When you see 'just get a job in a supermarket'

[Helga55]

Reading all the threads about CV, people losing jobs, reduced hrs, etc, & some helpful person comes along & says get a job in Tesco's/Morrison's etc, as if it's the easiest thing in the world is starting to really annoy me

I have applied for several jobs, shelf stacking, till operator, I am willing to do the graveyard shift, I have worked in a retail environment, I have dealt with monetary transactions, (for years) I am fit, well, able to start work immediately. No convictions, clean driving license, I can provide references with regards to time keeping, professionalism etc etc. I see the supermarkets by me advertising for people, my local store even had an A board with a hand written advert looking for staff outside & yet despite me applying for several positions, I've been turned down for them all 😔

I have no idea why, especially when I see the carnage in the stores atm, I would have thought it would have been easy to just pick up a job stacking shelves, it's really not

The problem is supply and demand I expect .If a lot of people are applying ,then there are only so many jobs to go round .ATM many young people are often selected ,as they are on a lower rate of pay and are more flexible with their hours as well .

Yes good point about them selecting younger people who are probably more flexible and can do different shifts.

Apologies, my bad, just found the Ts & Cs here

UK workers of any employer who is placed on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme can keep their job, with the government paying up to 80% of a worker’s normal wages, up to a maximum of £2,500 per worker each month. These will be backdated to March 1 and will be initially open for three months, to be extended if necessary.

Information overload at the moment!

To be fair Daisychain the info is very limited so far, it was only because I caught the original announcement that I realised that topping up was optional.

My DD works at a major supermarket, her store mgr advertised (via FB) for people to apply in store. She said she has seen the manager taking people off for interviews and they have at least 25 more till staff.

She didn’t mention ages, but her supermarket (and other main ones from what I know) pays a flat higher-than-minimum-wage rate, so it doesn’t matter how old you are, you get paid the same. They have also been told the rate is higher during the current crisis.

ATM many young people are often selected ,as they are on a lower rate of pay and are more flexible with their hours as well

Companies like Tesco still need to comply with the Equality Act (2010) and not discriminate either directly or indirectly (Eg only favour job offers for the strapping young men who don't have family responsibilities).

It's worth pursuing this point by specifically asking them why they have failed to respond to your applications, so it doesn't become a slippery slope and they cherrypick to the extent it becomes discriminatory. Everyone should have an equal chance to be considered for employment (provided the applicant meets the job spec criteria).

Totally agree op. I have worked for a large travel company for the last 20 years and have just had my hours cut temporarily. My partners response to this was "well why don't you leave and go and work at tesco"

Co-op have said they are taking on thousands, and if you walk into your local store you are highly likely to be working in days.

I can work pretty any time, I have worked in a supermarket before when I was a college student. So I have experience of retail in a supermarket, I have worked in sales, retail & i currently have my own online business, so I'm not 'green' to the world of work. My online business is quiet atm, hence being able to work any time to suit

I did ask In store about when I would hear back from my online application (as despite it saying immediate start, the closing date was April 4th) & was told I could hand in an application/cv but it would just go in the "pile with the rest I& them" I appreciate that ALOT of people will be applying, I know there would be a good chance I wouldn't get a job, but when someone comes on a thread & says 'just get a job in a supermarket ' please remember it's not actually that easy!

And, just an observation, I did go to one of the supermarkets I applied to yesterday, & there were a few new till operators (no uniform) all of which appeared to be of school leaver/student age, so I wonder, are younger people being taken on to help keep this sudden wage increase down?

Small point:
I'd not mention your online business
or any commitments - they want people free to work any hours without notice

@Lorddenning1

I think if your husband will get 80% of his salary he should not be applying for these jobs. They should be available for people like the self employed who currently are being offered zero financial support by the govt. Jesus wept !

imo the "age" is not pay, but because 18-22 age group normally have zero commitments,
so can fill in any hours at short notice

Also likely to be fitter, less risk averse, less time off sick

and can be more easily let go later after this crisis is over

In rl, almost noone is going to decide against applying for a job, just in case someone else needs it

Many people suddenly have less money, whether 20% cut or savings
and need to make up the gap

Giving a helping hand or a fiver is one thing;
giving up maybe 1000 quid per month for unknown strangers is not something most people would even consider

In my opinion you should either get a new job or get 80% of your wage provided by the state not both.

Actually now I think about it there were messages on fb from managers saying if you know me come in to the store and mention my name and start work the following day. I'm wondering if they are just employing people who the managers can vouch for. Not a very fair system but so often it's not what you know but who you know. Where I work the initial contract is only for 4 weeks anyway (though may be extended) so not sure how helpful it would be.

I work for one of the major supermarkets. Just to be clear, the pay is for the job, not your age, so a 17 yo gets the same as a 35 yo doing the same job.

The supermarket I work for is hiring atm. They are holding open days as it's a big place. My friend's DD got a job in a much smaller branch by applying online. She applied on Thursday and had an offer before she got up on Friday.

I have applied for every single supermarket job going within a 5 mile radius.
I have not got one of them.
I had a creative job and no retail experience. I am currently receiving nothing as I was employed on zero hours contracts, casual contacts and sporadic short term freelance jobs.
I'm sick of people telling me supermarkets are hiring as though they've had an inspirational thought that will solve all of my problems.
I KNOW they are hiring, but they aren't hiring me.
Plus I am now home schooling dd which makes everything that much harder.

My daughter (whose A-Levels have been cancelled) walked into our local Tesco on Saturday, was interviewed straight away and started working at 3 o'clock on the same day. She went into the store because the online application kept crashing but the manager said they were so desperate that they were interviewing pretty much all walk-in candidates.

@Lorddenning1 because of PAYE and NI threshold, the net salary will not necessarily be 80% (I've not read the rules, not sure exactly how the payment is calculated, but assume on gross pay).
Additionally, saving on travel plus hot drinks/lunch that partner may purchase when working will add up.

The supermarkets near me have specifically said that they would be concentrating their hiring on people who have been left out of work in other, non-essential retail sectors.

Retail as an industry also tends to hire a lot of young people and students. You may be looking at the staff and assuming they're all teenagers off school, but they're probably older, and may even have children of their own. I'm pushing thirty and am constantly assumed to be about 22. You'd be surprised.

Additionally, this is a time of high stress, when supermarkets really need to run like a well oiled machine. They need people who know their stuff. You may have worked in retail twenty years ago, but that doesn't mean your skills would still be relevent today. Are you up to date on the latest health and safety legislation, or would they have to train you in it from scratch? Can you maintain an electronic stock database, or self service till? Have you received HR training in the appropriate ways to speak to a customer, or how to deal with difficult customers?

You might scoff and think it's all common sense, but more goes into retail than people give its employees credit for. As someone who works in the industry, it can be incredibly galling to see people apply for a position with no retail experience, arrogantly assuming there's nothing to it.

There are teething problems I would tolerate in normal circumstances, but not in the midst of the current culture of panic buying. Then, if I had the choice, I would absolutely plump for someone who could be thrown in the deep end and depended upon to swim. With half the high street closed, employers have that choice right now. It's not surprising they aren't particularly interested in hiring people who don't have recent or relevant experience.

On the topic of age, of course you can't discriminate against older interviewees. But in the current climate, I hate to say it, but I would be nervous about hiring people like the poster who said she had 40 years of retail experience. That figure puts her in the mid fifties to mid sixties age bracket, and right in the risk category for complications from coronavirus. So far, the younger you are the better you seem to recover from COVID 19, in general. Maybe putting younger staff on the front lines isn't about saving a buck or discriminating against older people. Maybe it's just an attempt to mitigate the risk to employees in what is already a high risk job.

Asda are literally signing people up on the spot where I work, same with Morrisons. Just call them 👍🏻