Moving back to england

[eastyy]

Yeah it can and is often abused. Always found it really odd when i was actually working and could not afford to go on holiday or get a new car or anything and seeing people on welfare Going on holiday every year and getting a much newer car then i ever can get.

I did hear the job situation is a lot better in the uk then in ireland but did not want to take that risk.

Actually when i was looking noticed that that apprenticeships are being really abused (especially the jobs bridge in ireland) basically asking you to work full time hours for 9 months for far less then the minimum wage....and seen some of these such as a cleaner in a school or the other end a bio chemical scientist

[Asura]

Seems people have a negativity when it comes to McDonald's when they are apparently a good employer

To be fair, part of it is a problem with UK society - the way in which we have a very rigid social hierarchy. People look up and down far too much here.

You can see it when you walk into McDonalds or a supermarket, and regularly see someone losing their **** with the cashier over some insignificant problem. This applies doubly, it seems, if they're observably middle-class, because they bring in a whole "superiority" thing.

Years ago, I was at a restaurant, and someone nearby had them rouse the manager, on his night off, from the next town over, so he could stand in front of them while she berated him. Seriously. She and her husband left, complimentary wine in tow, and got into their BMWs and drove off.

Some people don't want a McJob because they see it as "humiliating", but that's only because society makes it so.

In Japan, when I was teaching, I once argued with a kid who was unruly and didn't study, mentioning that he'd end up in McD's for the rest of his life. The other teachers found this odd, asking me "what's wrong with that?" - and genuinely meaning it. People seem so respectful to workers there, even cleaners etc.

[speedlolita]

I'm sure McDonalds are a much better employer than Homebase.

[dvdx2]

But it's a small amount of money if you have skills, want to use them but can't find work at present. Also, you're not doing nothing, you're looking for work.

People are always going to game the system so I literally don't care about that side. If you are hard working, honest and trying to find work, you should have suitable handouts from the government to help you in a time of need.

When I got let go from an old job, they paid me almost a years wages in one go as my redundancy package. Because of that financial support and time gifted to me, I was able to find work in the local area, at a job that I was skilled at, in a company I wanted to work for and it took just a few months. If I did not have that luxury, I would have had to rely on state handouts which would barely afford my current monthly outgoings on petrol and my half of the food shop. Also, I would be under pressure to work at a **** hole where I did not want to work for, at a salary that's insulting to what I've learned over more than a decade and be forced to use a Job Centre which sound like the worst places to be forced to use.

If Corbyn get into power, I seriously hope he stops the demonisation of welfare spending and other public services that is being taken away by the Tories and other dicks in the right wing media empire.

Under pressure, ****hole employers, insulting salaries - i'm sure that makes any forumites on JSA feel great.......

[speedlolita]

You're taking that out of context a bit aren't you dvdx?

If someone has worked hard and worked their way up the ladder, of course they're not going to want to fall back on benefits. Way I see it though, working minimum wage in this country barely affords you a decent quality of life.

[buster_broon]

To be honest I kinda read it the same way as dvdx - hence my comment about more skilled deserving of more money

[eastyy]

I'm sure McDonalds are a much better employer than Homebase.

i wonder if i can get free lunches if i worked....had filet of fish since i was a kid every time i go there

[The Moleman]

If you qualified as an electrician, get made redundant and get placed on job seekers, why should they be pushed into a job at McDonalds?

Because it's a paid job. It might not be a job you particularly desire, it might pay less than your profession, but if there's a job available and you're refusing to do it for whatever reason why should you be entitled to continue to receive benefits?

If i lost my job i would have the hand off the person who was offering me paid work.

[Dogg Thang]

I wouldn't because it would be a self-destructive move. This is going to totally depend on your field. For me in my field, looking for jobs would effectively be a full-time endeavor in itself, something I simply couldn't do from McD's, as great as it may be. That move might pay some bills but it's a trap. I might suck 12 months more in benefits not taking that but you can be damn sure I'd be paying way more than that in taxes if I landed a good job in my field.

Not that it's hugely relevant, but I have never been on welfare. But I am very happy it is there if I ever need it.

[Asura]

Because it's a paid job. It might not be a job you particularly desire, it might pay less than your profession, but if there's a job available and you're refusing to do it for whatever reason why should you be entitled to continue to receive benefits?

If i lost my job i would have the hand off the person who was offering me paid work.

Although I follow what you mean, that isn't how it works. A skilled person should have the chance to take some time, on benefits to find a skilled job, because if they take an unskilled one they're taking away a job that could be a young person's first chance to work. That's why it works the way it does.

[gunrock]

[MENTION=1482]dataDave[/MENTION]: Oh man! The wife, kids and me are relocating to Singapore in January or February. Shame, man - I wanted to get the inside track and also get you to explain Wonderful 101 to me!

[The Moleman]

[MENTION=3144]Dogg Thang[/MENTION] & [MENTION=5941]Asura[/MENTION]: I understand where you're both coming from. My field (offshore oil and gas) has been rocky for the past year and will be for at least the next 12 months, I've witnessed people around me losing their jobs and I've contemplated what would I do if I got the axe.

Luckily I can work anywhere in the world, I'm in the process of transferring from the Brazilian sector back to the North Sea due to cuts and restructuring. If it meant paying the bills while waiting for a position to open up I'd happily flip burgers.

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, Moleman, I get you. My dad was in the same business as yours (he was a petroleum geologist) and it worked like that. He did have some very long waits and he would end up going to some godawful places but the bills were paid.

My business is similar in that it can be very project to project but it also requires a lot of spec work and making new things to build profile to get that next gig so when you're not working you have to work, if you know what I mean. Now that I write it out like that, it seems like an awful business!

[usman]

Because it's a paid job. It might not be a job you particularly desire, it might pay less than your profession, but if there's a job available and you're refusing to do it for whatever reason why should you be entitled to continue to receive benefits?

If i lost my job i would have the hand off the person who was offering me paid work.

Yes. Because this is what Jobseeker allowance is for. Minimal survival whilst looking for work, and it's understood, work in your field if you are a professional.

The scant amount one received on jobseekers is its own mechanism in getting people to take on any work when it takes too long or proves fruitless in finding one in their field.

There's never any guarantee also of even finding entry-level work in a poor economy, McDs or otherwise. Having a bare survival amount to get by for people in this situation whilst they try to get back to contributing to the economy is a basic function of the welfare state. Workers like this have also been paying into these benefits.

The UK is very fortunate to even have something like jobseekers allowance. Here in Canada it is *more difficult* to receive any benefits between jobs if you haven't been employed for a 1.5 years prior fulltime than the US. The entire aim of the welfare program is to deny, deny, deny and infact is their remit. It's easier to get help to get by in the bloody United States of Hyper-Capitalist America.