Then you might have to prepare an online presentation to give to somebody in the organisation. So, after going through around three rounds of these testing and application processes, you might eventually talk to somebody, but it’s almost certainly going to be online, and you will have been expected to prepare something in advance to try to impress them.
If you manage to impress somebody online with the conformity of your expectation with those of the organisation, and you note there, I stress, your conformity with the expectations of the organisation, they might then, finally, in about the fifth round of the process, invite you in to take part in an exercise day, where you will be compared against 30 or 40 other candidates, after which you might get an interview.
So, why do companies interview this way? Because the law says they have to. In order to ensure that fairness over race, gender and so on. You’ve got to go through all of these hoops in order to prove, to a legal standard, that you’re not being biased.
And yet Spud would insist that reguilation has no costs, eh?
There’s also this:
Why aren’t young people working as much these days? That’s a difficult question to answer. And I’m asking it about what is commonly called Generation Z; broadly speaking, those under the age of about 24 in the UK at present.
Now of course I do know that between the ages of 16 and 24, a great many people are in education of some sort. They might still be at school, or in college, or at university, or even in post university education of some sort, which still means they’re not in the workforce. Whatever it is, of course, that’s a valid occupation on their part, and a benefit to us, we hope.
But, taking those people out of account, there is still very obviously a significant trend going on in the UK, where the number of young people not working is growing much faster than in any other age group. And this is deeply worrying.
Actual economists – not political economists – insist that you’ll see the effect of a minimum wage – and, also, things like workers rights – that is “too high” turn up in hte youth unemployment numbers. For these are the untried, untrained in real work, with the least productive output. Therefore, if wages – and wage conditions – are that “too high” these are the people who will find it most difficult to get a job. Whatever the pay to production ratio is across the society, these are the ones with the worst such and so the bellwether for any problems.
So, we’ve got that rising youth unemployment. And the one thing the political economist does not even consider is the effects of those other policies. When, of course, it’s the very first thing the economist will think of to check…..
Aren’t you being unfair on political economists? I’d be happy to put good money on, say, James M Buchanan not only understanding the problem but also screaming about it from the roof tops.
And as I was reading this my 1st thought was that his son has been trying to get a job and Spud has just seen the problem because it’s smashed home square in the face.
Youth unemployment in the UK 13%*.
Youth unemployment in the EU 14.3%.
If only people hadn’t been conned into voting leave…..
* What are the odds that that 13% will increase in the aftermath of 30th October?
The only way I would employ someone in that age group (or elderly folks for that matter) would be on a zero hours contract with age adjusted minimum wage. Once they had proved to me they were capable and willing I would give them a “real” contract and increase their pay to what they were worth to me and to retain them. The pay increase would be under the strict understanding they told no one about it so as not to put other staff members noses out of joint.
Unfortunately we seem to have legislation pouring in to make all of that illegal. Pitty.
I’ve suggested on his blog that men in the 16-24 age group are more likely to suffer mental health and behavioural problems. We only need to look at the demographics of the prison population. Also being in the country illegally isn’t going to help (and as far as I know the illegals are still captured by the Labour Force Survey).
There’s many other factors of course.
BiND
That’s why he has set up A company for him to indulge his ‘talent for videos’ but you are spot on. That is exactly the reason. And he is too
Dim to jon the dots. But then he is almost the ‘Anti- Bastiat’. I have never seen anyone with as little ability to consider second order consequences. Truth is he is a bit thick. Hence why he had to get a ringer to take his accountancy exams!!
Incidentally the overall post is an all time
Classic and worthy of a full fisk but despite some changes at the office that have sapped my motivation it might be much later in the day before I can give it my full attention. However much as it goes against the grain to encourage people to read ‘Funding the future’ for this specific post I would recommend a look as you get a real insight into how his mind works (such as it does)
@Consan Guinuity
I’ve suggested on his blog that men in the 16-24 age group are more likely to suffer mental health and behavioural problems. We only need to look at the demographics of the prison population.
This all depends on your definitions. I would regard ‘mental health problems’ as thinking you’re a different sex, thinking you’re fat when you’re thin and vice versa, cutting yourself, having panic attacks etc. Much of this seems to me to be overrepresented in the female part of the young population.
A lot of what is now termed ‘behavioural problems’ is actually just stuff that men do which our increasingly feminised society has ‘problematised’.
It’s the trammelling of men (in my opinion) from boyhood which causes a lot of the other shit: boys should have playground fights, climb trees and fall out of them, break into derelict buildings and fuck about, ride bikes at high speeds without helmets, take mad risks etc etc.
It’s my firm belief that men should fight, physically, now and then. It restores order and calm.
What procedures were followed at City U to give him the professorship of political economy? He has no demonstrable qualification or experience in it. It would be fascinating to see the job advertisement and the internal reports recommending his appointment.
@Adolff
17 EU members have rates higher than the average which is undoubtedly influenced by the relatively low rate in Germany (amplified by its large population) and Poland
This includes France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Belgium, Finland and the Baltic States
Maybe they should leave to ‘enjoy’ the same rate as the UK?
Why aren’t young people working as much these days? That’s a difficult question to answer.
A million immigrants a year is why.
“Actual economists – not political economists – insist that you’ll see the effect of a minimum wage – and, also, things like workers rights – that is “too high” turn up in hte youth unemployment numbers.”
They were told. Endlessly. But nope, it’s still a mystery.
In the 1980s there used to be loads of apprentices.
Snotty herberts fresh from school with no training but eager to learn a trade to get out of their parents house. They were paid pocket money, but had high quality training investment from skilled workers. After a couple of years they could do a few useful things and wages were adjusted. After a couple more they were actually earning. 4 years in, a skilled operator on a decent weekly wage, ready to start life.
Now all the training has to comply with a raft of regulations and you can’t sack the useless twonks if they turn out to be shite. You have to pay minimum wage from day 1 and you can employ an already skilled Easter European for practically the same pay rate. I wonder what went wrong?
All of this is people chasing jobs in the public sector or the sort of big name, bureaucratic companies with gold lettering, fancy buildings and an army of weaponised HR power skirts.
SMEs in Swindon employing 300 people that you’ve never heard of? Small software company on a business park in an Oxfordshire village? They get CVs, they sift through them, they bin the wasters and interview the 5 or 6 people who seem the best. For about an hour or so. Sometimes, a second interview but not often.
The thing with those companies is they don’t have time for this nonsense and also, you’ve collected enough data after an hour to weed out the bullshitters, psychos and people who are barely awake. You’re down to 2 people, at which point, you’re going to get someone very good for the job. It isn’t even worth agonising over which because if you’re down to that level, both are going to be suitable.
And no, this isn’t about the law. It’s covering your arse, that they’ve done a thorough job if it all goes titsup.
“Now of course I do know that between the ages of 16 and 24, a great many people are in education of some sort. They might still be at school, or in college, or at university, or even in post university education of some sort, which still means they’re not in the workforce. Whatever it is, of course, that’s a valid occupation on their part, and a benefit to us, we hope.”
But most of it isn’t of much value. Roughly 20-30% of degrees add value. The rest of it is signalling. The value of A levels is either about grades for university or signalling. GCSEs are overwhelmingly maths and English because who gives a toss if you know French or History?
I’ve always said that most of the French I took was useless. And I regularly holiday in France. There are two useful levels of French – basic conversational, or being able to translate detailed legal contracts. The GCSE level where you can write an essay in French is of little value. It doesn’t help you on wine tasting trip to the Loire, and your company won’t want someone with GCSE doing translations of contracts. OK, some people may end up dealing with French clients, but then, how many? And what if they learned French and had German clients?
The best thing for a lot of young people is getting them into work. We have all sorts of very cheap ways to learn things as adults, at the point people are interested or see a career direction. Most useful learning isn’t a big bang thing like going to study medicine. It’s learning how to do a bit of advanced stuff in Excel. Or conversational Italian. Or how to repoint a wall. Or upgrading a hard drive. Or driving a bus. Something that needs hours, days, weeks of study. And we have loads of tech that has made a lot of it more efficient.
Paul Johnson has just announced he is stepping down as Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
I imagine a cvnt of our acquaintance in an end terrace in Ely is currently penning an application for the role.
Swannypol,
“In the 1980s there used to be loads of apprentices.
Snotty herberts fresh from school with no training but eager to learn a trade to get out of their parents house. They were paid pocket money, but had high quality training investment from skilled workers. After a couple of years they could do a few useful things and wages were adjusted. After a couple more they were actually earning. 4 years in, a skilled operator on a decent weekly wage, ready to start life.
Now all the training has to comply with a raft of regulations and you can’t sack the useless twonks if they turn out to be shite. You have to pay minimum wage from day 1 and you can employ an already skilled Easter European for practically the same pay rate. I wonder what went wrong?”
The biggest thing is that it got decided that some aspects of apprenticeships were classed as indentured servitude. Apprenticeships varied in how they worked, but there was generally a thing that after you got trained, you had to stay with the employer for a while after. You were not adding a lot of value in the training period but then you worked for them for a few years after, and repaid the investment.
Some companies did a thing in the early 90s of a deal where you got trained in programming but had to stay for 3 years. If you left before then, you had to repay your training. And what happened to those is that a few people got all their training, worked for a short time, and then went to court claiming indentured service, which the court agreed, so they didn’t have to repay it. After that, no-one was going to do it again.
@WB
But regulation has no costs! Therefore the problems with apprenticeships you allude to cannot possibly have happened, and you are suffering from False Consciousness.
It’s a bit like birds getting preggers, having the year’s full-pay maternity leave, and then deciding to swan off at the end of it. It never happens! It certainly never happened to the public-sector fat bird I saw do it 20 years ago. More False Consciousness. Or perhaps False Memories.
Related – maybe if we drug fatties, the economy will get better:
Unemployed people will be given weight-loss jabs under government plans to get them back to work.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has said the new class of medication could have a “monumental” impact on obesity and getting Britain working.
Mr Streeting has announced a £280million investment from Lilly, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, in developing new medicines and ways to deliver treatment. The plans will include the first real-world trial of the drugs’ effect on worklessness, productivity and reliance on the NHS.
I’m all in favour of trying new mystery jabs on the NHS. We can start with those NHS managers that tried to impose jab mandates for care home workers, and work up the ranks from there. The effect on worklessness and productivity will also be interesting, but I would still not like to rely on the NHS if I get sick.
Norman,
“It’s a bit like birds getting preggers, having the year’s full-pay maternity leave, and then deciding to swan off at the end of it. It never happens! It certainly never happened to the public-sector fat bird I saw do it 20 years ago. More False Consciousness. Or perhaps False Memories.”
They aren’t paid for a year. It’s a few months. But they can take a year unpaid, and you have to keep their job open. Oh, and they can return at any time.
I worked in a US company that closed their UK software team because they had a couple of women almost back to back who did it. They had to hire expensive contractors to backfill for nearly 2 years. They didn’t mind women being off for a couple of months, and that’s what they paid in the US. But it made the UK more expensive than programmers in Ohio.
The second woman had only been there a few months. So, you imagine spending £7K+ on recruitment and other employment costs and within 6-9 months, they’re gone. And it’s not like you can go find another employee. You have to use expensive contractors. Oh and they could return, do a few months work and fuck off to play mummy for another year.
“ Now all the training has to comply with a raft of regulations and you can’t sack the useless twonks if they turn out to be shite. You have to pay minimum wage from day 1 and you can employ an already skilled Easter European for practically the same pay rate. I wonder what went wrong?”
Whether anything went wrong or not depends on which end of the telescope you’re using.
I’m sure Blair, his acolytes and assorted remaniacs are quite pleased that everything went according to plan.
They were warned, but of course those doing the warning were thick racist bigots who could be ignored as self serving.
in response to Steve – our illustrious host was mentioned on the ‘Samizdata’ website. Apparently Murphy thinks giving an injection to fat people is a bad idea:
https://www.samizdata.net/2024/10/oh-no-a-new-drug-might-stop-fat-people-and-smokers-suffering-as-they-deserve/#comment-860571
VP – it’s very bold for a man of Ritchie’s circumference to wish misery on fat people.
Eli Lilly and all the other big pharma shysters are only pushing this shit because they know WE will end up with millions of sick, ex fatties, in need of a raft of other ‘cures’ for ailments they didn’t have before, all of which will be helpfully provided by said big pharma and paid for by
our NHS,the taxpayer. Forever.@Western Bloke They aren’t paid for a year. It’s a few months.
“you may be entitled to have your statutory maternity pay topped up for the first 26 weeks to full pay (or 39 weeks in some departments).” HMG website