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AIBU?

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Original poster

not to beleve in all these jobs

319 replies

Orangejuicemarathoner · 15/09/2021 17:54

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

OP posts:
SW1amp · 17/09/2021 09:06

@Tooembarrassingtomention

Yes, I thought there was a massive backlog for tests

But it’s ok, the government is on the ball with a solution!
Yes, to solve the huge shortage of HGV drivers, the government has now given drivers automatic entitlement to drive while pulling a trailer

So all those trailer test slots can be used to test HGV drivers instead
Literally tens of extra tests a week to clear the 30,000 shortage of drivers which is going to grind the county to a halt Hmm

BoredZelda · 17/09/2021 09:07

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

The jobs I’m talking about are FT salaries which start at 50k.

ColorMagicBarbie · 17/09/2021 09:07

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?

£8k. 😂 You could pass a family of four for that.

I got mine nearly four years ago for just under £2k and it took me four days with test on final day. In the UK.

brokenbiscuitsx · 17/09/2021 09:07

OP I’m not sure if this is what you’re getting at but I remember coming out of Uni and trying to get a job. I applied to jobs through agencies and found they’d be very quick to invite you in for a chat about the job and then would block you from getting that job, as in not want to put you forward for it citing lack of on job experience in that field.

They all got me to sign up and then would be offering me jobs I didn’t want (nothing wrong with them but one was a job in a biscuit factory)

In the end I contacted an employer I was interested in directly, got the job and started my career there.

Cirin · 17/09/2021 09:11

I see a lot of posts from mothers who want some sort of part time thing that "fits around school hours" and it's just not going to happen. Sort out after school childcare or get the father to pull his weight - yes, even he can change his hours - and apply for proper, well paid work instead. The era of the 10-2 is over.

My DH picks the kids up then carries on working, allowing me an uninterrupted 9-5 working day. Not impossible with two parents or an after school club.

Cirin · 17/09/2021 09:12

@ColorMagicBarbie

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?

£8k. 😂 You could pass a family of four for that.

I got mine nearly four years ago for just under £2k and it took me four days with test on final day. In the UK.

Four years ago, wow, I wonder if that was, like, a different time to now.
kwiksavenofrillsusername · 17/09/2021 09:14

@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.

Consider applying anyway and asking for part-time. I’ve been cold called a couple of times in the past week about roles and told the recruiters I can only do four days a week and need some flexibility. Both times they’ve come back to me and said client is fine with that.
BoredZelda · 17/09/2021 09:17

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

Do you? When places can’t get staff and the existing workforce is put under pressure to cover, that’s not a good thing. When construction is under pressure and can’t get labour, prices rise to a massively unaffordable level, and more accidents happen, corners are cut and the defects in buildings will become apparent in a decade. The last time there was a labour shortage in construction, we were paying labourers 30 quid an hour, that meant we were paying joiners nearly three times that. Things are heading that way again. I have 4 major (in the £ millions) projects which clients are currently reviewing whether or not they go ahead. That’s a total of nearly 150 million that may not be spent in the construction industry, just with my clients. Everyone I know has a similar story.

I’m all for making sure people are paid a decent wage and I’d be happy for minimum wage to be replaced by a living wage so everyone who works doesn’t have to rely on handouts, so the government isn’t subsidising companies who pay the minimum but make massive profits, but it is important that the people who want that also understand the unintended consequences of that aren’t always good for everyone. Prices will rise, investments may fall, consumers will have to pay more. If you are happy with that, that’s fine, but don’t assume everyone else can manage to pay extra.

SW1amp · 17/09/2021 09:17

@Cirin

I see a lot of posts from mothers who want some sort of part time thing that "fits around school hours" and it's just not going to happen. Sort out after school childcare or get the father to pull his weight - yes, even he can change his hours - and apply for proper, well paid work instead. The era of the 10-2 is over.

My DH picks the kids up then carries on working, allowing me an uninterrupted 9-5 working day. Not impossible with two parents or an after school club.

I agree

There is an expectation for loads of flexibility from employers but they aren’t prepared to put in any, and completely rule out anything that isn’t advertised with the hours they want

Frenchforkids3 · 17/09/2021 09:19

OP where do you live that pubs are open to 3am? I would love to move there!

We have 26 open roles at the company I run. It’s about 30% of our perm headcount. We can’t find them.
My local pub is reducing its service as they can’t find people (so disappointing as it’s food is excellent) and my local coffee shop has closed while the owner is on holiday and couldn’t find staff. He has stayed open throughout but has noticed less and less applicants. I’m in zone 1 London.

Maybe the vacancies are localised to certain areas, all I know is that since I can’t full the roles in london I’m putting many of them offshore. It’s depressing but I need to service clients and need an commercially sound business. I doubt these roles will ever come back onshore, so ultimately we’re fucking it for the future generation. These are skilled well paid roles. All graduates schemes and apprenticeship and junior roles will dry put over time too, as we can’t support them if the knowledge holders aren’t in this country.

In my field, this is down to brexit.

BoredZelda · 17/09/2021 09:20

I got mine nearly four years ago for just under £2k and it took me four days with test on final day. In the UK.

I am close to someone who provides the training. Whilst it is indeed true that it is a problem getting tests at the moment, I would agree the costs don’t go anywhere near 8k.

wigglerose · 17/09/2021 09:22

I see the same job (I'm actively looking) advertised by multiple agencies which gives the impression that there are more jobs than there are.

Peregrina · 17/09/2021 09:24

I see a lot of posts from mothers who want some sort of part time thing that "fits around school hours" and it's just not going to happen.

I don't fully agree - there are a lot of admin jobs which could be done during school hours, and don't really need someone there from 8:30 to 5:30. The employers need to learn to be more flexible too.

50 plus years ago nursing used to be done by single women, but they had to adapt when the pool of single women dried up.

During the War when women were needed, the Government opened up state run nurseries. What is needed now is good quality childcare at a sensible price.

BoredZelda · 17/09/2021 09:25

OP I’m not sure if this is what you’re getting at but I remember coming out of Uni and trying to get a job. I applied to jobs through agencies and found they’d be very quick to invite you in for a chat about the job and then would block you from getting that job, as in not want to put you forward for it citing lack of on job experience in that field.

I’ve been using employment agencies for nearly 30 years. Even back when I was temping, this never happened.

alreadytaken · 17/09/2021 09:26

Hearing about produce "rotting in fields" I decided to find the website mentioned for people to apply. Apparently all jobs had been filled - and that was even before I said anything about my age and lack of experience.

Employers dont want to invest in training, they will have to. They want to have zero hour contracts and no flexibility - they wont compete. All those people who voted for Brexit because "they are taking our jobs" - they had a point, whether you voted for against Brexit you should recognise that.

BoredZelda · 17/09/2021 09:27

I see the same job (I'm actively looking) advertised by multiple agencies which gives the impression that there are more jobs than there are.

This has always been the case, but I’m pretty certain UKGov doesn’t count the number of jobs advertised on Indeed and the like, and give that as a job statistic.

Ozanj · 17/09/2021 09:27

@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

In my experience it seems conpanies are less likely to use agencies (they only used companies like Reed so they coule ferry in European staff) and recruit directly now. For example, the local Costa has advertised for roles for the first time in years. The manager was talking about it to me this morning- they had only 10 applicants (when normally they would have at least 50-100) and none of them had experience.
crystaltips98 · 17/09/2021 09:29

Theres plenty of jobs near me on minimum wage with zero hour contracts or 12 hours. Not enough to support a family on. A local call centre is advertising but you need to provide your own super duper fast laptop and equipment for a very mediocre lower paid job.
There are plenty of jobs but employers are not considering the reality that workers need stability and decent working conditions

MrsFTigalar · 17/09/2021 09:29

@BoredZelda

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

The jobs I’m talking about are FT salaries which start at 50k.

I'm not sure if that's at me @BoredZelda but I can't do FT with 2 young children.

Whilst an SMT position for Workforce development would be ideal, there are seemingly none of those around that are part-time. You're welcome to pass any along! But that is literally my experience

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 17/09/2021 09:29

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Auntienumber8 · 17/09/2021 09:31

Where are you though? DS straight out of college applied for about 10 with no experience and had a job within a week. It’s a night shift so well paid for his age. We live close to two cities though. His friend who lives quite rurally in Ireland had a much harder time and spent months unemployed, he thankfully has a job now.

ChrissyPlummer · 17/09/2021 09:33

@BoredZelda

I got mine nearly four years ago for just under £2k and it took me four days with test on final day. In the UK.

I am close to someone who provides the training. Whilst it is indeed true that it is a problem getting tests at the moment, I would agree the costs don’t go anywhere near 8k.

That is what the head of the RHA said on an interview with Mike Sweeney on BBC Manchester 2/3 weeks ago. Around £8k for HGV and another license.

In the linked article, that quotes £5k, still an impossible amount for many to find upfront. www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/driver-agency-offers-pay-5000-21380905

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 17/09/2021 09:33

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

BigGreen · 17/09/2021 09:35

I think it gets somewhat obscured by the zero-hours thing, in that more part-time shift-based jobs get advertised than traditional, permanent full-time roles.

brokenbiscuitsx · 17/09/2021 09:37

@BoredZelda

OP I’m not sure if this is what you’re getting at but I remember coming out of Uni and trying to get a job. I applied to jobs through agencies and found they’d be very quick to invite you in for a chat about the job and then would block you from getting that job, as in not want to put you forward for it citing lack of on job experience in that field.

I’ve been using employment agencies for nearly 30 years. Even back when I was temping, this never happened.

Good for you, it did for me though 🤷🏻‍♀️