Job situation is dire!

elkay115

wishface wrote: »

the website itself is poor quality. The search filters don't work properly, the jobs are not adequately labelled, categorised or described. The whole thing is an unwieldy mess and has been since day one.

I totally agree with that!! The search function has never worked properly on the site and I have mentioned this on many occasions and still nothing has been done. I thought when they revamped the site that maybe they would have sorted out all the problems with it, but nope..........still as bad as ever. If I put in within 25 miles of my area in the search function, I get jobs coming up on it as far as Sussex and Wales. I am in Scotland!!

Oh and now it is just overun with agencies!!

wishface

yep.

What's worse is that if you point out that Scotland is the other end of the UK they just accuse you of being lazy and that these were perfectly good jobs to apply for. Blah blah blah.

Yes because everyone is perfectly capable of upping sticks and relocating to Scotland on a whim for free.

Meanwhile they still don't bother sorting their laughable site out, and it is full of agencies.

Here's a clue, JC: call centre work is NOT retail.

lynzpower

ceridwen wrote: »

Now that raises a question in my mind:cool: - er why? Do enlighten us.

Lidl have got a terrible reputation for staff rights

But while Tescopoly, Friends of the Earth, the National Farmers' Union and others campaign noisily about Tesco's aggressive expansion plans and its estimated 1,800 existing UK stores, barely anyone is batting an eyelid about the speed with which Lidl is encroaching on the British retail landscape. Which is odd, because its tactics are controverisal, particularly the way in which it treats its staff.
In fact, so controversial is the company's reputation in mainland Europe that in 2004, Ver.di, a huge German trade union with 2.5 million members, published a book called Das Schwarz-Buch Lidl Europa (The Black Book on Lidl in Europe). This was based on more than 3,500 accounts submitted by past and present employees. An updated 144-page English translation came out last year, detailing complaints from some of Lidl's 170,000-plus staff working in 23 European countries. The charges were wide-ranging, numerous and often serious. Hidden cameras were said to have been found in one store in Wasbek, north Germany - they were being used to monitor staff. "Mr D's partner is expecting a baby and, as he says himself, he needs a lot of money at the moment," read one meticulously logged transcript. And on it went: "17.25: Mr D describes his poor financial situation and talks of impending fatherhood and the additional expenses it involves."
The Black Book said that in Portugal the main retail union criticised Lidl for routinely asking staff whose contracts of employment were due for renewal whether they were planning to have children. It said that the company was subsequently fined for its preference for maintaining a pregnancy-free zone. When the Guardian asked Lidl's UK press spokeswoman - who asked not to be quoted by name - to comment on the above allegations, she said that she could only speak on behalf of UK operations, but that the Black Book was out of date and riddled with errors. She claimed that several foreign newspapers were made to issue retractions, but could not, or would not, specify what the errors were, nor which media organisations were compelled to retract their stories. When we asked for the number of the German head office - if there is one somewhere on the internet, it's not somewhere obvious - she said that she did not know the number, and nor did anyone else within Lidl UK.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/mar/14/businesscomment.supermarkets

According to Uni Commerce, the international umbrella organisation of retail unions, Lidl is trying to copy US retailer Wal-Mart’s model of "pressing down wages and benefits and squeezing as much as is possible from its personnel". Uni Commerce also castigates the company’s culture of secrecy, suspicion and anti-union dirty tricks. In one instance the company reacted to a successful union recruitment drive at its distribution warehouses by reconfiguring its entire corporate structure overnight.
In the new EU member states the most famous, or infamous, allegation of Lidl abusing its workforce came to light in August last year. It was claimed that menstruating workers in Poland and the Czech Republic had to wear white headbands if they wanted to be allowed to use the toilet during working time. Of course, this very serious charge was sternly denied by Lidl’s senior management. But the story had enough substance to feature in Lebensmittelzeitung, Germany’s leading commerce magazine.
Bullying and intimidation are not restricted to Lidl’s operations in "new" Europe. When the German retail union Ver.di opened a weblog enabling workers to report on the company’s bad practices it was contacted by more than 3,500 present and former Lidl employees. The reports, which form the basis of a "black book" published by the union about the firm’s tawdry employment practices, chronicle how "the company is obsessed with control to the extent that it becomes a serious violation of the integrity of its workers. Everyone is treated with mistrust, as a potential thief".
A culture of constant surveillance extends to every nook and cranny of Lidl’s retail environment, with workers being subjected to frequent checks for contraband. Pockets are searched, as well as workers’ cars. Even mandatory periods away from the shop floor take on a Big Brother aspect. One Finnish worker said: "Everything that is consumed at the workplace during the breaks, be it a yoghurt or a soft drink, must not only have a cash ticket taped to it; the ticket must also be signed by the supervisor."

http://www.redpepper.org.uk/Every-Lidl-hurts

A little scooting around on interweb offers up a mine of info on lidl. I was told of this first in a trade union capacity some years ago

lisawal1971

I posted a job recently on the job centre web site and gumtree in the North West, I got 2 replies both of whom did not meet the basic skills requirements. The job is not specialised, is regular hours, permanent, office based and pays well above minimum wage. I can't seem to fill it?

wishface

the jobcentre claim they vet people who apply for jobs (by people i mean people signing on). Not only is this in complete contradiction with the rules of JSA which mean people have to apply for jobs regardless, but they don't vet anything. They say this as their excuse for not advertising jobs properly (like not including info on wages or even locations).

Pink_butterfly_3

max2009 wrote: »

What a load of garbage

The govt is continually pushing companies to advertise their vacancies on there and there is a wide range of work.

Trouble is though, when those companies do give it a go, its such a nightmare trying to do anything thanks to a horrendous website & absymal customer service, we'd rather stick pins in our eyes than use it again!

ScoobyStew

wishface wrote: »

the jobcentre claim they vet people who apply for jobs (by people i mean people signing on). Not only is this in complete contradiction with the rules of JSA which mean people have to apply for jobs regardless, but they don't vet anything. They say this as their excuse for not advertising jobs properly (like not including info on wages or even locations).

Isn't there supposedly 12 job seekers for every job out there at the moment or something like that. What can they do?

System

ScoobyStew wrote: »

Isn't there supposedly 12 job seekers for every job out there at the moment or something like that. What can they do?

I got an application form today, the reference number on it was 73, So I presume they have sent out 73 applications so far for this one job.

pretty_17

My husband got made redundant last October, after we had moved house (150 miles) for the job. He tok one of these 'self employed' sales people jobs in january but for the last 6 weeks has had no work - so no money. what are you supposed to do when your 'rainy day' money has all been used up. we don't qualify for tax credits as we earned too much last year and thats we me being out of work for six months. We are not high earners! We are trying to live on one wage now and thats not enough for all the bills. We don't go out, we don't drink we have nothing we can give up. My husband has been looking at all sorts of jobs as at this stage anything that brings in money would be OK. luckly we brought a cheaper house when we moved and paid off some of the mortgage, but we are struggling now. He's been to all the local supermarkets - nothing. He's looked further a field but in our area there are just not the jobs.