If the minimum wage has caught up with me should I just look an easier job?

n1guy

My job used to be quite well paid, I am a cabinet maker, I did a couple of NVQ's back in the 90's to become qualified, but with one thing or another I guess cabinet makers aren't in big demand and well the increase this year in NMW will be caught up with me. £7.50 10 years ago was OK not today.

I enjoy the work OK but its is quite a skilled job and things like holidays etc are always a bit of an issue as I posted before Christmas.

I am wondering if I should just cut my losses and look for an easier job such as stacking shelves etc? I hear Lidl pay £8.50 per hour now? There is no real incentive now in doing my job and now chance of getting a payrise are slim. I can't figure out why I should kill myself day in day out and stand in a freezing cold workshop all winter when I could stand in a warm supermarket or somewhere similar.

Any thoughts on the subject?

agrinnall

I presume you are an employee at the moment. Have you thought about going into business for yourself so that you get all of the money that is paid for the work you produce? Obviously you'd also have expenses but if there is a demand for your work perhaps you would end up making more money.

n1guy

I could never afford to. A lot of expensive machines are required in this line of work.

dlmcr

Look at how much bespoke furniture sells for, I know in John Lewis etc it is pretty pricy. Then figure out the cost of the raw materials. Figure out how much time it will take you to make something like that. How much profit does it leave you? If you can earn a decent living from making your own furniture and selling it to clients then set up on your own because you will never become rich being a cabinet maker, sorry to say but 7.50 ph for a skilled job is embarrassing. I nearly went into this when I was 17, glad I didn't because as you found out the money and jobs are almost non existent, became a data analyst instead but still have a interest in antique furniture / traditional contruction methods.

n1guy

dlmcr wrote: »

Look at how much bespoke furniture sells for, I know in John Lewis etc it is pretty pricy. Then figure out the cost of the raw materials. Figure out how much time it will take you to make something like that. How much profit does it leave you? If you can earn a decent living from making your own furniture and selling it to clients then set up on your own because you will never become rich being a cabinet maker, sorry to say but 7.50 ph for a skilled job is embarrassing. I nearly went into this when I was 17, glad I didn't because as you found out the money and jobs are almost non existent, became a data analyst instead but still have a interest in antique furniture / traditional contruction methods.

No doubt there is money to be made in it but I'd imagine set up costs would be eye watering when you factor in premises, equipment such as panel saws, CNC routers to name but a few. All for someone with zero capital.

If I'm honest it's not something I have a real interest in anyway, there was a real push for apprenticeships in these type of jobs back in the 90s and I jumped aboard the apprenticeship train. I just stuck with it because although the money wasn't great it was higher than minimum wage. There is no real reason to stick with it anymore.

I imagine quite a few folk are gonna find themselves in this predicament now with the rises in NMW. Employers haven't been giving pay rises and now the NMW has caught up.

theoretica

I suspect that the grass is not as green in Lidl shelf stacking as it appears to you. What about looking at jobs like shopfitters? Or kitchens etc. Or any jobs at good DIY places (if such still exist in your area) which would be glad for your practical knowledge to advise customers.

Kayalana99

Work to live, don't live to work. I can't imgaine the job you have now is bad hours, maybe 7-5pm sort of shifts?

If I'm right, only going from what I've heard, Aldi have you on zero hour contracts and (used to be) a high wage for retail. Min wage is catching up on it's wage to, as I believe it's been seen as a high wage for a while. Most supermarket jobs will pay close to min wage to but you also have to deal with being treated like rubbish (well in my own experience), random shift patterns covering evenings/weekends and generally messed around.

No reason why you can't retrain, or maybe look for an office job, but I'd put money you'd be better off staying where you are then retail.

n1guy

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Work to live, don't live to work. I can't imgaine the job you have now is bad hours, maybe 7-5pm sort of shifts?

If I'm right, only going from what I've heard, Aldi have you on zero hour contracts and (used to be) a high wage for retail. Min wage is catching up on it's wage to, as I believe it's been seen as a high wage for a while. Most supermarket jobs will pay close to min wage to but you also have to deal with being treated like rubbish (well in my own experience), random shift patterns covering evenings/weekends and generally messed around.

No reason why you can't retrain, or maybe look for an office job, but I'd put money you'd be better off staying where you are then retail.

Yes I had been thinking about retraining, it's really my only viable long term option. The likes of retail would only be a temporary solution.

steampowered

Think about what skills you have, and what other jobs might find those skills useful.

I'm no expert but you obviously have skills with your hands and are able to make things. Perhaps you can do some other job in manufacturing? Or retrain into a different trade?

Undervalued

n1guy wrote: »

No doubt there is money to be made in it but I'd imagine set up costs would be eye watering when you factor in premises, equipment such as panel saws, CNC routers to name but a few. All for someone with zero capital.

Thomas Chippendale managed to make decent cabinets with rather less in the way of machine tools.......

RichardD1970

Kayalana99 wrote: »

If I'm right, only going from what I've heard, Aldi have you on zero hour contracts and (used to be) a high wage for retail.

Aldi don't (AFAIK) have zero hrs contracts, they are usually contracts for 25 hrs per week with the chance to do more, deepening on need, up to 40 hrs I think.

My wife is a Stock Assistant (shelf stacker) and earns £8.40 ph, Store Assistants (who do the tills as well) earn more.