C4 Dispatches: Middle Class and Jobless

mizzbiz

BritRael wrote: »

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

Thought he was self-employed.....

SingleSue

mizzbiz wrote: »

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.

Pretty much my experience too, apparently too bright for the more basic work (cleaner etc in a school - I'm not proud, I would do it!) and I would (according to them) get bored or leave as soon as another opportunity nearer to my old sector came up but can't do my old job as it doesn't fit into the care needs of the boys.

I actually think it could be quite fun to be a dinner lady....would keep my customer service skills up to date! :rotfl:

23rdspiral

a year ago i was made redundant, i have a BA and specialist MA. my local co-op ripped up my application stating that they wouldnt train me just to have me leave for a better job. nice. so i lied on an application and got waitressing work, which i'd done when i was a student, and just said i'd not worked for a few years. they were happy with that. odd. they'd sooner employ an apparant lay-about than a professional. but at least i got a job.

michaels

Nicely sums up the problem.

Not sure what the answer is - I am sure that even if you left the coop quickly they would still have got their monies worth through high quality quickly learned work but I can see why they would not want 'stop-gap' workers as recruitment is time consuming and costly.

23rdspiral wrote: »

a year ago i was made redundant, i have a BA and specialist MA. my local co-op ripped up my application stating that they wouldnt train me just to have me leave for a better job. nice. so i lied on an application and got waitressing work, which i'd done when i was a student, and just said i'd not worked for a few years. they were happy with that. odd. they'd sooner employ an apparant lay-about than a professional. but at least i got a job.

kabayiri

I hope this whole recession has at least one silver lining...

The realisation that Uni/F.E just isn't right for everyone. The debts incurred are just not worth it sometimes.

pingu2209

Agree with Kabayiri. Uni used to be for seriously cleaver people who would study further to take up one of 'the professions' (accountant, doctor, lawyer etc).

However, over the past 15 years the idea that everyone should go to Uni has been culturally seeping into the UK, and more and more people are going and getting degrees. However, because they are not cleaver enough to do the professional courses, they take some sad sap course that all you need is one A-Level at grade D!

These people then leave and think that working in Dominos as a junior manager is beneath them.

Uni sets expectations too high. These 21 year olds leave and expect to get jobs in offices at middle management levels. There just arn't enough jobs. If I had a choice of someone who has 3 years experience working their way up from bottom to put into middle management or someone with no experience, I know what I would chose.

toby3000

I think the bigger surprise was that none of them seemed to cut back on their lifestyles at all... still running 2 cars, kids in private schools etc, despite having no income

Cleaver

pingu2209 wrote: »

Agree with Kabayiri. Uni used to be for seriously cleaver people

You're correct, I did go to university.

bo_drinker

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.

And when it came down to it they were living beyond their means, how the fk do they manage that and not think of putting anything away !!!!!!. They are on cloud 9.

yorkshirekev

Speaking as someone who left university at 23 and worked at Poundland for 2 years after that, I would agree that university raises expectations perhaps unsubstainably for some people. There is one hugely positive thing is that it gives people an experience that they would not possibly get in any other way.

I am a kid from a manual labour family background who got the chance to read books for a living and to live with an go out with a beautiful Kenyan woman is something that I would never have been able to do back home.

My home town has 15k people and my school year had 8 who have gone to prison and 3 to university (myself included). You have to keep the barriers for university low because otherwise those who started the race further back (had to work full-time whilst at college) Only one parent in work, Brother and father out of work, bills to pay,

People need to understand that this generation has the golden opportunity to expand their minds, broaden their experiences immeasurably and to have the most fulfulling time of their lives.

Recessions will come and go, in the end life is about broadening the mind and enriching the soul. Your professional and financial life will yo-yo regardless of the economic cycle.

Ignore the naysayers, if you can do it, do it. Just don't all expect to be masters of the universe. Enjoy your time and fill your life with interesting and bewitching company, then you won't go far wrong.

Kev