Jobless youth lack Brit grit

[Mister M]

I get a distinct impression that all young people are 'tarred with the same brush', especially on SF.

 

Yes that and reducing huge societal issues like unemployment and training down to the individual level. It neatly dovetails into the 'striver vs skiver' dichotomy.

[Waldo]

A famous Chef, I think it was Gordon Ramsey once took on a young pot washer with no skills or qualifications whatsoever. Ramsey was so impressed by the attention to detail and level of commitment this young lad put into washing dishes that within a very short time he hired him on the line. Not because he wanted to do the kid a favour but because the kid was a perfectionist in such a lowly mundane job. You can't teach that sort of can do attitude. it's either in you or it isn't. Sadly, many young people are drop kicks with no backbone or ambition. They simply don't have it in them to start at the bottom and work hard.

 

Absolutely agree, no matter how small and meaningless your job may seem, always put in 100% and do it with pride. Sure, your boss will see your hard work and great attitude, and that's good, but more importantly, is that you yourself know that you give it your all, and there's a sense of pride that comes with that, a knowing that you're a worthwhile quality kind of person.

 

With that kind of attitude, no small job will hold you for a long period of time.

[Staunton]

How would you do this? Where does the work and the money come from?

 

How about one £hundred billion per year? Might that trifling sum help?

 

In other words, if the multinationals and the multiple retailers paid their tax, the state could structure a functioning economy.

 

There might be a few billionaires who would be unhappy about such a notion, but they have their yachts and their Oxfordshire estates and their Malibu beach homes and New York penthouses and their stud farms and their helicopters to amuse themselves.

[Anna B]

A famous Chef, I think it was Gordon Ramsey once took on a young pot washer with no skills or qualifications whatsoever. Ramsey was so impressed by the attention to detail and level of commitment this young lad put into washing dishes that within a very short time he hired him on the line. Not because he wanted to do the kid a favour but because the kid was a perfectionist in such a lowly mundane job. You can't teach that sort of can do attitude. it's either in you or it isn't. Sadly, many young people are drop kicks with no backbone or ambition. They simply don't have it in them to start at the bottom and work hard.

 

Yeah, right... How often does that happen?

 

A much more likely scenario is that they give 100% only to be replaced by a cheaper alternative. That's business.

 

Starting at the bottom and rising through the ranks is now an outmoded concept in the big corporations. It's all about getting the job done to a reasonable standard at the cheapest possible price. Hence the never ending turnover of interns, trainees, government subsidised workers etc. and ultimately foreign workers.

 

For the majority of hard working people, being at the bottom of the food chain these days means life on a jobs roundabout, 0 hours, short term contracts, in and out of work, and no job security.

[Staunton]

'Britain’s unsustainable benefits system supports the workshy and risks losing public support unless ministers tackle the something-for-nothing culture, the coalition’s pensions adviser says today.

 

Lord Hutton of Furness, who served under Tony Blair and was appointed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg to oversee an overhaul of public sector pensions, accuses all parties of ducking the “hard edges” that a new system requires.'

 

So said Hutton (all boy's selective school and Oxford) in the Times yesterday.

 

Another posh boy sticks the boot in and blames the victims.

 

Hutton doesn't have quite so much to say about aggressive tax avoidance or multiple retailers using automated check-outs to replace staff.

[Happ Hazzard]

What is wrong with using automated checkouts to replace staff? Do you employ people to do things that machines can do for you? What is wrong with agressive tax avoidance? Do you pay more tax than they have to?

[Staunton]

What is wrong with using automated checkouts to replace staff? Do you employ people to do things that machines can do for you? What is wrong with agressive tax avoidance? Do you pay more tax than they have to?

 

Have you got an Oxfordshire estate? Do you have a helicopter?

 

These are rhetorical questions Happ Hazzard. I'm guessing that you have neither.

 

My question then becomes - so why do you defend the interests of those who do?

[Happ Hazzard]

I don't. But you can't stop progress. Labour saving inventions are a fact of life. Supermarkets cost people jobs in the first place. So how far back do you want to go?

[Staunton]

I don't. But you can't stop progress. Labour saving inventions are a fact of life. Supermarkets cost people jobs in the first place. So how far back do you want to go?

 

I'm more interested in why you defend the interests of billionaires.

 

On the recent ASDA thread I invited your comments thus

 

'Would you agree with me that anyone who shops at ASDA in Woodseats, who uses their automated technology to process their own shopping, is harming the interests of everybody here in Sheffield?'

 

Essentially, I am urging you to reflect on thye fundamental principles of society and the devastation that is being caused across the globe by multinational corporations and privileged politicians.

[Happ Hazzard]

How do I "defend the interests of billionaires"? I defend the interests of everybody! Do you have labour saving devices in your home? Do you not realise that these devices cost people jobs?