To hate the phrase 'Just get a job at Tesco.'

[LemonSherbetFancies]

Aimed at unemployed people?
As if it's that straightforward and easy to just walk in, ask for a job and start the next day.

We are looking at a Depression looming, there won’t be any jobs.

Scary stuff here - it’s been a real eye opener. I probably would have said if I lost my job, I’d just get a job in Tesco....but at can see things have changed.

I’m so sad for all the people who need regular hours and a reliable income and not this crap zero hours or 8 hour contract and to be available all the time. This flexible labour market stuff just isn’t human friendly at all. And yes, when furlough ends and the economy crashes more people, will be fighting for these jobs.

Depressing.

I get it's annoying but some people are very particular about what work they are willing to apply for, "just get a job at Tesco's" reflects the frustration that taxpayers have with some unemployed people. I'm about to start a new job, it's hard at the moment finding something, but there is more advertised than before Christmas, and lots of care vacancies here, some being advertised for weeks in the local paper. I we know we are doing our best to find work, I just learned to ignore any comments then insinuated I wasn't trying.

Agreed. I applied for over 200 jobs after being laid off during the first lockdown, kept getting told supermarkets were desperate for more workers/drivers etc. Took me 2 months to get an offer, an hour journey away at a factory.

I aapplied for a Saturday job at Tesco 15 years ago as a 6th former and failed their psychometric test

I got a lot of stick from older family members for not getting a Saturday job until October (having started looking in September, the horror). Not a single one of them knew what a psychometric test was

It was the same when I graduated during the financial crisis. They thought getting a job was just a case of sending your CV in and having an interview. They were quite shocked when I explained about online tests and assessment centres. I had about 5 interviews for a job at one company before I was rejected. Getting a job isn't always that straightforward.

My friend got a job in a supermarket and from applying to actually starting was over a month by the time all the online tests/assessment day/interview etc were done.

*(Although he still thinks you just drop your CV into the manager!).

Ha! My mum (who has been retired for 12 years and only ever worked at my dad's company, so never actually had to apply for a job) thinks the same. And when I disagreed with her, she got her 82 yr old friend (who has been retired for 22 years) to email me some (out of date) advice.

I think its easier to get a job st a supermarket if you know someone working there. I have seen people getting their friends/ relatives/family into jobs at Sainsbury, Co-op and MnS just by talking to their supervisor/manager. If you don't have anyone to help you get a job in a supermarket its a tough process you need to go through. Its not fair.

A whole new world of work is coming, with automation growing and physical shops disappearing. We need to think of new ways to provide everyone an income when there are less and less jobs available.

YANBU but I think it's just meant as a comment towards people who refuse to get a job that they see as 'beneath' them in a way. Some people are so snobby about jobs. Whereas I just want to pay my way, and would happily do any job.

I know jobs like working in Tesco aren't easy. But I think people just mean don't be so picky - and those are the kinds of jobs that are at least open to the majority of people, even if not everyone hears back.

This was all going on before Covid. I think a lot more people are aware of it now.

Recruitment processes and just jobs in general are an absolute nightmare. I too remember the days when you could walk into an agency and have work lined up a day or so later. That just doesn't exist any more.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is my DH who is regularly approached about work. Lucky for him/us that he is a technical specialist in a demand area.

@TakeTheCuntOutOfScunthorpe

I think the phrase "just get a job a Tesco" is more aimed at those who are being picky about which roles they apply for. Anyone who is not completely out of touch with reality will know you can't just walk into a supermarket and come out with a job - applications are harder than that.

The phrase more means "apply for a job that anyone can do, but most people don't actually want to do because they feel it is beneath them. You need a job and you can't afford to be picky - apply for everything even if it's just a supermarket job." (Which is a lot more long winded.)

Absolutely this.

It is true that an incredible amount of people dismiss jobs they think as "below them". Great, but you are more employable if you are working , even "beneath you", than not working at all.

The longer it lasts, the less employable you become 🤷

It's even worst when you had very fancy title that didn't match your job at all. Think being a "director" in a team of 3. It fools no one.

The sad truth is that days when it was easy to let someone go made it easier to employ them.

Flexibility works both ways.

Agree DH was made unemployed in September. I've watched him apply for every single job he could physically get to no matter how "beneath him" it was. He's had 2 interviews and 0 offers.

I just been one of 8 made redundant from Lidl. After 16 years in a successful job I worked hard for. So yeah, get a supermarket job, and be made redundant from that too. It's shit out there - supermarkets are laying people off too!

What we need is to overhaul benefits and replace with Universal Basic Income. Give everyone a base standard of income, if you want to earn more then you apply for relevant jobs. No more hundreds of applicants for minimum wage jobs nonsense. When people can breathe and afford their basic living costs they can better themselves and in turn improve the country.

I'd also overhaul the rules around contracts. Zero hours have their place but in a business like Tesco or whatever where there are regular hours available then the contracts should reflect that. The option to be a short-notice zero hour worker could still be available but if someone is regularly working 16 hours, 20 hours then it makes sense that they have that protected.

But that involves a government who give a fuck and the tories are hardly it.

With so many retail and hospitality workers losing their jobs, those of us who have not worked in retail since we were teenagers are not seen as viable candidates.

Many people will say and believe that “any job is better than no job”

But in the real world a job that pays you for ten hours but demands you are available and have childcare for 8-8 7days a week is not any actual use.
Or one you have to turn up for at 8am every morning but are sent home in an hour with no pay. Again, that job is absolutely no use if you need childcare. It will end up costing you a fortune and netting you almost nothing in return.

@TheMobileSiteMadeMeSignup

Most organisations use a management model called Atkinson's Flexible Firm, developed in the 1980s. This model relies on a flexible pool of un / low skilled labour that they can use when needed but have no responsibility for when not needed - hence 0 hours contracts. This is why the government have allowed the immigration of so much un / low skilled labour over the last few decades, it was in the interests of big business.

Not only do employers have no responsibility for people in this pool of labour, people in this pool of labour can also be easily replaced if they do anything troublesome like become unionised.

This is all by design. Have you read The Precariat by Guy Standring?

To all the people saying "My son has a degree in quantum physics and still couldn't pass the online test", there's a reason for that.

The answer to every question usually relates to customer service. The questions they ask are all about whether you have a willingness to engage with the public while also being focused on instructions from your manager, and being a team player. Therefore, any answer to a hypothetical situation should always be about the customer making a sale and leaving happy.

Any questions to do with a spillage on the shop floor the answer will always be you cleaning it up as soon as possible. You are always willing to listen to others. You will always communicate with your manager. You will always leave the walkways free of boxes and trip hazards. You will always ask for more training if you don't know how to do something. You will always help colleagues without criticism. You will treat "difficult" customers with politeness. Once you have done a few of these tests you get better at them. The worst ones in my experience are Lidl and McDonald's.

I am also sick of people saying the supermarkets are crying out for staff. They have regular recruitment drives and if you're lucky enough to catch one of those it's just the start of a very lengthy application process. It costs a lot of money to recruit and train staff so they have to be sure you will stay long enough for them to reap the benefits of this. Some people can't handle the work and leave. It's not just "stacking shelves" it's constant training and e-learning mostly in your own time. Supermarkets have realised they are practically recession proof and that their jobs, quite rightly are at a premium now.

People should be proud to work in a supermarket, it is a skilled job.

Yes, from what my friend says there's no job in a supermarket that is just 'stacking shelves'. Requirement is to jump on a till if necessary and be cross trained in other areas of the store so that they can stop shelf stacking and do something else depending on what's required.

Even the shelf stacking, it's within a certain time and responsibility taken for stock counts and expiry dates etc.

Unfortunately Brexit is now giving the Tory government chance to get rid of any of the EU's Workers Rights that they find inconvenient for their friends in big business.
I've read about it last week online on Facebook in several articles but can't find a link right this minute.

But it's very worrying for someone like me with two chronic illnesses/ disabilities.
I work for the NHS who are a good employer but as our last Director of the hospital said 'HCAs are ten a penny' (nice) so I'm acutely aware that if I go off sick too much there will be someone desperate to step into my shoes.

And getting a job in Tesco in hard!!
My Mum worked there in the 80s & 90s so when she found herself jobless a few years ago while doing temp office work, she decided to apply to Tesco again, only this time they had a telephone quiz (now online) you had to pass before you could apply.
She couldn't pass & I tried it for her... well, I couldn't pass either.
Luckily she got a job as a secretary in a small business but with very low pay, it was disgusting really but at her age (late 50s) she knew she was lucky.

I have friends who work or worked in the local Tesco Extra & there is unfortunately a bullying culture there particularly towards anyone who is older or who has a chronic illness.
They don't care about losing good older staff there as they can get lower paid uncomplaining teens to replace them.

Also my dad worked for a local American factory before retirement- there have been recent sweeping redundancies of anyone over 55, anyone with a chronic illness, anyone pregnant / with childcare issues.. etc. Of course they find other reasons but it's obvious. And this is pre Covid.

I'd probably have a much easier time getting a new (high paying, quite specialised) job than someone looking for a job that requires few qualifications. I can call on a network of ex-colleagues, and rely on the fact that there aren't that many people with my exact experience around. I'm not sure I'd make even the first cut in a supermarket/retail/delivery type role.

@DoubleHelix79

Likewise. If you look at the model I mentioned below, as qualified, experienced professionals we fall into one of two sectors - core staff (permanent with employment rights), or skilled interim (in demand and on high day rates).

Yanbu. When I was a student I used to walk into shop jobs very easily. 20-30 years later they're like hens teeth. I've had knock backs from Argos and Tesco. Perhaps it's difficult due to a combination of things like the online tests, saturation of candidates and lack of recent retail experience. I was also beginning to wonder if ageism played a part?
I'm post-grad qualified and mainly office experienced, but I don't think the old "over-qualified" thing goes any more. Supermarkets are full of well educated people.