UK unemployment total hits highest in 17 years

[RVVUNM]

I know of a chippy who "wouldn't get out of bed for less than £200 a day" so earns fk all in bed all day.

[Digga]

johnxjsc1985 said:

If the large amount of jobs going are from the Public sector then surely the burden to the Tax payer is less.
Even paying benefits to them will not incur the same cost as paying them an AVG national wage of £24k or so.
I believe the Gov is happy for jobs to go as long as they are from the public sector as each job goes its less demand on the tax payer.
It isn't sometihng I agree with but is doesnt seem to have been raised by the opposition.I have got this wrong???

I think what the government and also the oppostition don;t realise is the weakenss in SMEs and private sector employment, as typified by our engineering friend above.

The lending not getting through to SMEs is having a chronic effect on the economy. I agree that public sector job losses are 'less bad' but there is real danger of deeper private sector malaise.

[anonymous-user]

Reminds me that i recently had a quote to build a patio area.
I got several quotes from local "builders" all around the £7k mark. Materials were about £1k so the £6k was for labour costs.
I felt there was no more than 5 days work for 2 people, so cost wise would have worked out £600 per man per day

When I challenged the builders on this they couldn't really say why they were expecting so much - none of them argued over my time/labour calculations.

Guess, what , got a couple of Poles in who were happy to work at £80 per man per day. Job done in one week and the bill was £1,800.

Something needs to change in this country !

[Ozzie Osmond]

Question:

How can society motivate people to work for £50 a day (minimum wage) when the press is full of footballers making £100,000 a week, bankers collecting their huge bonuses and lottery winners pocketing £100,000,000?

It's not surprising they choose to get pregnant, be housed by the council and live on benefits.

"Something better change"
Jean-Jacques Burnel

[andymadmak]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Question:

How can society motivate people to work for £50 a day (minimum wage) when the press is full of footballers making £100,000 a week, bankers collecting their huge bonuses and lottery winners pocketing £100,000,000?

It's not surprising they choose to get pregnant, be housed by the council and live on benefits.

"Something better change"
Jean-Jacques Burnel

And your answer is?

[Victor McDade]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Question:

How can society motivate people to work for £50 a day (minimum wage) when the press is full of footballers making £100,000 a week, bankers collecting their huge bonuses and lottery winners pocketing £100,000,000?

It's not surprising they choose to get pregnant, be housed by the council and live on benefits.

"Something better change"
Jean-Jacques Burnel

Surely the practicalities of life will motivate people. Everyone has to eat, be clothed, and put a roof over ones head.

[Digga]

andymadmak said:

And your answer is?

I think it's high time the (real) working man/woman regained a bit of kudos - that people doing honest but basic jobs were not treated as untouchables and that those who could work but don't are villified.

[Jimslips]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Question:

How can society motivate people to work for £50 a day (minimum wage) when the press is full of footballers making £100,000 a week, bankers collecting their huge bonuses and lottery winners pocketing £100,000,000?

It's not surprising they choose to get pregnant, be housed by the council and live on benefits.

"Something better change"
Jean-Jacques Burnel

Good grief. Surely the very fact that people can earn that amount of money should be an incentive.

[Tyre Smoke]

Jimslips said:

Good grief. Surely the very fact that people can earn that amount of money should be an incentive.

Indeed. But has always been the British malaise.

In the US if you drive a Rolls Royce everyone applauds you doing well and wants to be like you, in Britain everyone wants to deprive you of your Rolls.

[Anubis]

Boogsie said:

I'll chime in with how hard it is to recruit at the moment. I run an IT dev shop and I'm finding it incredibly hard to find devs, at any price.
Started looking at the beginning of the year for mid-level to senior guys, then around June started looking for grads to train. One grad I was quite interested in was given a task to take home. I called him after a week to find out how he was getting on and he put down the phone after I introduced myself... shocking behavior.

Our office is very... multicultural. And still looking for devs!

Have to say that if you gave me a week to prove myself by completing a company task I wouldn't do it. I agree that you did it with the best intentions and probably just wanted to make sure he/she knows their stuff and willing to work hard, but to the interviewee it seems like you are offloading actual work for free. There are plenty of small companies out there wanting to make a fast buck for nothing - no wonder they put the phone down.

I'm not saying you were doing this, but to someone else they must have thought so (I would). Why not just ask for example work or a portfolio come interview stages? Strange...

[Jimslips]

Tyre Smoke said:

Indeed. But has always been the British malaise.

In the US if you drive a Rolls Royce everyone applauds you doing well and wants to be like you, in Britain everyone wants to deprive you of your Rolls.

I am glad I was not brought up like that. Work hard and you will be rewarded if you have half a brain my parents told me. They were right

[Chainguy]

Tyre Smoke said:

Jimslips said:

Good grief. Surely the very fact that people can earn that amount of money should be an incentive.

Indeed. But has always been the British malaise.

In the US if you drive a Rolls Royce everyone applauds you doing well and wants to be like you, in Britain everyone wants to deprive you of your Rolls.

I agree with you there. However, I think the argument here is more about tradesmen looking to earn £300+ a day for frankly, just using there trade. It's unjustifiable, and it was a big reason for the hole the country is in now, because Mr and Mrs Muppet used to pay this sort of money and put it on a credit card. At 18%. Which they are now defaulting on.

Its all part of the bigger picture.

As I said, about time some reality started to hit. I think though, that it now is.

[Matt p]

fk me 300 a day?, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

A/c and refrigeration service man, I won't call myself an engineer for a long time yet

Got 6 years experience under my belt as I retrained from being a forklift truck driver. Tbh best decision I ever made, my salary is just over 450 a week take home more if I work Saturday's and the odd Sunday if I'm repairing a chiller etc.

I changed companies in June too!, they matched my salary and offer a very good pension scheme and health insurance for me and for a few pounds more the other half too

There is work out there don't get me wrong I have been lucky but bloody hell I work hard for it!.

Chainguy said:

I agree with you there. However, I think the argument here is more about tradesmen looking to earn £300+ a day for frankly, just using there trade. It's unjustifiable, and it was a big reason for the hole the country is in now, because Mr and Mrs Muppet used to pay this sort of money and put it on a credit card. At 18%. Which they are now defaulting on.

Its all part of the bigger picture.

As I said, about time some reality started to hit. I think though, that it now is.

[Jasandjules]

Jimslips said:

I am glad I was not brought up like that. Work hard and you will be rewarded if you have half a brain my parents told me. They were right

Actually they were half right.

Plenty of people with less than half a brain making plenty of money, I believe we call them talentless f**kwits who have no idea about the real world, or celebrities for short.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Jimslips said:

Surely the very fact that people can earn that amount of money should be an incentive.

No. The "carrot" only works if the person perceives a reasonable chance of reaching it.

Most of us need a pretty direct connection between effort and reward in order to function.

[Jimslips]

Ozzie Osmond said:

No. The "carrot" only works if the person perceives a reasonable chance of reaching it.

Most of us need a pretty direct connection between effort and reward in order to function.

So it is just luck that i am rewarded for my effort?

[sportka1]

Jimslips said:

Ozzie Osmond said:

No. The "carrot" only works if the person perceives a reasonable chance of reaching it.

Most of us need a pretty direct connection between effort and reward in order to function.

So it is just luck that i am rewarded for my effort?

its probably a lot of hard work and a fair amount of luck involved yes, but i tend to think that without the hard work the luck will not come your way.

[172ff]

Tyre Smoke said:

Today, apart from the school runs, which thankfully have covered the wages, I have three drivers sitting idle earning £7.42 an hour each. Quite how any taxi driver on their own/paying a rent for the taxi is surviving is beyond me. I know of several who have no school runs and are living off the £150 they take on a Saturday night. God knows how they pay for fuel/maintenance.

Personally, I'm scrabbling for every school run I can get my hands on.

I bet those are special needs kids your transporting. Loads of money spent on that by local authorities.

[Chainguy]

Matt p said:

Thing is Matt, you sound like you've got a bit about yourself. Guys like you always do well. Bloody good luck to you.

[dxg]

Happy82 said:

Idiocracy anyone?

I rapidily think we're heading that way.

Hell, Wall-e was the Disney version; making it acceptable for the upcoming generation.