To think my colleague has messed it up for herself?

[TwistedBirkenstockBlister]

So until recently I worked with a lady I got on well with. I was a permanent staff member and she was agency. She was on a significantly higher wage (due to being agency) even though we were doing the same job.
I heard on the grapevine that her time was almost up (part of a push towards getting rid of agency) and they were going to advertise her job as a permanent position. I tried very hard to get her to apply but she said over and over that she wouldn't work for such a low wage. I kept trying to 'sell' the good parts of the job, like it was local to her and school hours and there was room for progression.
When they recruited and told her that they weren't going to need her after a month. She reacted badly, getting angry and acting as if the company had been disloyal to her. I think she thought that they'd change their mind and offer her a huge salary to stay. They didn't.
We've stayed in touch and I've been sending her many jobs but she's not interested unless they're really good money, school hours and in her local area! She also keeps asking me if there's any jobs going at ours and there are but a lot are internal. I think she would have done much better to apply for the job, take a pay cut and then waiting for a secondment or promotion (which happen quite frequently.) Instead she's unemployed and has no contacts within our company anymore.

You already have a job, she doesn’t. I expect she has plenty of time on her hands to look for work, so I wouldn’t do it for her. She was foolish and it’s bitten her on the arse.

I think it's a bit strange how her mind works. I asked her what she was going to do for money when she was waiting for a new job and she kept talking about cds and dvds she could sell. They don't go for anything these days!

So you think she should, basically, have taken a pay cut? I'm always encouraged by people who refuse to grovel to employers who expect more work for less money and 'loyalty' on top.

Well yes if she wanted a permanent job she should have applied ReanimatedSGB, agency will always pay more but the disadvantage is this can happen and its not permanent only temporary. Nothing to do with employers expecting more work for less money.

The benefits of working agency are an increased wage but you lose the benefits of a lower paid permanent position. Her choice, ultimately.

Agency work gets you more cash but fewer or no benefits and little job security. So a permanent job will be a pay cut but the whole package may be better for you.

I have done the opposite move and so I have had to compare the two options in detail. It really depends on what fits your lifestyle.

I think she was foolish because she did want to stay. She took a short term view.

So you think she should, basically, have taken a pay cut? I'm always encouraged by people who refuse to grovel to employers who expect more work for less money and 'loyalty' on top

She was an agency worker who was being paid as such, someone who was being paid more because they were temporary. But she wanted agency pay AND job security and benefits and flexibility ... wasn't going to happen here.

OP is right. She chose to not apply, and she now doesn't have any job. Totally on her. I'd stop providing her with information.

So you think she should, basically, have taken a pay cut?

Often it works out much the same when you factor in sick pay and leave. She may get less per week, but it would balance out over the year when she doesn't have to take unpaid days off.

We’ve had this over the last couple of years with my DH. He left teaching and started agency work as he was having trouble finding a job where the employer would look at his transferable skills. So started agency work earning at £10k less than he was previously on. Was there a year and they offered him a job doing what he was doing but at a lot less than agency which he accepted and has now quickly moved up through the company and is now on only a couple of grand less than when he left teaching. Being in the company and being able to network he was able to show his transferable skills more than showed in his CV. So it is very short sighted of this lady to not take the job, you never know what maybe around the corner.

Maybe she doesn’t really need the job. You don’t know the full extent of her life circumstances.

So you think she should, basically, have taken a pay cut? I took a pay cut when I accepted my position as permanent from causal.
Because it meant having a job, and some security, plus holiday and sick pay.

She can't reap all the benefits of a permanent employee, yet still stay on a higher wage! That's not usually how that works.

why are you investing all this energy? I agree she should have gone for the role. You don’t know this woman’s personal circumstances & sounds like the kind of person who doesn’t need your help, nor have they asked for it. They don’t listen to your advice anyway!

The higher rate is the offset to not having workplace benefits. This person sounds like they don’t know the basics of how employment works

So you think she should, basically, have taken a pay cut?

Agency always pays more than permanent staff, because agency staff don't get holiday pay, sick pay etc. She foolishly expected the employer to pay her agency rates for a full time position. Silly girl.

You’re right, if she wanted to remain with your company, she should have gone for the permanent job despite the pay cut.

I used to have an agency job, and I had a pay but when I switched to a permanent one, but the trade off for that is the greater job security and other benefits that go with a permanent job like employer pension contributions, maternity leave, sick pay.
I know people who’ve actively chosen to quit permanent jobs and go for only working agency jobs for the money, but the job insecurity involved means that’s not a good lifestyle choice for everyone.

If someone chooses an agency job over a permanent one for the money, then they really need to understand what their choice means in terms of their job security.

Seeing this a lot with the change in tax status coming next year. Issue is that some people have got very use to the contracted rate and have s lifestyle accordingly

Agency always pays more than permanent staff

That's not true, when I worked for an agency I was on just over minimum wage, while the agency (Adecco) creamed off the difference between that and what they were charging the client on every hour I worked. I still had no sick pay.

When I worked Agency i had the same hourly rate as permanent staff but lesser holidays & pension. The agency got double what I earned. Glad I am permanent now!

OP, Sounds like your colleague was a contractor?

If they didn't "get" the transient nature of that type of job they were naive

If she needs the cash, she needs the cash. Sometimes that is worth more to you than the employee benefits. Lots of people are self employed and manage without holiday and sick pay.

I think you need to back off and stop sending her job adverts. Shes been well paid for a while and so can probably afford some time off. Also with agency she can take as much holiday as she wants and that's important with kids, not being limited to 25 days with a permanent job. I've done the same. I want to be contracting for lots of reasons and expect to have time without work in between contracts but that's fine as I plan for that. Stop judging her on what's important to you. Most companies I know that have contractors that leave will ask them back again within a few months so shes sensible to check for positions at your work.

the higher rate is the offset to not having workplace benefits. This person sounds like they don’t know the basics of how employment works

This. Stop wasting your energy on this daft woman.

I'm not sure what your aibu is or why you've started this thread? It's a shame for this woman that the choices she made haven't worked out in her favour. What else is there to say?

AIBU to think that by not taking the permanent role and being out of a job now my former colleague needs to STFU and stop whining?

(Chorus of YANBU etc etc)

HTH

Has she actually said to you "Please send me job adverts because I'm incapable of using the internet"?

If not, fucking stop if you want to stay friends.

Yeah actually on second reading it sounds as if this lady was pissed of holding out for a big fat salary didn’t work but that it. No whining and no employing the OP to find her a job.