not to beleve in all these jobs

[Orangejuicemarathoner]

Supposedly there are thousands and thousands of vacancies, but if you actually look, most are agencies. You don't so much apply for a vacancy as get lured in to sign up for an agency. They might or might not then put your name forward for something, and it might not be suitable if they do.

And most of the jobs that are not actually just imaginary fronts to help an agency get your details on file, require ownership of a vehicle.

AIBU to believe that there are actually far far fewer vacancies than the news headline figures are suggesting.

I would guess 10-20% at most

@Bythemillpond

I can appreciate it must be really frustrating for your family but it’s not a case of needing to know poetry to stack shelves

Having GCSEs is an indicator of being able to listen, pay attention, commit to something, working towards something with other people - which are all hugely relevant for all types of work

DH’s company has a big apprentice intake and occasionally makes exceptions with the hiring criteria and takes on kids without GCSEs
I think every single one has been a disaster
They don’t last, either because they have a terrible attitude or are just plain unsafe because they can’t follow instructions and do the basics

If a lack of qualifications is going to be a huge block to getting employment, can’t they look at at least getting basic maths and English?
And if they can’t, you need to think about what message that sends to potential employers

Just because the vacancies aren’t suitable for your DC doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Every pub, cafe, restaurant and shop near me is advertising, and there are huge signs outside several factories inviting people to apply.

@TheFairyCaravan

DH leaves the RAF in November. He had people desperate for him since March. He’s got a new job, still in aviation, quite easily tbh. The company he’s working for have had difficulty filling some of their positions even after the redundancies throughout aviation this past year.

Round here there’s jobs coming up every single day. We’re very rural, too. There’s a distribution and call centre for a clothing brand near by , but they can’t fill their positions. The call centres vacancies are working from home, too. Unfortunately they’re 40hr weeks, which is too much for me because I’m poorly, however if it was less I’d be applying.

If I were you apply, but say you want part time only, many will say yes as someone doing a good job 20-30 hours a week is better than a vacant 40 hours a week role. Many employers are willing to be flexible due to the shortage of good employees.

@TheFairyCaravan

DH leaves the RAF in November. He had people desperate for him since March. He’s got a new job, still in aviation, quite easily tbh. The company he’s working for have had difficulty filling some of their positions even after the redundancies throughout aviation this past year.

Round here there’s jobs coming up every single day. We’re very rural, too. There’s a distribution and call centre for a clothing brand near by , but they can’t fill their positions. The call centres vacancies are working from home, too. Unfortunately they’re 40hr weeks, which is too much for me because I’m poorly, however if it was less I’d be applying.

To be fair though I don't think you can compare someone coming out of the forces with someone trying to get an entry level job

It's like me saying that with professional qualification I'm spoilt for choice so why can't my teen with only GCSEs and no transport walk into a job, apples and oranges

@MLMbotsno

There are lots of care jobs, HGV drivers, transport workers, hospitality. Some areas are crying out for workers but many are low paid jobs.

It takes a long time to train as an HGV driver and at the moment no tests are available. Not a realistic option

@ChristinaMarlowe

I don't know about other industries - even my own (SAHM now until DD2 is at nursery so out the loop as it where!) - but my DH can't find KPs/Chefs de partie/Sous Chefs for love nor money am the agencies are all working with a backlog so to book an agency chef is now like a 2 week wait rather than what used to be 2-24 hours. I guess it depends on the industry or role? What was it you are looking for OP? (Sorry not read whole thread). Hope you find something great soon if you're looking.

Often because they are salaried and end up working long hours and so go below the minimum wage and split shifts which makes a long working day and additional transport costs.

@listentomydeclaration

Brexit and/or the pandemic is a convenient excuse for employers who don't want to pay a decent wage or offer decent hours, or flexibility, hence relying on non British staff.

I hope this surge in unfilled vacancies makes UK employment conditions better.

My thoughts exactly. I voted to remain, but I see a more buoyant job market as a positive.

Not being able to get everything you want right this minute seems to be a small price to pay if it means that employers actually have to start paying people properly and treating them well, rather than just importing cheap or seasonal workers from abroad (who then send a lot of the money out of the country).

@MrsLargeEmbodied

where i live the care jobs afaik were not affected by brexit, they have always found the positions hard to fill

They are being impacted by changes to non EU immigration and the lack of worldwide migration due to Cv19.

Can get a HGV license in several days and there are gov schemes to help in some areas. My mate's just got a £40k job driving the cement mixers after having been a van driver on half that. She's loving it. Only work half days in the winter too.

I don't know where in the country you live op but around here hospitality, retail and care are crying out for staff and have been all summer. Dd 16 has a weekend job in a local independent takeaway (9pm finish so not crazy hours) and many of her peers have jobs. There is less choice if you don't drive but every business owner I know is looking for staff.

Locally on the south coast there are tens and tens of applicants for admin jobs, school support staff etc.... I know as I log them! I think it is very much area specific and not nationwide. I have been looking for a new role and where as before I could almost guarantee an interview from my skills now I am not even getting an interview. Retail and hospitality are recruiting but I don't want those hours and don't have the skills for those roles.

This was the case years ago. I used to go to the job centre, find a job and the person there would give me the details. Told to go to agency round the corner. Get there to be told oh that has gone but we have this other job which was often completely different. This was 20 odd years ago

I have been applying for jobs constantly for the past year. I have worked in accountacy and law firms for the past thirty years. I have so much experience of industry specific regulations, year end accounts etc. From all of my hundreds of job applications, I have had 1 zoom call, 1 telephone call and 1 email reply.
The phone call was from an agency back in May, it went something like this:
"How much experience do you have, because the client wants someone who can hit the ground running"
Me - "Thirty years, all aspects of this industry, including training staff on industry specific software"
"Do you drive and can you get to location "X""
Me - "Yes, no problem"
"I notice that you haven't put your DOB on your CV, we would need to have that for our records"
Me - "why do you need my DOB"
"Because without it we cannot put you forward for any vacancies"

I then give my DOB

"Oh, you don't sound that old"

I am 63 years old, the agency didn't get back to me.
Am I surprised?
No!
The job vacancy figures are grossly inflated, by four or five times, because of the numbers of agencies touting for the same vacancies.
The employers and agencies are ageist, they are breaking the law, everyone knows they are breaking the law, but everyone looks the other way and ignores it.

Most jobs want long hours and weekends 😡

[quote lannistunut]@SpeakingFranglais no one said covid helped anything but if you think the food rotting in Lincolnshire isn't the absence of EU migrant labour, you're wrong.

Covid just sped up the Brexit effect.[/quote]
I didn’t say Covid was to blame, but that it hadn’t helped. I never mentioned anything about rotting veg in Lincolnshire 😭

Where I live Covid meant the universities, all six of them, closed. The students went home, the hospitality industry closed. It reopened but the students weren’t there and are only starting to come back this week.

F all to do with Brexit in my area. Sorry to hear about the cabbages in yours. I stand by “Covid didn’t help” - it didn’t. I’m not wrong.

@ColorMagicBarbie

Can get a HGV license in several days and there are gov schemes to help in some areas. My mate's just got a £40k job driving the cement mixers after having been a van driver on half that. She's loving it. Only work half days in the winter too.

Not according to the road hauliers association last week Costs up to £8k, need theory and practical tests and a massive test backlog

Where in the country are you that HGV tests are available in a few days? I have a colleague who would love to know?

There are business near me that have had to close temporarily (we will see!) to move staff to other branches as they simply can't get staff.
My friend is a recruiter and he said that they are crying out for staff, and despite paying well, workers want more and would rather claim furlough. This will change soon though as that's all ending.

Some industries have had droves of workers return back to Europe and UK workers want to be paid more than EU workers.

@poorbuthappy

I've also noticed that a lot of adverts are not specifying salary. Esp on LinkedIn. I will not apply for a job unless I know the salary and competitive just doesn't cut it. Obv this doesn't apply to the normal hospitality roles.

Don't even get me started on them not specifying the salary. This frequently sends me into such a rage! I'm very well paid for my current role (I've been there for 15 years) but would like to work closer to home. I accept that i'll have to take a pay cut to change jobs, but I'd really like to be able see the salaries of the jobs I'm applying for to know if its worth the time and effort. I've applied for so many positions only to find out they're paying 10k less than I'm on now. I expect to take a pay cut, but around 5k less, not 10k.

Like many have said the jobs are low paid, often zero hours contracts with no flexibility.

I need part-time hours that fit around nursery and school runs, walkable because my disability means I can't drive and buses are next to non existent around here. I've 15 years HR and Learning and development experience, but I'm happy to do shop or admin work within those criteria and categorically there is nothing.

The hundreds of vacancies are not for people in my position. I've applied for loads, I'm apparently 'over qualified' - asking too much regarding working hours that fit around education (wrap around care and extra nursery hours are prohibitively expensive for entry level roles).

And don't get me started on the recruiter who couldn't offer me anything, because tinkly laugh "it seems like you could do my job" What I didn't say, was yes, quite possibly stood on my head, without the semi discriminatory questions. But it is what it is.

@Myusernameisnotmyusernameno

This was the case years ago. I used to go to the job centre, find a job and the person there would give me the details. Told to go to agency round the corner. Get there to be told oh that has gone but we have this other job which was often completely different. This was 20 odd years ago

How is an ancient anecdote about "going to the job center" at all relevant to modern job seekers? No wonder older or inexperienced people are struggling to find vacancies if they still think that's how it's done.

@tooembarrassingtomention Cloud Cuckoo Land, I reckon

YABU OP, you mean there an no jobs out their that suited your DC.

In this area, I have seen more job adverts on facebook than I have ever seen and for all types of work, both full time and part time.

Where have you “actually looked”

I’m not looking for work. I have a working relationship with half a dozen agencies from when I was looking for work. Every single one of them has approached me in the past couple of months to see if I am interested in a new post. On top of that I’ve had about another 4 or 5 coming to me cold with opportunities, ones that do exist because mine is the type of industry where we know what we are all doing. One of the agents I know well, spoke to me back in June, he had already exceeded his annual target for recruitment, something that had never happened in his 20 years in the industry.

I’m sorry your kids couldn’t find part time jobs. That doesn’t mean the new job figures are a lie.

I'm applying for senior part-time jobs at the moment (50k plus salaries, 20-30h, remote) and am a little surprised at my rate of success.

I'm being picky with the roles I apply for, and nonetheless have interviews from 3/4 of applications. You'd would think PT senior roles would be popular enough that I would be beaten out by other skilled candidates more often.

But then I am a shit hot CV writer whilst not being as good at interviews.

I did laugh a few days ago when a recruiter negged my CV, trying to get me to pay for her CV writing services...

*there are
*out there

stupid autocorrect