Jamie Oliver tells the truth!!!

chewmylegoff

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

In our organisation I'm one step below C-level and still do 100+ hour weeks a dozen or more times a year, with a 60 hour week as a bare minimum.

I'm on call 24/7, I work at least 3-4 hours a day on weekends, and I check emails daily on holidays. My bonus however, regularly exceeds my base salary, and my share awards will allow me to retire very comfortably at 50 if I keep this pace going.

The thing is, it's easy to see why you would want to work your rear off in this sort of situation as you have a clear career path and you are well rewarded for your endeavour. It has been the same for me. As soon as I started work a clear pathway was set out in front of me, as long as I jumped through the hoops and did the time I knew I would receive promotions, payrises, bonuses etc and that makes it worth doing the work.

I'm not so sure you would be so committed if the financial incentives were not there. It's easy for you to say that you would grind through 100+ hour weeks on minimum wage for years and maybe you would but it's pretty easy to see why some would be completely demotivated by such a prospect.

It's why we have to get rid of all our paralegals (not that they are on minimum wage) once they get too old and realise they aren't going to make it so it's not worth them working their !!!!!! off anymore as the rewards aren't there.

I have no doubt that Jamie Oliver does have a lot of hard working immigrant staff. But comparing them to the British staff he could hire on the same wage is like comparing apples with oranges. Many of the immigrants we have working at our offices are doing menial jobs for low wages - many of them have degrees or had professional careers in their own country but jacked that in to come here and make coffee for accountants because the financial rewards are greater. The equivalent slice of our population work in far better paid jobs (like you for instance).

Meanwhile back home in Poland I expect you will find the disaffected polish yoof. They're not here because they're too lazy to come and don't want to work hard. Hardly rocket science.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I'd rather spend time with my partner and kids. They are young once (all of them! ). We live once. While you are free to make your choices, it doesn't mean they are right for everyone or you are somehow better. Being a good dad and spending time with the kids is equally as important to me as earning a wage.

Doing a fishing trip this weekend. Might catch a plastic bag and a twig if we are lucky. But you know what, whatever we catch they will be over the moon.

Thankfully for me, I have no such thing as "hours". I have jobs to do. Most of them I can do whenever I like.

You're very happy with your family life. Can the same be said for your financial life?

100 hours are extreme but they're not needed to improve the financial side of the equation. There's a balance somewhere and it's a long way short of 100 hours per week.

Look at the time we spend on here. Time not being productive or being spent with family. We could both be fluent in Mandarin by now - that has the potential to make us more valuable employees.

They're the choices we make everyday.

John1993_2

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Thankfully for me, I have no such thing as "hours". I have jobs to do. Most of them I can do whenever I like.

This is of course your choice, but it means that you have absolutely zero symppathy when you claim that things iin life are too expensive. If you live like you claim, then you might expect that your family will never have the house that you'd like, or the savings that you'd like.

I may be mistaken, but have you not complained about the cost of housing on here? If so, how can you possibly square that with this quote below?

Being a good dad and spending time with the kids is equally as important to me as earning a wage.

ViolaLass

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Career comes before family, personal life, and self-gratification.

There is time to be self-indulgent later..... But the first 20 years out of School or Uni you pay your dues and earn respect and prioritise work above everything.

Goodness me, no. I work hard as a teacher but I want to have my time away from the kids, time to read, hug my husband, cook etc. When I put my job before everything else for too long, my teaching starts to suffer. I'm a human, not a robot.

zagfles

John1993 wrote: »

This is of course your choice, but it means that you have absolutely zero symppathy when you claim that things iin life are too expensive.

Why, is the only response to things being expensive that you should work more to buy them? What's the point of MSE then?

If you live like you claim, then you might expect that your family will never have the house that you'd like, or the savings that you'd like.

I may be mistaken, but have you not complained about the cost of housing on here? If so, how can you possibly square that with this quote below?

Quite easily. In fact I'd replace the "equally" with "more". And just like with work - get your money to work smarter not harder :cool:

Out,_Vile_Jelly

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

I'm on call 24/7, I work at least 3-4 hours a day on weekends, and I check emails daily on holidays. My bonus however, regularly exceeds my base salary, and my share awards will allow me to retire very comfortably at 50 if I keep this pace going.

Well, this is the life you have chosen for yourself and you seem to be enjoying it- fair enough.

Most people choose a different work/life balance and prefer to have less money but more time for friends, family and fun when they are young. When do you even get time to enjoy your wealth if you spend the majority of your time at work, on call, or checking work emails? What do you actually spend the money on?

I didn't start earning reasonable money until my late 20s, meaning I'm highly unlikely to retire at 50. However, I spent my early 20s having immense fun living abroad, travelling on a budget, meeting all sorts of characters, learning other languages (mainly swearing and drinks vocabulary), sleeping on sofas, becoming confident and independent. I have fantastic photos and memories from those years, and I wouldn't swap them for a longer period of sedate, expensive holidays later in life.

John1993_2

zagfles wrote: »

Why, is the only response to things being expensive that you should work more to buy them? What's the point of MSE then?

Advice on savings can help, but you can't decide to be non-materialistic and then be taken seriously when you say that houses cost too much money.

Yes, houses cost "too much" if you've made a conscious decision to eschew higher earnings to spend time with your family.

Quite easily. In fact I'd replace the "equally" with "more". And just like with work - get your money to work smarter not harder :cool:

Again, your choice. I chose to get established in my career befoore having children. I'd not dream of doing this and then whining that it wasn't fair that my knees had gone a bit creaky while the children were still young.

Sampong

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jamie-olivers-immigration-comments-spark-2234294

Speaking from one of his three restaurants – The Greyhound, in Reading, !Berkshire – Antony Worrel Thompson said: “A lot of European staff are really good workers, but they don’t have that passion for food or the creativity.

"When I find a young Brit I find them incredibly creative and really enthusiastic. I train chefs myself and it’s great.”

He went on: “The country needs young people to train, as there aren’t enough young British chefs. We need to encourage them, rather than knock them.

“I would say that British people work just as hard as their European counterparts.

"When you do find a good worker who wants it enough – wherever they are from – they are excellent.”

Entrepreneur and Former Dragons’ Den star Hilary Devey, 56, blasted his attitude, saying: “I employ people from all over the world. Jamie has got this very wrong.

“Motivation has nothing to do with country of origin, and everything to do with the employer and the encouragement and support he or she offers to their staff.”

Lurita Carr, 22, worked at Jamie’s bustling Italian !restaurant chain in Canary Wharf, East London, for 10 months last year.

She said: “We all know it’s competitive out there so no-one’s messing about.

"When I worked at Jamie’s the British and Europeans worked together so I don’t understand why he would favour one group.”

And Lewis Kelly, 19, has just finished a chef diploma and has worked in kitchens at the capital’s five-star Royal Garden Hotel and the Royal Albert Hall.

He fumed: “Jamie’s comments are ridiculous and mean. I’ll get up at 5am for work and then go to lectures.

"He needs a reality check to see all the young British chefs working hard in restaurants.”

Perhaps Jamie should ensure brain is in gear before spouting prejudiced rubbish.

Personally I find the comments disgusting and racist.

There is no point giving me lectures about working 100 hour weeks, because I have done all that and beyond. I do hold the opinion that SOME of our youth need a rocket strapped to their backside.

However over the last few years my opinions on this sort of thing have altered somewhat. I come from an area of high immigration and on a local level I can see that it is virtually impossible for the local unskilled workforce to find work because employers are opting for an immigrant workforce. It's nothing to do with the fact that they work harder - but rather the fact that they are willing to work for lower wages, HMO's can be rented to them, and system "workarounds" can be found to get away with paying less than the minimum wage - something British workers would protest about.

Graham_Devon

John1993 wrote: »

This is of course your choice, but it means that you have absolutely zero symppathy when you claim that things iin life are too expensive. If you live like you claim, then you might expect that your family will never have the house that you'd like, or the savings that you'd like.

I may be mistaken, but have you not complained about the cost of housing on here? If so, how can you possibly square that with this quote below?

Well I'm certainly not asking for your sympathy, so were all good there.

I think you have taken my post and extrapolated that you cannot have sufficient income and sufficient personal life.

The thing with houses is simple. I believe they are "too expensive" if you have to give up family life, or indeed having said family in order to buy a house.

Everything in moderation. I wouldn't want to live a life of working to the point I only have time to sh*t, shower and shave outside of sleeping all in order to buy a house. Similarly I wouldn't want to neglect work in order to spend time with family.

If you cannot buy basic shelter without having to give up something else, such as spending time with your children, then at that point I believe houses can be described as expensive.

I don't find this a particularly outrageous view to have really.

Sampong

Also, just a small point here but if you take the following Jamie Oliver quote;

"British kids particularly, I have never seen anything so wet behind the ears!

and replace it with the following;'

"Eastern European kids particularly, I have never seen anything so wet behind the ears!

does it become a racist comment?

Just curious......