Views on emplyment agency's

Fliss_M

Dh is currently on month 7 on job hunting and I wondered when your guys views were on agency's?

Thing is we have had our fingers burnt in the past. Years ago he went with an agency and they gave him work in a local food factory. It took him off the dole and just months before we got married got us in debt as he would turn up on time and get sent home, being told they didnt need him. This went on for 3 months till they say they werent taking him on as he never turned up for work :eek::mad:. Fast forward 3 years we try again. Go into an agency and find out the job is as the same place. were desperate so he says sounds ok but this is what happened the last time I worked here. They were all breezy saying oh no this will be fine, yeah theres work. He works 1 full day, goes back the next and it happens again, we dont need you. He went straight to the agency office saying I didnt sign up for this. I need a full time job (especially as I was 30 weeks pg at the time!)

So all that has put us off them but with 5 months till the insurance money drys up am getting ansy. Am telling him to push on a job thats 4 on 4 off 12 hour night shifts that would be perfect as it would halve the cost of nursery but its with an agency. It says temp to perm which they say is the usual 13 weeks temp that any job is.

Some positive info would be good, as you can imagine, I have rather a negative view right now, cheers

SueC_2

As with pretty much everything in life, there are good agencies and bad agencies. Add in that there are good employers and bad employers, as well as good employees and bad employees, and you've got pretty much a pot luck situation.

DCFC79

How many agencies has he signed up with, what kind of work is he looking for

Fliss_M

He hasnt signed up with any. Am not really offay with the way agency's work. We check the direct gov job site 10 times a day as new jobs are posted so we can jump on anything do-able. Thats where agency jobs come in, its them mostly advirtising. He's after any work thats full time and depending, about £7 per hour. It sounds bad to say that but I work full time too and min wage wouldnt cover the nursery bills and our mortgage is linked to the BOE Base rate so I need to have a £300 barrier to make sure we can pay expected interest rate increases.

Tho that being said that hourly rate is changeable as he really just wants to get back into work and I know pay rates may increase but somewhere a line has to be drawn.

Fliss_M

Cheers Sue, I hadnt thought of it like that but while I was reading it I thought "of corse"

sexki11en

Unfortunately, it's not the agencies fault he's being sent home - it's the employers. Of course the agency want him there working as they'll earn money from it but if the work isn't there, it isn't there.

Production/factory work is very much like that at the moment sadly. The economy is only just recovering so companies will use temps rather than employ directly as they can pick & choose when/how many to use as & when they need them.

SK x

Evilm

Fliss_M wrote: »

We check the direct gov job site 10 times a day as new jobs are posted so we can jump on anything do-able. Thats where agency jobs come in, its them mostly advirtising..

The Direct.Gov jobsite, in my area certainly, gets very few of the jobs available to advertise. I am registered with 2 that send me daily emails (if there are any suitable roles) : Jobsite.co.uk and Totaljobs.co.uk and I find most of mine through that although I am looking in a different industry.

Agencies can be a bit hit and miss but on this occasion it seems to be the employer who is at fault. Agencies also can vary in effectiveness from place to place too so talk to some people you know locally and ask them about which ones they find to be good.

Good luck for the future.

RobertoMoir

Everyone is trying to solve their own problems.

Employers need short term cover to solve a problem.
Agencies take a fee for supplying that. Obvious, I know, but the point is that they are earning money (solving their problem) by helping employers to solve their problem. Your problem with needing to earn a living is lower down the list of priorities than either of those two problems.

If you are /your partner is a contractor at an agency then you need to understand that and work on the basis. Don't take it personally, sign up with several agencies and realise that part of the job of being a contractor is managing your relationships with agencies by helping them solve their problems.

continualdiamond

My OH wouldn't have the job he has now if he hadn't signed up with agencies.

Over 2 years ago now he was let go after his probation period and was out of work for 6 mths. With 2 mths left to claim JSA at which then it would stop because of what i earn't he decided to sign up with a few agencies.

Granted he had 2 bad experiences, 2 companies getting 3 days and the other 7 days work out of him then saying didn't need him anymore. Just made the whole benefit claim a nightmare and pushed back his JSA etc etc.

But then got taken on driving for a company via the agency and spent 4 mths working for them through the agency. The company then decided to take him off the agency books and give him a temporary contract direct with the company.

That lasted quite awhile, a year and a half in fact. But then 2 mths ago got a permanent contract with them.

The company he works for does not advertise any jobs, they go straight to the agencies and still do. They just get drivers in when they know a solid period of work is coming up and then unfortunately when its done, they let them go.

Not a nice way of doing things, but the company needs to make money so thats why they invest in agencies. OH survived twice when they had to make lists of what agency drivers to keep and what ones to let go, then he was 1 step above the agency drivers so to speak when he got his temp contract, cos he knew the agency ones would go 1st before him.

For us it went in his favour, but he did see quite a few people he'd become good mates with let go.

anamenottaken

continualdiamond wrote: »

Over 2 years ago now he was let go after his probation period and was out of work for 6 mths. With 2 mths left to claim JSA at which then it would stop because of what i earn't he decided to sign up with a few agencies.

To be honest, I'm surprised the Jobcentre were allowing him for four months NOT to sign up with some agencies.

Relying on advertisements in the press and on the internet and networking isn't the full range of how to find a job.

I'm glad it worked out for him but it could have been that he would have been back in work sooner if he had gone to the agencies earlier.

continualdiamond

anamenottaken wrote: »

To be honest, I'm surprised the Jobcentre were allowing him for four months NOT to sign up with some agencies.

Relying on advertisements in the press and on the internet and networking isn't the full range of how to find a job.

I'm glad it worked out for him but it could have been that he would have been back in work sooner if he had gone to the agencies earlier.

I don't know how it all works, 1st time in our lives either one of us has been out of work and had to claim. He went every week, signed on, was looking for jobs online and in every paper you can imagine and dropping CV's off at local businesses then if the jobcentre doesn't mention anything else to you on what to do to find work, you don't know about things.

Granted we kicked ourselves when someone suggested agencies to us, well someone at work suggested it to me and we wished we'd done it sooner.

I don't care how long it took him to find a job, he got one eventually and it was only 6mths, looking back i think that was pretty good going, cos it was July 2008 he got this job, just before the economy really started to suffer and to be fair i was telling our story of how good agencies were, not looking for a bashing at how or what my OH did or didn't do to find work.