Construction. What's Going On?

[Tannedbaldhead]

Just been Informed my Employer has just lost the contract I was working on. Someone from HR at head office is coming up to bonnie Scotland to chop a few unfortunates one of whom shall probably be my good tanned bald self.
Being the proactive type I've pinged my cv to any relevant party I suspect will have me. I've been here before and have always managed to find work. Two problems stand in my way: Firstly things (in Scotland) seem to have ground to a halt after starting to look a bit more promising and secondly for the first time in my life I'm stubbornly not going to move home to find work. In the past I've worked in Manchester, North Yorks, Ireland, London and the South East, Co Durham and Carlisle and at a kick in the arse off 50 I've had enough.
My best hope is that the company who have won the contract will take me on due to my working knowledge of the client, the contract, schedules of work and finances. It's not a job I'm looking forwards to mind. The current contract is losing my current employer money. This new prospective employer has undercut us and will be looking to me to drive even further efficiencies (basically make everyone work even harder for even less money) taking on even more stress and all for a poorer pay and condition package.
Is this the way it is?

[Tannedbaldhead]

Hang on! This should have been in "Jobs".

Where's a moderator when we need them.

[Tannedbaldhead]

tleefox said:

Who do you work for?

As the industry is picking up a lot of companies appear to only now be finding out how much they are struggling - probably due to contracts taken on on massive losses a year ago.

I am in Bristol, in the last 2 weeks we have lost 2 very well established local firms that have been tracing for 50+ years - downfall being poison contracts taken on in the recession.

Balfour Beatty's struggles are well publicised and unless they can sell Parsons Brinckerhoff, they will go bust from what I hear.

Things are picking up but companies are still trying to claw back huge losses from the recession.

I work for a private contractor providing repair, maintenance and refurbishment works in the Social Housing Sector. It's been carnage here since 2010. We've seen some really big players such as Connaught and Morrisons bite the dust. The Industry is tearing itself apart with suicide bidding to win contracts. Companies are taking on contracts where they have no chance of turning a profit.
Commercial managers and Quantity Surveyors are then put under huge pressure to squeeze every last penny out of clients who due to cut backs in Govt grants towards social housing improvement haven't any pennies to be squeezed. Next target is our own staff who are expected to finish more and more jobs within a time period and once that's achieved start an hour earlier in the morning, hang around a little later in the evening and instead of taking a lunch eat a sandwich in the van driving between two jobs and all for a wage that in real terms has been cut substantially over the last few years.

[Tannedbaldhead]

Mattt said:

Plenty of work out there, for those prepared to 'get on their bike'.

What if they're not?

I was very switched on and prepared to move in the past. I lived in the North of England, London and then back in North England for the sake of my career. The transient lifestyle was a major contributor to the breakdown of my marriage. I studied, got my degree in Quantity Surveying, have gained further qualifications in specialised sectors of build technology, health and safety, asbestos management and man management. I've given an above and beyond the call of duty level of service to all my employers and yet all I seem to earn is wage cuts, poorer terms and conditions and regular redundancies. I've had enough. I'm going to sit here and apply for positions where I don't have to move from a house I've spent a lot of money refurbing for my benefit rather than that a tenant or new buyer and where I don't have to do a hundred and severalty mile round commute.

A Friend of mine (electrical engineer and project manager) has just had to take a job in Dundee (he lives in North Lanarkshire that's a 3 hour round commute for a £30k pa job when the guy has qualifications and experience that should earn him £50k on his doorstep).