To feel like some jobs are a total con?

[Changeusern8me]

I'm not talking about sales or timeshare or multilevel marketing businesses which are obvious cons. I'm talking about low paid jobs where you slave away for low pay and have the carrot of promotion dangled in front of you which is even slightly more money for poor pay. I'm talking about care, shops, bakeries, fast food, childcare, telesales. I despise these companies which are such a con and prey on the weak, the vulnerable, the desperate, the kindhearted and innocent. They dress up these roles and oversell them but in reality it's hard work, huge time commitments for shitty poor pay. Am I completely paranoid or are these careers just a total con? My niece is thinking of leaving sixth form to get a job in carework and I worry she will end up trapped in hamster wheel of low pay. It just made me think that if she does decide to leave it will be a Sliding Doors moment she will regret. Sorry for the rant but am I being unreasonable in saying these jobs are a trap or am I in fact correct?

I work in a low paid job. I earn under 24K a year for 37.5 hours a week.

I am very skilled at what I do, I don’t know many people who can speak every day to HMRC about complicated tax code queries and enquiries (and then explain that in an easy to understand manner to our customers). I also manage the flow of work through a department of 45 people, making sure deadlines are hit and that thousands of our customers have their cases dealt with in a timely manner. Complicated spreadsheets, in-house systems etc.

Yes, it’s an Admin role, it is what it is, I’m neither unskilled or stupid and it drives me mad that so many people using this site believe anyone on less than say 25K a year is a worthless individual in a dead end job.

Look at all the 'customer service is shit' posts, the 'why can't my relatives in care homes have a shower every day?' complaining about the services we need and want posts, not providing an adequate service. They're being paid a wage that even the government recognises can't be lived on because they're topped up by tax payers money a lot of the time.

Absolutely. People complain about the long wait times to get through to their utilities provider, bank, insurance etc. That's because the wages for call centre operatives are so low - they can't retain staff - especially since it's the opposite of a 'low stress job' and the hours are often anti-social to boot.

Until the higher-ups realise that to attract and retain experienced front-line staff, they need to pay a decent wage, we will continue to receive shit customer service. Don't blame Joe Bloggs on the end of the phone, blame Mr CEO earning 5 million a year.