At what point is enough, enough

[Deleted User 234324]

So throughout the pandemic I've been working, often doing 60-70+ hours a week because well it's better than being stuck at home, specially during lockdowns.

That entire time we were never rewarded by our employer or even given so much as a thankyou.

Fast forward to now, summer 2021 and my employers are struggling to keep staff, with barely 1 in 5 new recruits lasting more than a few months, and yet even though we have made the reasons why very clear (mainly pay) they have all but flat out refused, stating they don't have the budget for it.

3 weeks ago we suddenly started getting lots of new people turning up unaware that the new guys were all agency workers, and we were the ones tasked with training them up, little did we know at the time but these agency guys were being paid anything up to £9/hour more than us, factoring in agency fees I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was costing the company upwards of £30+ an hour for agency drivers, specially on a bank holiday or Sunday.

I have since queried this with management but as I suspected they really don't seem to care. So maybe it's time to tell them to take a hike, 10+ years of service and they can't even be reasonable.

 

[Deleted User 234324]

Sorry, edited the OP, did on my phone and auto correct made a complete hash of it, didn't proof read before submitting.

 

[Deleted User 234324]

Yeah I had one member of management today ask me to train up someone, I asked the person if they were agency or employed by the company, they said agency and I flat out refused. If management have a problem with that, they can fire me, but I know they won't because they are desperate for drivers.

 

[Deleted User 234324]

Anything can be viewed how you spin it in an interview. If you use the job hopping as a way of learning your trade. It can be viewed as a good thing. Bringing in new views to an often blinkered organisation.

Although saying that when I interview new employees I always ask about their previous history and would historically regret people who couldn't keep a job down. Problem is there is a crisis now not just in HGV but all laboured jobs. Wages have been driven down over the past 15 years by cheap foreign labour.

Chickens have come home to roost. Either a) The government opens up doors to a stream of foreign labour or b) Companies start being more realistic in wages.

Considering the cost of training, the hours (which in itself is a direct consequence of a lack of drivers) and the responsibility. Paying HGV drivers £11 a hour was a joke in itself when someone in a middle management role could quite easily be on mid thirties doing basic hours.

Agree completely, and I suspect many of the larger companies, like the one I work for are banking on a government u-turn and allowing foreign labour back into the market in order to alleviate the shortage of drivers, if they do that then I suspect many UK drivers will just call it quits forcing us the rely on a cheap labour force for the future, if they don't do that then companies will have no choice but to starting rethinking what a jobs value really is.

Half the middle management in our place are completely useless and a waste of resources, I've been there nearly a decade and have no idea what they "actually" do besides annoy the drivers.

 

[Deleted User 234324]

As some may know, I work at a supermarket. It’s horrendous at the moment. Colleagues leaving, not being fully replaced. What I mean by that is both the hours and skills. Two are retiring in end Nov and end Jan. Plus four on long term sick. Two of them won’t be back until the new year. Then when they do recruit, it is the young ones 90% of the time - it’s got nothing to do with paying them lower. As don’t have a lower wage for under 22s. It doesn’t help recruiting older people who generally stay there longer as all the supermarket jobs advertised - bar the skilled and management ones are just 16 hours a week. Older people probably want 24 hours. As 16 hours for a student appeals them as all day on day when not timetabled in and a couple of evenings or Sundays.

I’m worried about Christmas. We don’t hire temps at all, yet the other stores in the county do

It's one of the big 4 I work for also and yeah Christmas is going to be a nightmare if they don't get on top of things now. They may harp on about how important the staff are and how much they care, but the reality is they don't give a crap. We are still very much an expendable commodity.

 

[Deleted User 234324]

seems it was voluntary though and your getting paid by the hour, usually people are grateful for overtime.

I guess the worlds changing though like
Ironically Amazon is seen as a good company to work for even as a low level drone picking orders, when a few years ago it was considered a trash job where people had to pee in bottles.

you can become employed without ever talking to a human being too

I wasn't referring to the over time, it was more in relation to working throughout lockdown at the start of the pandemic. Through the whole clap for keyworkers crap that everyone seems to have completely forgotten.

Amazon drivers (in fact most delivery drivers) still pee in bottles at worst, just no one cares any more.