To think it is not that easy to 'get a better job'

[EuclidianGeometryFan]

Seen a few threads lately about people with money issues, and on low wages or minimum wage.
Then some posters say things like 'why haven't you got a promotion in the last X years?' 'Why don't you re-train / upskill?' 'Why don't you get a better job?'

As if anyone stays in a minimum wage job for years just for the fun of it!

The job market is a pyramid - there is not enough room on the higher levels for everyone. Even as you age you can't automatically expect to climb the ladder and move up - the maths don't stack up. Not every field of work has a 'career ladder'.
Some people are stuck on minimum wage or not much more, for life. They may not have the ability or skills or aptitude to re-train or get promoted, let alone the time and energy.

It smacks of blaming the OP for not being ambitious enough. Some posters seem to have no conception of what life and the job market is like for minimum wage workers.

So very predictable

Someone can’t just have a different opinion from you. Nope, they must somehow be connected to you or triggered or some such nonsense

really, it’s very telling

And so what if it was a cleaning job? Does that mean we are allowed to be treated like shit?

and again…. Straight to this. I meant it was a cleaning job so transferable

must be exhausting managing or indeed even working alongside people like this

It is not about opinion. I am telling you that the people I worked with dropped back to a lower banding because of our manager. I am not sure how hard that is to understand. The small pay increase was not worth the stress and BULLYING.

NO ONE deserves to be bullied in the workplace. For a 50p increase in pay or £1k. I don't care. Managers should not be treating their staff like shit.

The cleaning and portering staff who went up a band had been there for years and loved their job and the people they worked with. They wanted to stay there. Is that hard to understand?

You telling me something
doesn’t make it “fact”

4 people were promoted
4 people dropped back down because of the manager
and not one had the gumption to stick at it so it remained on CV and meanwhile look for another cleaning job perhaps in same trust but different dept in the newly promoted band 2 that was now on their cv

nope… they just asked to take a backward step because “less hassle”

So they wanted to stay there because they’d worked there for years and liked the people so sucked up band 1 pay

many many many of us enjoy our jobs and colleagues but we still strive for promotion and willing to make moves to earn more!!

they weren’t prepared to make the sacrifice
Loads of us are for better money and prospects

next excuse…..

One could not have the gumption to stick with it because he was signed off sick for months after.

You seem to be making the excuse that bullying from a manager is normal and if someone can't cut it then they are making excuses.

Are you a bullying manager? Because I cant imagine anyone defending my old boss and yet here you are. Saying the people who tried to better themselves are failures for not sticking with a bully of a boss.

THis was back when you could live on min wage.

But even now where min wage is not enough to live on I cant believe that someone would find bullying acceptable just so you can earn more.
Bullying can have a huge impact on your health. It is not acceptable EVER.

and you still can

Tight? Yes
have to be frugal? Yes
live very modestly indeed? Yes

but yes… perfectly able to live on £24-25.5k a year

Sweet Jesus
I bet you were impossible to manage

Wow.
I bet you were actually my old boss.

So again, we can’t just disagree

Firstly I have to actually be your past bullying boss with G.M initials
then I have to be a bullying manager

It is like discussing the issue with a child

You seem to think that a bullying boss is acceptable. Why?

I’m 42
You haven’t worked for years and years
So no

but really… what a silly way of discussing things. Some one disagrees with you, and you jump in with “you must be my
Bullying ex boss”

Honestly @WeylandYutani
This is silly

I will say though that your approach on this thread has been quite telling

I know as neither myself nor the commenter I responded too are the OP, it is harder to track however the person I corresponded here with found something useful from what I put and responded more positively than you have.

All i am getting form your posts is that someone should put up with a bully of a boss to have stuff on their CV.

I am telling you that NO BOSSES SHOULD BE BULLYING THEIR STAFF. And yet you seem to just over look that and think that people that cant cope with a toxic environment are making excuses etc.

I think you sound very privileged not to be able to understand what I am on about. It has not applied or happened to you.

ANd you made assumptions about how bad I was as an employee. I tried my best. But my boss bullied me and like I said he did get into trouble for it. So it was acknowledged.

Head. Wall. Bang

I am actually close to doing that in real life. I dont understand how you dont understand
Just a cleaner and just have to put up with bullying to get ahead.
No thanks

And again

I've worked in retail for around 20 years . Not much more than min wage. I've applied for promotions - got one , then they "restructured" the management so my role was no longer needed. Since then I've often gone above and beyond, covered for managers, taken on extra responsibilities, changed shift/ location at short notice, done eg first aid course all to help me progress and every time there is a promotion I'm either told I'm unsuitable or applied and been unsuccessful. I'm not stupid - I have an A in A-level maths and a degree but it's hard to apply for other jobs when all your experience is retail.

Apply for an admin job at your local Council. They start on around £28k and you could be promoted to £35k after 5 years. I'd be amazed with your qualifications if you didn't get an interview.

You're right that I had attributed the PP's comment to you, and I now see that you were offering specific career advice to that individual poster.

In light of the OP and the overall tenor of replies, though, I do feel it's worth making the point that it's a logical impossibility for everyone to do better than average. Not only that; we'd all be fucked if no-one was doing the support & maintenance jobs!

Could you look into seeing a career coach? They can help you explore different options - there must be a way for someone with a Maths degree to escape retail work if they want to.