Thierry, 8, left, and 10-year-old Chesney Payne at the job centre with dad Matthew, who is desperate to find work after two weeks without any. Many others have been looking for a lot longer. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0754153)
THERE is not enough work to go around, according to local job seekers.
The number of people looking for employment has risen to 499 after HSBC announced it would be cutting 52 jobs.
A semi-skilled carpenter, painter and decorator, who asked not to be named, said he had been struggling since July to find work.
‘I’ve been looking for any type of work, but when I ring companies up, the jobs have already gone,’ he said.
‘I rang three times for one job and couldn’t get through. By the time I did, they told me they had already had 35 people go for it in one day.’
He has in the last few months been applying for up to six jobs a week.
‘I’ve been for loads of interviews but haven’t got anywhere because there are so many people looking for jobs,’ he said.
‘It is frustrating because it plays havoc with your family life – as a man, you expect to be the breadwinner. It does make you feel low.’
The 48-year-old has been in steady employment since leaving school, but after a period of sickness and an operation he lost his job at a local builders’ supplier.
He said it had been difficult managing on the money that he, his wife – who works part-time – and his four-year-old son had to live on.
While there was casual work available, it was not worth doing, he said.
‘A couple of weeks’ work is not enough – I’d have to stop the benefit and that is too much hassle,’ he said.
‘Some of the jobs pay £5 an hour and that’s not enough to live on – I was earning more than that as an apprentice 20 years ago.’
Scaffolder Matthew Payne, 33, has been out of work for the last two weeks.
‘There’s absolutely nothing about. I have two kids and it’s a nightmare trying to find work,’ he said.
Mr Payne said he had even tried to find work as a painter and decorator, but there was nothing available.
‘Five years ago there was so much out there, but now there’s none.’
Salvis Salenieks, 18, had also spent the morning looking for a job. He has been looking for work as a sales assistant for the last month.
‘It was much easier to get work last year,’ he said. ‘It’s much harder this year. Because I’m Latvian, people ask if I have a housing licence.’
Mr Salenieks arrived in Guernsey in March to spend the summer with his family, who live here.
Article posted on 14th April, 2009 - 11.30am
33 Article Comments
Try to get a job as a States member, you couldn’t do worse than that lot.
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Eric
How could you ask someone to stoop so low?
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We’ve spent thousands at home on cheap imported labour. If we had known there was a lot of cheap Guernsey labour we would have spent it here.
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Well Darren I thought of others; therefore any port in a storm Eh!
Mind you they have many years advantage; but as an apprentice he could soon catch up; if he goes to all the secret meetings that they have, and then much later tell all and sundry
“But we discussed it a long time ago”
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Sorry, but six jobs a WEEK? Thats not job searching, that’s just moping around! There are jobs there to be had – you just have to have a bit of tenacity, and be flexible in your requirements.
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Jackie’s comment is probably the real truth – many Guernsey builders/carpenters/electricians etc charge far too much – way above UK rates. If they bring their prices down a little then perhaps they will get more work and be able to give locals the jobs they need. There are some reasons i.e. cost of bringing materials over – but to try and charge twice or three times as much as UK is just ridiculous.
I hope Mr Payne gets a job soon but the words ’semi-skilled’ may put people off – what does that mean?
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There is plenty of work – these people just want to hand pick a well paid easy job…
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i came out of work and went for some jobs only to find out they had been given to none local people
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Oh, here we go – shock horror – jobs going to non local people. Bring back the birch! Perhaps they had the skills you don’t Denise eh?
I agree with WHB – you have to lower your expectations when you are looking for jobs, be flexible in your approach and do anything which will pay the bills. Don’t be too proud!
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Local Carpenters etc don’t charge too much. My Dad is a carpenter and has never been able to meet demand for his work. This will inevitably drive up the price of skilled labour.
Semi-skilled means partly skilled or trained but not sufficiently so to perform specialized work. So basically you can’t be self employed semi skilled carpenter, painter etc, you have to be employed by someone.
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There are at least 18 vacancies in todays press.
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Dean
There are plenty of semi-skilled self employed people, you don’t have to be qualified to be self employed you know. As for not charging too much, you’re having a laugh aren’t you? Your father may not overcharge, but there are dozens of carpenters, plumbers, electricians, tilers, decorators etc who all charge the absolute maximum that they can, then often produce shoddy work. You’re burying your head in the sand if you believe otherwise.
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I’ll give you a tip… when you go for your next interview tell them you’re a foreigner and talk with an accent.
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Mind you I’ll go along with Eric, join the States you don’t need any skills..
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Phil – decent argument but you seem to have misunderstood. I never claimed that ’semi-skilled people could not be self employed’, I simply referred to carpenters and painters, I certainly would not want either to be doing a job in my house if they were semi skilled.
I don’t agree with people charging for shoddy work, but to claim these people should not “charge the absolute maximum that they can” is ridiculous. If your boss offered you a pay rise that was more than you thought you were worth, would you refuse it?
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My experience of some local tradesmen is that they are either spending 2 days a week on the golf course or out on their boat or 3 months a year in Thailand.
So either for either the other 3 days a week or 9 months a year one must assume that the customer is paying for their lifestyle.
The trades have never had it so good. Where else in the world would this happen?
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I detect a hint of jealousy Jackie.
And only in Guernsey, tradesman never had it so good. Sheltered is all I can say.
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Dean
Of course I wouldn’t refuse a pay rise, my point is that some tradesmen exploit people who they know require their services as a necessity. I was once charged £105 by a plumber to fix a toilet that was overflowing. Parts about £10, labour £95, time spent on the job about 15 minutes. But it was on a Saturday which apparently justified the increased cost. Roofers are not immune from performing similar tricks. Ever seen Rogue Traders? It happens over here as well you know.
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Phil
Yes I have enjoyed watching Rogue Traders on several occasions, I will again point out that I don’t agree with people charging for shoddy work. You seem to be getting a little muddled between two issues, 1) skilled workmen overcharging 2) cowboys charging for unsafe/unprofessional work.
Also Plumbers are notorious throughout Britain for their pricing (especially on weekends), not just Guernsey. I’m not sure if this was the best example to use for your argument.
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‘I detect a hint of jealousy Jackie.’
Not at all. As I have said before – I am a kept woman.
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There is plenty of work for those who are willing to work! The whole thing about cant find a job over here or a foreigner has taken it is rubbish.
Work does not come to you, you go find it and grab it and provide for your family. Try restaurants, pubs, retailers, shelf filling sweeping roads, deliveries and the list goes on….
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Looking at your comments Dean I had my hair done wo weeks ago and it cost me £150. talk about an inflated price I shant be going back wish i earnt that much for a couple of hours work!
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Its funny how people complain about ‘expensive’ tradesmen but never complain when they make a huge profit when they sell their property, the same property that skilled tradesmen have helped to bump up the value of. What about the lawyers and estate agents who make vast amounts of money from property sales but who actually make no contribution to the value of a property. I dont hear anyone complaining about the exorbitant fees they receive. As ever its the tradesmen who are seen as the poor relation in all of this even though without them you wouldnt have a property in the first place and the people who spend their life sitting at a desk writing letters who continually get away with charging exorbitant fees for actually contributing nothing to the value of a property.
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A kept woman Jackie?
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melc . an accent! , liverpudlian , or mancunian should do it then they,ll know you,re local
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Being out of work is not much fun, but perhaps all those local tradesmen who for years have treated their customers like mugs might now start providing a decent service.
I honestly cannot recall the last time I hired a plumber, electrician or builder who turned up when they said they would and finished the job on time and within the agreed quotation.
Many of these guys have had more work than they can handle for many years now and, in my opinion, a lot have them have become ever more complacent Some of them treat their customers with cockiness bordering on contempt.
Maybe, with work drying up, the decent tradesment will stay in business while the cowboys learn not to take us for granted.
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Immigration rears its ugly head again.
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‘A kept woman Jackie?’ Indeed. A lady of leisure, a woman who lunches – call it what you will ;)
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Carmel – £150 for a hair cut?!
I pay £9, my wife pays about £15. I think you need to change your hairdresser.
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Carmel – you just have had some idea about the sort of prices hairdressers charge nowadays (especially for women), when was the last time you had it cut, the 60s?
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There is no need to pay £150.00 at the hairdressers, I know it can be an expensive luxury particularly if you have long hair and want hilights etc but if you shop around it can be cheaper, what about the Cof FE?
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Just to quote on the hairdresser front, most salons offer a model night for their trainees, if you book one of these u will pay a small fraction of the price.
If not book with the College of FE, help out the youngsters who are trying to train, i know from experience its hard to find models to work on, again the price is just for the cost of the products used. They are all supervised and tend to listen more as they have to do an indepth consultation.
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I have no idea how much it costs to have my hair done. But if I add the monthly flights, the hotels, shopping and dinner, it’s probably quite a lot.
The ladies always thought the Guernsey hairdressers were ’semi skilled’ and a bit rough around the edges.
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