A few month ago I got made redundant from a job that I'd been in for the last six years and have been struggling to find work ever since. I used to work for a small manufacturing company based in Sheffield. I learnt on the job and after six years I'd finally, through a lot of hard work and long hours, got myself in to a very good position. I was earning £20,000 a year, doing a skilled/technical job that also came with a fair bit of responsibility. Unfortunately, as the skills I'd acquired were very job specific and not easily transferable, I've found myself back where I started all those years ago.
After searching for a job for a couple of months, and being unsuccessful, I decided the only option left was to sign up to an employment agency. They have managed to find me work, which I'm great full for, but I really am struggling with the type of work that I'm now having to resort to doing.
Please, let me explain what agency work is like.
You turn up to a factory, where the work is mind numbing, the hours are long, the pay is terrible and your fellow workers can't even spell the word solidarity, never mind understand it's meaning, and will be quite willing to blame "the agency lad" for all their mistakes.
Having been in a job for so many years where it was an absolute necessity to have a reasonable amount of intelligence to be able to do the job, to working in a place where, it's quite possible, that the guy working next to you has either:
a) a borderline mental illness.
b) an inability to construct even the most basic of sentences.
c) a strange fascination with, "very funny", racist jokes.
d) an obsession with telling you how many people he's "banged out" in his time.
e) all of the above.
I'm finding it very difficult working in environments like this, and I hope people who haven't suffered at the hands of the recession, understand how difficult it is.
I've talked to many people, who obviously have never had the "delights" of agency work, who have said things like "a job's, a job" and "you should think yourself lucky". I don't feel lucky!
I've always thought that having a job improved my life but now my opinions are starting to change. I'm starting to think that I'd probably be much happier not working at all!
Please, can anyone give me any sort of advice of how to get out of this agency nightmare?
