Do you need to be skilled to earn a living wage?

TyreLever

It seems all ordinary jobs these days are minimum wage, or very close to it. So to earn £10 or more per hour, do you have to be highly skilled? Even some skilled jobs such as care workers often fall below a living rate.

pinkshoes

Surely it just depends on what career path you chose and how long you have been following that path?

My DH has worked his way up from apprentice to a senior engineer.

Care work isn't the best paid, but those running a care business make a fair amount! Same for cleaners...

IAmWales

pinkshoes wrote: »

Care work isn't the best paid, but those running a care business make a fair amount! Same for cleaners...

BUPA and the large chains yes, small agencies and care homes definitely not.

Care workers at a junior level are not skilled in a professional sense. They can take qualifications to help with progression.

What do you class as ordinary jobs OP? Why are the non-ordinary jobs not available to you? Perhaps you could look at some training to open up opportunities to you.

Looks like an ongoing issue for OP. What have you done to help yourself since you first posted?

bugslet

I suspect I have answered this before, but....

Class 1 HGV driver, provided you aren't totally unable you should get a license <6 weeks at a cost of around 3k. You may be able to get funding under the trailblazer programme.

You are probably going to have to take the poorer jobs for the first year. But after that and depending where you are, you should get £10.00+. In Herts, mine are on £12.00 per hour and that's pretty standard. Work varies, fridge work, containers, machinery, out all week, home every night. Mine are on Euro work, though not abroad every week and top 40k.

RichardD1970

Nope, unskilled factory worker £17.15 per hour + shift allowance.

One of the lucky ones I know, but it is possible.

NeilCr

My partner's son is a bus driver down here in deepest, darkest Kent and gets £10 per hour. They always have vacancies

TyreLever

IAmWales wrote: »

BUPA and the large chains yes, small agencies and care homes definitely not.

Care workers at a junior level are not skilled in a professional sense. They can take qualifications to help with progression.

What do you class as ordinary jobs OP? Why are the non-ordinary jobs not available to you? Perhaps you could look at some training to open up opportunities to you.

Looks like an ongoing issue for OP. What have you done to help yourself since you first posted?

What do you class as ordinary jobs OP? Shelf stacking, general labouring, cleaners and general warehouse duties such as counting stock, picking or packing.

Why are the non-ordinary jobs not available to you? Skilled jobs such as electricians and computer repair specialists are not available to me because I am unable to do them.


Perhaps you could look at some training to open up opportunities to you. I would be willing to train, but local college courses are inadequate (I have tried a couple of part time ones). Employers don't train people up from scratch themselves. Apprenticeships are notoriously bad in general. I'd love to learn a skill (for personal reasons as much as anything else), but to learn a skilled trade properly, you will need an employer to take you on and give you the experience beyond getting qualified. I think this is the major barrier. You get qualified and then your stuck.

I'm on about £16k per year after tax right now so I'm happy enough for now. But don't know if that's gonna be adequate for living on my own. And I only earn that because I work nights and weekends, I would be earning less otherwise.

There are plenty of skilled people around, always see BT men rewiring stuff, builders redoing roofs etc. Have no idea how people obtain such skills tho. Like I said, once you get qualified, you are still at the mercy of an employer taking you on and giving you the experience necessary to become an expert.

RichardD1970

TyreLever wrote: »

What do you class as ordinary jobs OP? Shelf stacking, general labouring, cleaners and general warehouse duties such as counting stock, picking or packing.

Why are the non-ordinary jobs not available to you? Skilled jobs such as electricians and computer repair specialists are not available to me because I am unable to do them.


Perhaps you could look at some training to open up opportunities to you. I would be willing to train, but local college courses are inadequate (I have tried a couple of part time ones). Employers don't train people up from scratch themselves. Apprenticeships are notoriously bad in general. I'd love to learn a skill (for personal reasons as much as anything else), but to learn a skilled trade properly, you will need an employer to take you on and give you the experience beyond getting qualified. I think this is the major barrier. You get qualified and then your stuck.

I'm on about £16k per year after tax right now so I'm happy enough for now. But don't know if that's gonna be adequate for living on my own. And I only earn that because I work nights and weekends, I would be earning less otherwise.

There are plenty of skilled people around, always see BT men rewiring stuff, builders redoing roofs etc. Have no idea how people obtain such skills tho. Like I said, once you get qualified, you are still at the mercy of an employer taking you on and giving you the experience necessary to become an expert.

College, night classes, the OU.

My wife's cousins husband worked on the railways, long hours, shifts etc. He wanted to better himself so enrolled in the OU, got a few qualifications and started to move up the ladder. Got some more qualifications at evening school and the OU again.

He is now some sort of consultant, set up with his mate and charges £500 per hour.

Not easy and a lot of sacrifices but again, it is possible with the right mindset.

He's not exceptionally clever or anything just very driven.

[Deleted User]

Definately 'Right time, right place' is my thought or 'compensation' money.

20k job requiring a 48 hour start - I am pretty sure an secure employed person would never have been able to comfortably work notice as the role commencement couldn't wait.

Compensation/Danger money
Thrown in deep end/immediately put to work.
Danger that your CV/background is never understood. (I'd had to find the job description before attending interview which was just jargon and wish there had been some sort of testing in reality)
Compo for working weekends.
Compo for working bank hols inc Christmas Day.
The job comes with an end date so no guarantees.

I'm not complaining but there is a reason why the money is so good and why someone who is not a natural maybe be kept on, in place of someone who can't afford to take the risk (eg. their stable £7.50 job see's them work set pattern they would prefer).

I know it's cheese but "Your smile is your logo, your attitude is your business card and you can make the rest up"!

sangie595

You have no drive! You are happy enough where you are. Nobody progresses when they are "happy enough". You have lots of reasons why you can't progress. Nobody who really wants to get qualifications is unable to do so. Stop making excuses about why it is the fault of everything and everyone else that you don't do better. You want it? Go get it. And accept that means sacrifices. If you don't want it that bad, then accept where you are.

Gavin83

TyreLever wrote: »

It seems all ordinary jobs these days are minimum wage, or very close to it. So to earn £10 or more per hour, do you have to be highly skilled? Even some skilled jobs such as care workers often fall below a living rate.

That's the negative of increasing the minimum wage, jobs that shouldn't really be minimum wage suddenly are. I don't consider care work as a skilled job.

Unskilled jobs will nearly always be poorly paid. If people want to be paid well they need to develop a skill. Of course pay is more complicated than that, good pay roughly equates to the number of people able to do the job and the value to the business.