C4 Dispatches: Middle Class and Jobless

Ditto

Programme on Channel 4 tomorrow 8pm (Monday 14th Sept.), might be of interest to some...

Dispatches: Middle Class and Jobless

Dispatches examines one of the biggest surprises of the credit crunch: middle-class unemployment.
From company directors to university graduates, this film follows the experience of several people who have found themselves out of work and desperately in search of a job, with some going to extraordinary lengths to try to secure one.
Dispatches highlights the practical realities of trying to find work, even when armed with a degree or a glowing CV.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-3/episode-5

PasturesNew

Are university graduates automatically middle class? I'd not have said so.

Afriend_2

PasturesNew wrote: »

Are university graduates automatically middle class? I'd not have said so.

Especially is their degree was in media studies.

maryotuam

Why is noone concerned about the working class jobless. The experience is just as bad for us/them too? The media is controlled by the middle classes in my opinion and has always displayed a prejudice against the lower paid (except maybe a brief period late 60's/early 70's when it was possible for a working class person to enter the media).

Ditto

I think because the media thinks that a working class person could/would get a job in McDonalds/Poundland etc but would a middle class person?
Maybe it makes more interesting telly seeing how "low" a middle class person would go to get a job?

amcluesent

>Maybe it makes more interesting telly seeing how "low" a middle class person would go to get a job?<

Hopefully it'll be a wake-up call that -

1) JobCentre is a farce
2) Saving for a rainy-day is for fools = no benefits!

Ditto

On now.....

sammyjammy

If I was in that situation I'd rather live off all my savings than have to visit the Jobcentre.

I worked in one for a number of years and let me tell you its much much worse now than it was then.

dktreesea

What I found surprising is how the people featured on the programme could just let the months roll by, without earning anything. They seemed to be in this cloud cuckoo land, telling themselves "I'm worth £80K a year. I can't possibly work for less. I'm a senior manager/director...." They are deluding themselves. They're unemployed, currently worth £0. How is it that someone so talented, worth so much, hasn't got the get up and go to start their own business? It just goes to show, doesn't it, that being a "marketing director" or "HR director" really doesn't qualify you for anything very much in today's marketplace.

mizzbiz

dktreesea wrote: »

What I found surprising is how the people featured on the programme could just let the months roll by, without earning anything. They seemed to be in this cloud cuckoo land, telling themselves "I'm worth £80K a year. I can't possibly work for less. I'm a senior manager/director...." They are deluding themselves. They're unemployed, currently worth £0. How is it that someone so talented, worth so much, hasn't got the get up and go to start their own business? It just goes to show, doesn't it, that being a "marketing director" or "HR director" really doesn't qualify you for anything very much in today's marketplace.

Don't agree - it's not easy to get 'any' job when you have a good working history. When I was unemployed, there was no chance of getting minimum wage/thereabouts work - I was told more times than I care to remember that 'i'd get bored and leave'. In the end, I got something in my own field but believe when I say I would have worked anywhere, if they would have had me.

Then you have the issue of competition for lower paid jobs. It's massive. Get your bum on reed.co.uk. Count up how many applicants there are for the Software Engineer jobs, then have another look and count how many there are for your average 'Administration Assistant' job. It's around 150/1.

Check out Charlie Croker's blog (Max Headroom). He even tried Supermarkets !!!!!!, and they woulnd't entertain him.

It's not a case of those people turning down work. They're not offered it to have the option of turning it down.

Oh, and the issue of setting up your own business.... Well, we're in a recession and small start ups with a client base are struggling, many shutting down/bankrupt. Why plough money that you may need to live on into a business that will more than likely fail. Unless you have the nous to either invent something essential or corner a part of the market no one else has thought of, you're on a road to losing a fair amount of money. These people are educated and qualified, yes, but maybe entrepreneurs they are not.

I looked into lots of self-employment options but many were killed off at the pass as they require a 'boom period' style market/skills I don't have.

BritRael

Ditto wrote: »

Dispatches: Middle Class and Jobless

I think you'll find that Prince Charles is Upper Class and jobless :rolleyes: :rotfl::rotfl: