to think recruitment crisis is partly due to employer pickiness?

[WhereAreMyAirpods]

DS has just had a rejection for a job - 10 hours a week at the local supermarket.

DS is currently a student and will be going back at the end of September. He told the supermarket at interview that he was happy to work as many hours as they needed until the end of September, and then after that, weekends/evenings and at times when he's not in Uni.

They said no, that wasn't what they were looking for. They were looking for someone who wanted 10 hours a week fully flexible, changing week on week. So one week it might be all day Saturday and a Tuesday morning, the next week three afternoons, the following week Thursday afternoon and Sunday - and so on.

Who can commit to that sort of work pattern? It doesn't work for people who have any other responsibilities whether that's childcare, or kids at school, or another part time job, or study. 10 hours a week isn't enough hours to survive on, but the demand for total flexibility means taking another job is impossible too.

DD in contrast works for another big high street shop which doesn't have issues recruiting because they advertise set shifts - she is contracted for 7 hours on a Sunday and although her start time can be anything from 8am to 11am, it's still 7 hours on a Sunday.

AIBU to think that supermarkets and other large employers can't have it both ways?

@EmmaH2022 yeah my SIL found that in one of the hospitals she worked in. The rota was done by someone who just did it to make it easier for herself and was absolutely mad on how the shifts were organised so the department had a large turnover.

Also with posties they got software to map the routes which is why they never turn up at approximately the same time everyday like they use to.

They do it with delivery drivers as well. If you track them you can see that some drivers stops make no sense.

Part of it is due to not wanting to deliver stuff early as they want people to pay for more expensive delivery options.

@RedWingBoots oh, I heard from a delivery driver that they change his area every day so he never gets a chance to figure out parking.

but I didn't know they had done this to posties as well. Why? Is it just to pay money to a consultant who advises them to buy software to do a job that can be easily done by the people already doing it?

I would not call it pickiness though agreeing with you. I would call it unreasonable working patterns. Companies that cannot plan shifts properly so there is a regular and set pattern, or refuse to do it so it can be advised at interview, are in my opinion nasty or incompetent. The majority of demands on a business are predictable.