to wonder why anyone is unemployed in London?

[wonderinggWoman]

There have been a few programmes on tv recently that have featured unemployed people in London. I can't understand how there are healthy, able bodied people who aren't working. There's a lot of work in London, public transport is good.

I am not wealthy, but have lived in London all my life and have always worked, now I worked my way up as a professional but previously in any job available, waitressing, cleaning, telesales, bar work. I'm also a single parent but don't see that as a reason to rely on the state.

It upsets me that those who genuinely can't work through sickness and health issues have to compete for council accommodation etc with those who are entitled and can't be bothered to work.

Aibu, am I missing something here?

[teenagetantrums]

I live in London was unemployed for 18 months recently, no childcare issues, but after 25 years works in the same field I was made redundant, no jobs in that field, and I applied for other stuff but no experience and they could pay school leavers less to do these jobs. I now have a job in retail, but was a fluke that I got that job, as it was through a friend, other retail jobs i applied for i didn't even get an interview.

[ShadowsCollideCantLogInToMN]

SugarMouse, I'm sure many people do lie in interviews, and on their CVs. I wouldn't, though. Every job I have ever had was obtained based on my experience and merit. I wouldn't be happy misrepresenting my experience to get a job, and in doing so, taking a job away from someone who did have the relevant experience. That just would not sit well with me. I'd feel unethical in doing so.

I'm working now anyway, in a job that I do have the relevant experience for, so this is no longer something that I personally have to deal with. I was just illustrating for the OP how someone with experience in a specific industry can find themselves out of work, despite there being a possible abundance of 'unskilled' jobs in their geographical area.

Also, I honestly don't know a shop or restaurant locally that takes on volunteer staff, except charity shops. All of our local charity shops have huge waiting lists of prospective volunteers.

[IHopeYouStepOnALegoPiece]

I'm a single, childless person living in n London...I've been unemployed since November...this is despite applying for a minimum of 10 jobs a day...I've had umpteen interviews but for every job, they are receiving 100+ applications. I applied for a nanny job and they had 238 applications in just under 24h...there are, unfortunately, far mor applicants then jobs.

[ShadowsCollideCantLogInToMN]

Exactly, IHope. There are far, far more applicants than there are jobs available. Before I got back into the travel industry, I worked in Security at Dublin Airport. I had 3 interviews over the course of a week for that job. The DAA hire in groups rather than hiring individuals (as obviously it is more cost effective to train one group of 12, than it is 12 individuals). For our group of 12 hires, there was around 900 applicants. 900. So 888 people applied and got nowhere. 888 people who attempted to get that job. Most unemployed people really do want to work.

[lilola]

yanbu

[MaryWestmacott]

Shadows, sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Realistically,

[MaryWestmacott]

Shadow, sorry I didn't mean to upset you. Realistically, when there are more available labour than jobs, then employers can be more picky, more demanding about who they employ, and why take a risk on someone with no experience when you can someone with experience for the same money? Why take someone with no qualifications when you can get someone with them (even if they aren't needed for the role)? Why pay more than you have to for experience and skills?

When the tables are turned, when there's not many people with skills and experience needed, or just not many people prepared to do low paid work, then wages rise to compete for staff.

However (at the risk of sounding a bit UKIP) in London local people have to deal with large numbers of migrants who do plug the gap in times of labour shortages at the lower job levels, stopping the rise in wages an the situation where companies have to accept those with very limited cvs/skills.

[twofingerstoGideon]

Isn't it astonishing how many brand new posters are on MN posting about things like unemployment, benefits, etc.?

Welcome to Mumsnet wonderinggWoman...

[vrtra]

I always feel sorry for these people whose " friends" come on here to slag off their work status and life choices in the guise of anecdotes about "my friend who's never worked a day in her life". Why not say it to their faces if you think they are such terrible people?

[vrtra]

Of course it would help if they existed.

[YouAreMyFavouriteWasteOfTime]

to wonder why anyone is unemployed in London?

because if you don't get much more money for working than claiming out of work benefits, its rational to choose not to work. which also means you avoid the costs of working.

[sarahquilt]

I'm amazed by it too op. I'm an immigrant in the area and I and all of my friends who are immigrants have never been without a job for the years we've been here. London is teeming with opportunities.

[JassyRadlett]

You forget that not everyone looking for work is unemployed, and that not all vacancies will go to an unemployed person. It's massively easier to get a job when you have a job.

There is also the issue that many people, for whatever reasons, don't necessarily have the basic maths or the 'soft' skills needed for customer-facing jobs, and non-services jobs that are unskilled are not so common.

Third issue is the hugely itinerant nature of London that drives competition for all jobs - working holidaymakers, students and other short term workers etc with experience or who present well, who drop in and out of employment without ever touching the welfare system.

[uselessidiot]

You can't look at unemployment figures and number of jobs advertisements and use this as proof of there being enough jobs for every body to earn a living.

Unemployment figures only count those on out of work benefits. There are also people out of work and job seeking yet not receipt of benefits. There are also people who've taken zero hours or very part time positions in preference to nothing.

As for the job adverts. Some are 'ghost' jobs placed by agencies to collect information. Some are duplicate adverts for the same job. For the actual jobs a growing proportion are zero hours contracts and many are part time (some 10 hrs per week or less).

By listening to the Government's crude figures you are in danger of grossly underestimating the number of people looking for work whilst simultaneously overestimating the work available to them.

[YouAreMyFavouriteWasteOfTime]

however it is remarkable (last time I checked) that tower hamlets in central London had some of the highest unemployment in the country.

[Lovecat]

I too live on the outskirts of East London and have lived in my borough for 26 years.

In that time I've seen friends on the council housing list for about 10 years before they were granted the smallest of small flats. That was the late 90's. Now the situation is even worse and would-be council tenants are being put in B&Bs and bedsits because there is no available housing. My niece's friend got pregnant 2 years ago and was thrown out of her parents house (strict religious parents), the council put her up in a homeless hostel for the course of the pregnancy and then with her baby for 3 months until she got allocated a tiny bedsit via a private landlord who does nothing to maintain the property.

I find it hard to believe that your friend was just 'given' a council flat. Unless she has underlying issues that you are unaware of, this just didn't happen.

[Lovecat]

And there are plenty of jobs where I live. I haven't been able to get one though. I'm either too old, too qualified, not qualified enough, it won't fit around school hours/pay enough to make it worth the childcare, I don't have the language skills (lots of the jobs are in local businesses where you need to be able to speak Hindi/Bengali/Punjabi/Urdu etc.) or the appropriate experience.

Thankfully I bagged a rich husband so when I got made redundant after 30 years solid working since leaving school, I am able to sit on my arse and MN all day if I so wish (I'm not, honest! I am retraining and volunteering to get the experience I need for what I want to do). Not everyone is in that position nor would wish to be.

[mummytime]

My DN is working with a charity which is setting up a new Cleaning agency because: lots of people are "employed" but on zero hours contract, at minimium wage and with no help with transport. A lot of "jobs" in London are like this. They don't pay enough to cover costs, and do not provide regular hours (so child care is very difficult).

[Lancelottie]

Companies like Pret are always looking for people. They're not bothered about lack of experience.

Yes, but (like Wilson) I have a child with ASD, who would probably say quite honestly in interview that the noise did his head in, that when stressed he tends to throw things or rock in a corner, and that he gags at the sight of 'mixed up' food.

I wouldn't employ him for anything customer-facing!

[Sazzle41]

I live in London. An huge amount of the jobs, even say doing two, wouldnt cover the rent of even a studio flat. Child care costs are now beyond most people unless you are both earning so people without extended family are stuck. As lessonsintightropes said, competition is vicious and my agencies have all said 'candidate rich market means they interview even for 1 week temp jobs'. Times have changed, go on any job site that covers London and there are only a third of the jobs there were pre recession.

[Shewhowines]

Minimum wage - childcare costs = a problem