"But i'm in the army....."
Discussion
An old friend called me last night to inform me that he is losing his job in the next few months. He's an Officer in the Army,; based in the UK.
I listened to him for 20 minutes about how it was a "diabolicle liberty" and he "signed up for life", etc, etc.....and then told him that my Brother had just been laid off from his well paid banking job after 15 years in the same job.
"Well, he caused the problems.....mine is a job for life". He believes it too. You could argue the "he caused the problem" aspect of his reply, but the arrogant nature of some public sector employees and their firm belief that they really should have a job for life is just laughable.
It's a recession, old, young, private sector and PUBLIC SECTOR all suffer.
That's all.
I listened to him for 20 minutes about how it was a "diabolicle liberty" and he "signed up for life", etc, etc.....and then told him that my Brother had just been laid off from his well paid banking job after 15 years in the same job.
"Well, he caused the problems.....mine is a job for life". He believes it too. You could argue the "he caused the problem" aspect of his reply, but the arrogant nature of some public sector employees and their firm belief that they really should have a job for life is just laughable.
It's a recession, old, young, private sector and PUBLIC SECTOR all suffer.
That's all.
I can kind of see your friend's point. Forces jobs are sold as a job for life, and the expectation is that in return for signing up to the forces lifestyle and the risks it places on your life (in a way most other jobs don't), you would hope for some exceptionally good job security. Certainly more than you can expect in the private sector.
I wouldn't lump forces personnel in with civvie public sector workers. Equating a soldier with some non-job "equality protection and outreach officer" employed by a council is unfair IMO.
All that said, depending on his function in the forces, if his job going means that money won't be cut from frontline troops then that's unfortunate, but the right decision! Hopefully he has transferrable skills he can use when he leaves.
I wouldn't lump forces personnel in with civvie public sector workers. Equating a soldier with some non-job "equality protection and outreach officer" employed by a council is unfair IMO.
All that said, depending on his function in the forces, if his job going means that money won't be cut from frontline troops then that's unfortunate, but the right decision! Hopefully he has transferrable skills he can use when he leaves.
Difference is the jobs in the forces are sold on the basis of a career and job security you put up with the low pay , poor living conditions and long hours for that, but if YOU want to leave you have to buy yourself out of your contract ,wheras they can just make you redundant. Not going to bode well for recruitment
Lucky for him he is an officer I was made redundant from the forces 15 years ago , enlisted men got their payment based on how long was left on their contract , I had two years and had served 10 , officers got payments based on years served , so guess who did best out of the deal??
Lucky for him he is an officer I was made redundant from the forces 15 years ago , enlisted men got their payment based on how long was left on their contract , I had two years and had served 10 , officers got payments based on years served , so guess who did best out of the deal??
I think he has every right to be pissed off and I think the OPs attitude is remarkably arrogant. Taking on a career as an army officer is not hopping on a gravy train or a cushy desk job - if you have the attributes to be a good officer you certainly could be making a lot more money in the private sector if you chose to.
Choosing an altruistic career and then getting made redundant is an understandable kick in the teeth.
Choosing an altruistic career and then getting made redundant is an understandable kick in the teeth.
Prince Jefri said:
An old friend called me last night to inform me that he is losing his job in the next few months. He's an Officer in the Army,; based in the UK.
I listened to him for 20 minutes about how it was a "diabolicle liberty" and he "signed up for life", etc, etc.....and then told him that my Brother had just been laid off from his well paid banking job after 15 years in the same job.
"Well, he caused the problems.....mine is a job for life". He believes it too. You could argue the "he caused the problem" aspect of his reply, but the arrogant nature of some public sector employees and their firm belief that they really should have a job for life is just laughable.
It's a recession, old, young, private sector and PUBLIC SECTOR all suffer.
That's all.
a recession is one thing
however the state of public finances are the issue!
please get him to send his complaint to a Mr G.Brown!
I listened to him for 20 minutes about how it was a "diabolicle liberty" and he "signed up for life", etc, etc.....and then told him that my Brother had just been laid off from his well paid banking job after 15 years in the same job.
"Well, he caused the problems.....mine is a job for life". He believes it too. You could argue the "he caused the problem" aspect of his reply, but the arrogant nature of some public sector employees and their firm belief that they really should have a job for life is just laughable.
It's a recession, old, young, private sector and PUBLIC SECTOR all suffer.
That's all.
a recession is one thing
however the state of public finances are the issue!
please get him to send his complaint to a Mr G.Brown!
The forces are a bit of a special case.
You train for a career that does not always have a direct civilian equal. Its very likely that someone will be out to kill you during your career.
When I was in I signed a contract for 22 years, with a minimum service of around 8 years, and had to give 18 months notice to leave.
I'd expect to be able to serve that 22 years if I wished
You train for a career that does not always have a direct civilian equal. Its very likely that someone will be out to kill you during your career.
When I was in I signed a contract for 22 years, with a minimum service of around 8 years, and had to give 18 months notice to leave.
I'd expect to be able to serve that 22 years if I wished
shouldbworking said:
I think he has every right to be pissed off and I think the OPs attitude is remarkably arrogant. Taking on a career as an army officer is not hopping on a gravy train or a cushy desk job - if you have the attributes to be a good officer you certainly could be making a lot more money in the private sector if you chose to.
so where's the big issue with having to go and prove that?The forces also spit out well motivated and skilled people who may easily take a job from their civilian counterparts
I had doubled my service income within 3 months of leaving and was only working 37.5 hours a week whereas i usually worked a lot more than that and sometimes twice that much a week in the forces
I had doubled my service income within 3 months of leaving and was only working 37.5 hours a week whereas i usually worked a lot more than that and sometimes twice that much a week in the forces
98elise said:
The forces are a bit of a special case.
You train for a career that does not always have a direct civilian equal. Its very likely that someone will be out to kill you during your career.
When I was in I signed a contract for 22 years, with a minimum service of around 8 years, and had to give 18 months notice to leave.
I'd expect to be able to serve that 22 years if I wished
Special case? WhyYou train for a career that does not always have a direct civilian equal. Its very likely that someone will be out to kill you during your career.
When I was in I signed a contract for 22 years, with a minimum service of around 8 years, and had to give 18 months notice to leave.
I'd expect to be able to serve that 22 years if I wished
Likely that someone will be out to kill you? Really? More than 50% that someone is specifically trying to kill you? I can imagine this to be the case for frontline infantry. Not sure too many of those who never see the frontline are at risk of 'likely' attempts on their life.
Everyone is a 'special case' if you ask them.
johnfm said:
Special case? Why
Likely that someone will be out to kill you? Really? More than 50% that someone is specifically trying to kill you? I can imagine this to be the case for frontline infantry. Not sure too many of those who never see the frontline are at risk of 'likely' attempts on their life.
Everyone is a 'special case' if you ask them.
Well your a special case aren't you?Likely that someone will be out to kill you? Really? More than 50% that someone is specifically trying to kill you? I can imagine this to be the case for frontline infantry. Not sure too many of those who never see the frontline are at risk of 'likely' attempts on their life.
Everyone is a 'special case' if you ask them.
You clearly have no idea regarding the forces.
The days of only those on the front line being at risk are well over. Ask anyone of the so called REMF's who spent time in Iraq or Afghanistan. In the reaer with the gear? And the mortars and suicide bombers and rockets.
Prince Jefri said:
An old friend called me last night to inform me that he is losing his job in the next few months. He's an Officer in the Army,; based in the UK.
I listened to him for 20 minutes about how it was a "diabolicle liberty" and he "signed up for life", etc, etc.....and then told him that my Brother had just been laid off from his well paid banking job after 15 years in the same job.
"Well, he caused the problems.....mine is a job for life". He believes it too. You could argue the "he caused the problem" aspect of his reply, but the arrogant nature of some public sector employees and their firm belief that they really should have a job for life is just laughable.
It's a recession, old, young, private sector and PUBLIC SECTOR all suffer.
That's all.
sorry, disagree with you entirely. poor show.I listened to him for 20 minutes about how it was a "diabolicle liberty" and he "signed up for life", etc, etc.....and then told him that my Brother had just been laid off from his well paid banking job after 15 years in the same job.
"Well, he caused the problems.....mine is a job for life". He believes it too. You could argue the "he caused the problem" aspect of his reply, but the arrogant nature of some public sector employees and their firm belief that they really should have a job for life is just laughable.
It's a recession, old, young, private sector and PUBLIC SECTOR all suffer.
That's all.
petemurphy said:
why is any job a job for life these days?
it's relative imho. at some point anyone in the armed forces may be TOLD to put themselves in harms way as part of that career. if we're chucking out civil servants due to funding there are a LOT of other areas which should be utterly exhausted first.johnfm said:
Special case? Why
Likely that someone will be out to kill you? Really? More than 50% that someone is specifically trying to kill you? I can imagine this to be the case for frontline infantry. Not sure too many of those who never see the frontline are at risk of 'likely' attempts on their life.
Everyone is a 'special case' if you ask them.
No offence, but you really haven't got a clue. In return for spending months away from your family, sometimes to breaking point (there's a very high divorce rate in the forces), putting up with ever changing goalposts, having no union (who covers the firefighters and may be covering the prison strikes if they go ahead?), and yes, possibly one day having to make the ultimate sacrifice, I expect to have a secure job.Likely that someone will be out to kill you? Really? More than 50% that someone is specifically trying to kill you? I can imagine this to be the case for frontline infantry. Not sure too many of those who never see the frontline are at risk of 'likely' attempts on their life.
Everyone is a 'special case' if you ask them.
To be honest there are many people currently serving who are getting fed up with `the system` and are desperate for redundancy. There are many in the pension trap as well.
The RAF in particular are in danger of losing a great deal of experience (we are not like the army whereby you simply need manpower on the ground, many people are technical specialists with years of experience on particular pieces of equipment and aircraft).
I'm not sure what the situation is in the Army and Navy morale-wise, but the govt may have a surprise when people start leaving en-masse.
Edited by ben_h100 on Tuesday 5th April 22:54
Prince Jefri said:
An old friend called me last night to inform me that he is losing his job in the next few months. He's an Officer in the Army,; based in the UK.
I listened to him for 20 minutes about how it was a "diabolicle liberty" and he "signed up for life", etc, etc.....and then told him that my Brother had just been laid off from his well paid banking job after 15 years in the same job.
I wouldn't worry about your friend calling you again. I listened to him for 20 minutes about how it was a "diabolicle liberty" and he "signed up for life", etc, etc.....and then told him that my Brother had just been laid off from his well paid banking job after 15 years in the same job.
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