Not Much Of A Story ..

Er yes to all of those as I employ myself.

Mind you, when I was employed by a national newspaper (not the DM) I was summarily told, along with a dozen others, that from a certain date, my pay and hours would be halved and I would be based at home because new cloud-based software would allow the company to reduce its costs in this way. Take it or leave it.

That's the sort of thing that's endemic in the private sector and something those working in safe public-sector jobs fail to appreciate. I have never ever felt any job I've had would survive more than a couple of years at most before restructuring would change it or eliminate it completely.

I have friends who have worked in the public sector since leaving university (mostly those with thirds with limited options) and have never known a day's unemployment or even felt threatened by it. In addition, they'll get a gold-plated £30,000 pension at 60 and are guaranteed employment until that age or later if they choose.

Now I'm not banging on about this because they backed the right horse, because I have enjoyed every day of my working life - the challenge of being continually judged on my performance to ensure my continued employment has a galvanising effect on one's efforts, I can tell you.

But it does annoy me that public-sector employees fail to appreciate that they are in a privileged position with automatic pay rises etc, and it's totally disingenuous for them to claim that they have had a pay freeze for X years. They may not have had a cost-of-living rise but they have still been awarded their yearly increments for seniority (ie managing to live a year longer!)

Good luck to you if you're one of them, but please stop moaning. Those paying your wages are in a worse position than you and have been for decades, certainly for all of my working life.

 

Increments for seniority soon max out, after five years IIRC. A lot of nonsense being spouted about civil servants - most are people in dead end jobs hovering at min wage or well below the average salary.
Still, let's keep "facts" out of the thread, shall we?

 

That's simply not true in my experience Loz. I know a lot of civil servants and teachers.

 

And the point is that dead-end or not, they are at least secure and allow lives to be planned, something that's sadly lacking in a private sector moving towards zero-hours contracts.

My son, with a bloody good degree and excellent part-time employment record, had to work unpaid for seven months to be awarded a 12-month contract.

I've given him a decent deposit for a flat but he struggled to get a mortgage and is having to pay a premium interest rate on the only one he could get.

Such scenarios were unheard of in any working environment when I started work.

 

Zéro-hours contracts and unpaid internships are not limited to London surely?

 

I agree but people may also have compelling family reasons to stay put, such as dependent parents or special needs children. Anyway it seems as if most of the employment opportunities, however impermanent, are in the capital. That's why it's the fastest growing city in Europe at the moment, I believe. And I have never worked with people in zero-hours contracts but working for free is endemic in journalism where there is intense competition for a job. I did myself for six months, along with other candidates for the position - and that wasn't in London. It was in Sussex. My son was employed on zero-hours contracts during university holidays, so I know they exist!

 

That's true. And, of course, there are plenty of care homes outside London Cranky. I wanted to volunteer to work in a care home but was asked not to by the staff I met there who said its owners would use my help as an excuse reduce their hours if I did.

 

SNP issues on Sunday Politics Fin.

 

Often easier said than done - even for those lucky enough to have profited from a good education.

 

And getting more difficult all the time due to mad EU freedom of movement rules that encourage an exodus of people from poorer countries to richer ones.

And where's the moral highground in poaching, for example, qualified medical staff from countries that need them to fill vacancies here created by our own unwillingness to train unemployed British citizens?

 

Do you have any reason for saying that? Do you have evidence that people are less educated or skilful now. I would have thought the reverse were true.

I can only speak for my own children and their friends but I would say they are far better educated and informed than I and my peers were at their age - and I include Oxbridge and red-brick university graduates in that assessment.

Friends who are teachers and head teachers confirm that opinion - and they should know.

 

Some like them but generally it's employers who benefit the most. It's difficult for people with responsibilities to budget of they don't get sick pay etc. and that's most of the working population who have to pay rent or mortgages.