
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: LCR/46340


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE OTE £30,000 PER ANNUM


LEICESTER, LEICESTERSHIRE


11/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: GTT/24529


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


GRIMSBY, SOUTH HUMBERSIDE


20/01/2010
WEB OPTIMISATION CONSULTANT

Permanent

Job No: WSQ/123249


MEETS NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE


LIVERPOOL, MERSEYSIDE

Revenge of the Job scam

Looks like a job initially doesn't it 30K 40 hours per week Monday to Friday, but look at the detail, this is actually an advert for a training scheme which YOU pay them £2500. Sooo uh how is this a job then? In that if YOU pay them 9/10 it is a scam, but you are buying a service to them and not selling your services to them therefore it isn't employment. Quite frankly it isn't a job it is an advert for training.

Bizarrely enough this IS still counted on the government statistics on their jobs available for people to apply to, the job centre website is littered with examples of these kinds of 'jobs' it again makes the government statistics not particularly credible. Oh there is loads of work out here, but when 1/4 of the 'jobs' are these then if the government claims there to be 100,000 jobs then 25,000 are not jobs. a good 1/4 jobs are scams and the other 2/4 are a combination of fake internships and or apprenticeships, with the few real jobs not working out (the pay is impossibly low) then where are all these jobs people scowl the unemployed for?

For those of you who have jobs

Today I was going to comment about the revenge of the internship, however I've been busy with other things and instead bring you this extreme overtime.

The TUC states that 900,000 people are doing extreme amounts of overtime, on a regular basis which is unpaid...erm so if it is regular and unpaid then surely your salary should cover it right? In that if you work 100 hours on a salary of £500 a week then dividing it one by the other you get a simple answer of 500/100 = £5 an hour right?.

Does this yet again mean that minimum wage is meaningless? I am actually guilty of this myself in times past gone when I used to be paid £5500 for my first job I had as an accountant I worked officially 30 or so hours a week a full time role already I was underpaid NMW £3.02 an hour. Except I put more hours in as I had no choice ending up with my pay on an hourly basis somewhere around the £2.20 mark.

Hold on isn't NMW £5.80 yes it is but it is meaningless as business practices like this are so wide spread that the NMW is essentially meaningless. As I said again wab back in 1996 working in McDonalds I used to be paid £2.15-£2.25 an hour, how is it that a Mc'ds worker gets more than somebody who had to study for years to get a specific vocational qualification?.

It just makes no sense, this is hardly isolated in that Mc'ds staff clock in and clock out and are thus paid for EACH and every hour they attend, this includes briefings and meetings. I'm kind of surprised that Mc'ds staff are treated better than bloody office worker so called white collar staff.

The world ceases to amaze me at how far people will go to exploit others for profits, it seems that indenture never went away.


Additionally it isn't just the money side of things, in that what about the things inbetween being born and dying? Shouldn't you put some effort into actually living? what external costs are borne because of absent parents? Both my parents worked but they were always there to walk me to school and also to have dinner with me then back to work. I think I came out of it alright, but does everybody manage to do that? What is the social cost to all of this.

Again if we destroy families and future who will buy those products in the future?

Resolved!

In a forum I frequent somebody told me of the apprenticeship scam, it is a variation of the new deal scam.

For the new deal 50% of your pay is paid by the government, 50% by the employer, this means uber cheap employees, the crick is that if you perform well the person is kept on. The employer gets some sort of bonus for simply taking them on, what happens though is at the end of the year the person is let go, the positon vacant for a few weeks then another New Deal person is hired the employer gets cheap staff, a bonus etc the cycle continues. Although the person who did it has a years worth of work experience and reference to hand, although the usefulness of this is questionable as if you can hire somebody for 50% of the cost and get a bonus why hire somebody you need to pay fully?.

The scam is this:

Is it a scam however, [edited]or whatever, is taking on 55 at £100 a week, suspicious i'd say. I've just been offered the chance to take on a plumbing apprentice, government scheme, £1500 for me on accepting the youngster, a further £1000 for me after 12 weeks of employing the apprentice. If i pay £100 a week, and sack him at week 13, id be £1200 in pocket.

So there you have it, it effectively means it IS a scam, with 12 weeks work experience it also makes your CV look bad, as it looks as if you can't hack it even if you were a perfectly capable employee. This also says bigger things in that the National minimum wage doesn't actually exist in this country as there are methods to get round it. If people find it hard to make ends meet on NMW then how on earth are people going to get by on apprenticeship wages? of £2.71 a year.

In that yes government top ups are available but doesn't this mean tax payers are subsidising the wages of the low paid? , doesn't this distort and encourage wage fraud?.

In that two businesses A + B , if A hired somebody playing cricket on NMW ,and B hired somebody on an fake apprenticeship then surely B has a slight advantage. This advantage of which he can pass to his clients or take a bigger profit and reinvest, A is at a disadvantage so either continues as normal or plays the same game.

In the end the employees lose out, and again we have the Henry Ford problem, if nobody can afford your goods and services you'll go out of biz.

Oddly enough recessions encourage this in that if something is cheaper for the same thing people will buy it as it stretches their money further. However somebody else pays for the savings you make and longer term everybody pays. Those cheap £5 jeans you see in some supermarket? , somebody in China has taken the job of a British person for that.

I'm not saying British jobs for British people just a moment of consideration as to why things are the way that they are right now.

Revenge of the apprenticeship

As above they expect you to know everything already before starting, so how on earth is this an apprenticeship?

But it clearly isn't an apprenticeship, it's just a way of getting a position filled on the cheap.

Copy and pasted from the apprentices website:

All apprenticeships should conform to the following:

• An appropriate work-based qualification such as a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at either Level 2 or Level 3;
• Key Skills qualifications, e.g. working in teams, problem-solving, communication and using new technology;
• A technical qualification such as a BTEC or City & Guilds (relevant to the specific Apprenticeship);
• Other qualifications or requirements as specified by the particular occupation.

Which this so called apprenticeship does not offer. It's a full-time job, there is no qualification being worked towards. The person that meets their specification already knows the job so in what sense are they serving an apprenticeship? It's just cynical exploitation.

Mind and boggles are thoughts which come to mind

More joke jobs

NMW or just above, in LONDON too, do they realise how expensive it is to live in London? on the £200 or so a week thats £800 GROSS before tax or £700 rents in London are close to £500 a month, leaving £200 to cover council tax, bills and food.

Before anybody says it commuting isn't exactly an option either with £1000 for a train ticket into London, this is ontop of rent costs as well. Admittedly if say somebody were living at home with their parents this MIGHT be worthy. However with great numbers of unemployed who have experience, the starter out junior type won't even get a look in.

Where have all the jobs gone pt3

Productivity gains since 1900, when everything was horse or steam driven, have been enormous.

If we produce the same with 20% of the labour then we could have a similar lifestyle by cutting our hours 80%.

A single farmer produces food for hundreds even thousands even tens of thousans, gone of the days of labour intensive farming where hundreds of people worked the land with hand tools, like in the second world war land girls etc.

This process will no doubt continue and perhaps accelerate, as I have mentioned before in older posts I once worked as a mid level tax expert, my job was replaced by a line of code.

There may be a job for the person that programs the robots or writes the lines of software though this is self defeating in that the other workers have no jobs and no income, without jobs and without income what are they going to use to buy the increased productivity gains?.

A large part of the productivity gains has gone to increase the number who in some manner do not work. In effect we society has said that their labour is not needed so they live on alternative means, these might include pensions, income support, disability benefits this is not an exhaustive list however .

A tendancy of the 1990s and 2000s has been that governments around the world have sought to increase the school leaving age or university placements. Whearas in the 1970s and 1980s 2-6% of people would go to university today (2009/2010) this figure is closer to 40% . But this is fallacy in that if there are no jobs for them then what is the use. Infact if you think about it a little deeper it is worse. In that young people are fooled into thinking university and education is the way to a brigher future.

Yet more has gone into make work position in the public sector. When we can produce all the goods that society needs with just 10% of the labour force then this will become clearer. Those few left in work will pay out 90% of their wages in taxes. It must be this way to enable the unemployed 90% to continue to buy their output.


The olde' meme of well of work and study hard and rewards may come, this sounds nice doesn't it. Unfortunately the disconnect with hard work and reward has been broken.

I am sure many of you have a basic understanding of psychology in that we encourage good behaviour by positive reinforcement , the inferior method considered by Skinner is negative reinforcement, this is not punishment as is oft mistaken for. Negative is the removal of something unpleasant.

Hence you work hard and get the money right?

Wrong, in that this disconnect has been broken, you can work hard as you want yet if you aren't lucky you won't progress anywhere. Luck might be synominous with ruthlessness as well by the way.

This has led to me thinking that people aren't being silly when they simply refuse to work and instead stay on benefits. In that this is their only legtimate manner in which they can protest. In that why fight a system that is so corrupt and twisted that the serfs are kept in their place?.In that today internships and apprenticeships are becoming more and more common, as a whole generation is willing to fight itself to work for free and undercut each other. I myself did this to others I worked for £5500 PA for 6 months about 4 or 5 years ago, did we do this to ourselves?.

Yet right wingers, boomers etc stifle this debate by just shouting at them as workshy or scoungers, you can see a certain logic as to why people don't play such a rigged game. Many people do not gamble at casinos as they know it is inherently rigged in favor of the house, many people simply choose not to work as the whole game is rigged infavor of others.

Another blog

This is a rather lonely (when I say that I mean the number of followers is rather low compared to some blogsites which have hundreds of followers, I class this website as lonely too) website about a recent graduate.

I'm finding it hard as a graduate WITH experience years of it, it is a fascinating insight as to the quandry of graduates today and this person has an MA which in theory stands head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. Though theory and reality are two completely different things I suppose.

The link is here

Please no way this has to be a joke

Advert for 'reliable workers' banned as discrimination by Jobcentre Plus

IS FALSE!


Although in our society today in its political correct climate, although it is far too easy to believe such things it is patently false story. Makes a nice headline though.

The previous post

Just to compare incase anybody comments though that it rather unlikely given that I have no followers or anything like that.

But I did check all of the jobs on January 29th within a 15 mile radius of Manchester any pay any hours. There were 23 Jobs posted for 29/01/2010, you can check it out yourself at the government's job seeker website.

23 jobs posted per day annualise that to a rough estimate of:

365 - Weekends (105) = 260 days of normal posting of jobs

260 * 25 jobs posted (just to be generous I've given them 25 not 23 jobs) = 6500 jobs. Which quite frankly is awful, however it gets worse, look at some of the jobs they are temp jobs and some of them do not exist. A big reason why agencies put jobs on the government website is that it costs NOTHING it is free. So much like plentyoffish.com anybody can put up job adverts.

Even in good times, better times like 2007 and 2008 there were many fake jobs posted about 25%, so the huge figure of 6500 should be closer to 4875 jobs for a city of 2 million.

Somehow the get a job you lazy bum type comments won't wash as there are simply no jobs for people to go to.

Lots of jobs today

10.05AM 30 January 2010, ALL jobs within the last 24 hours within a 15 mile radius of Manchester, ONE job...

I'll admit its a Saturday which is traditionally a low ebb for jobs but ONE job out of a population of 2 million!

Oh dear..

Why working doesn't pay

Work for £15k

Take home pay - circa £960pm
Less petrol, call that £100pm
Parking? Say £5pd = another £100pm
Actual take home = £760 pm
Council tax = £110 pm

Net ~ £650 pm

Live on benefits

Housing benefit - 2 sharing, 50% of the allowance for a 2 bed place round here = £400pm Unemployment benefit = £280pm

Actual take home = £680 pm plus net benefits e.g. council tax benefit

So in essence a £15000 a year job you are £30 Worse off than benefits, what a crazy country we live in eh?

Outrageous job adverts

Job 1, Blimey £6 an hour for London, do people realise just how expensive it is to live and work in London? , even if you commute into London the costs are horrendous. How exactly are people supposed to live in £6 an hour thats £225 GROSS per week or £200 a week after income tax and NIC. Even worse look at the qualifications needed for this job, it takes time to learn any one of those computer programming languages and yet this pays a mere 15pence more than the national minimum wage. Urgh...


Webdesigner for £7 an hour, way back in the dark ages as far as 1997 when my parents first bought me my first PC a mere 166 when pentium CPUs were new having upgraded from 386 systems. Webdesigners made £10 an hour, 13 years on they earn LESS than they did 13 years ago. What on earth happened to inflation at £140 a week you don't even earn enough to pay NIC. Back in 1997, £10 was worth something like £25 due to the net present value factors. There is something wrong with society where wages seem to go backwards, in that its a double whammy in that you get taxed more, paid less AND the pound in your pocket isn't worth as much as it was before.


Are these guys kidding?, 1st degree in computer science, so put yourself in the shoes of a graduate having studied for 3 years grown a massive amount of debt he or she to work for £8 an hour. The people putting up these jobs seem to be utterly deluded. I bet they will cry out for a skills shortage or why can't we get the staff!.


Hmm I think the next pictures will explain the jobs situation very nicely

Revenge of the internship/apprenticeship

I've noticed in my job search a rather disturbing trend lately, in that there are more apprenticeships and internships. This is a good thing you might say. Normally I would agree to this, in that there are many people trapped in the no experience trap who cannot get experience without a job. Ironically they cannot get a job without experience so what to do...

The answer lay in internships and apprenticeships, you get paid travelling costs to do a job for a certain amount of time which gives you experience. This in normal times works great.... as it allows people to put a foot in the door and have some work experience in which they can show their next employer.

Unfortunately we are not in normal times I am afraid... in that an internship is either unpaid or has very little pay.

Apprenticeships on t he other hand are exempted from the national minimum wage and therefore can pay a minimum of £95 a week.

There is usually a sort of unspoken deal in professions from accountants, lawyers to metal workers in that they hire apprentices so that the apprentices learn something and gain experience from old hands in the business.

My case in point was as an accountant, I started out really low, I was taught how things worked and this training formed part of my 'pay'.

Or my mechanic friends, they would be tasked on their first days to make tea and watch, they would then be tasked menial jobs such as washing cars, cleaning the toilets making tea and sweeping and mopping the floors. Once they showed reliability they would be given basic mechanics jobs like changing oil. Over time their responsibilities would be enhanced until one day they were on an even level with that of the mechanics.


Whats the problem ? I hear you mumbling already.


The problem is apprenticeships have moved down in the chain, in that jobs which a person can be trained in within 5 minutes are being turned to apprenticeships. I'm sorry but I forgot to get screen grabs. But here are some examples:

Office junior apprenticeship:

Hold on! , what does an office junior do?, they photocopy, answer the phone, open the post and perform basic filing duties and the odd office erand. That is all, the training and learning lasts less than an hour a day if the company is particularly diligent in their training.

Cleaner apprenticeship

Back in the 1990s I had to work for a while as a cleaner, I do not believe there is any job other than sexual services that are below me, its money, I (so far) have not had to sell myself for sex (yet). In the 1990s I was handed a mop a bucket and a trolley of detergents and told I would figure it out. I did after 10 minutes. The training ended there and then I was an ok paid cleaner after day 1, the learning ceased there and the.


The problem is these are now turned into long term apprenticeships which pay £95 a week for 40 or so hours, how can employers do this? . On a NMW job a person on 40 hours a week will be paid £232 gross, and yet employers are being nasty enough and that isn't too strong a word to cut the pay of their lowest paid staff by £137 a week.

Insanity, pure insanity...



As a boot note I am too old to go on an apprenticeship.

Job Scams

Gumtree used to be good for job adverts but in the throes of the depression page after page after page of scams. All of these 'jobs' require you to pay a registration fee first in which to get a few links to a job survey thing. I've never tried them but working as an accountant I've seen the other side of them, yes my old firm used to do the accounts for one of these scams.

Is part time the new black?

The economic apocalypse has sped ahead a trend that seems to habe ingrained already that is the move away from full time for part time hours in many jobs. This is less damaging than say in the US of A where by if you are a part time worker they don't give you health insurance. Though this seems to be common in the low paid part of the jobs market. This shows a big serious financial blow to both the government's taxes and the people who are affected. When I worked as an accountant this seemed to be a trend which I had to adjust the employee figures for.

In fact its even worse in that although people may work less hours, those hours are spread over the week therefore the travel costs of a full time job are incurred for the pay of a part time job. So that people are squeezed on both sides!, the value of their free time is diminished and they still have to pay the full costs of getting to work. A week bus ticket or a year's road tax and insurance does not get cheaper because you work less hours. I dispair at this. The nightmare of zero hour contracts that plague the American jobs market seem destined to take root here too, the future looks rather bleak.