observer Posted July 12, 2012 Report Share Posted July 12, 2012 A glass half full or half empty? Interesting experiment on TV tonight, with 14 70odd year olds trying the workplace again; given the future expectation that folk will have to work longer cos they're living longer. Well, no surprise - only 1 out of the 14 were up to the job in the eyes of the employers. However, it gets worse - a similar number of teenagers were tried out alongside them in the second week and only two made the grade - reason: simply nil work ethic. So it doesn't look promising for the future of our workforce or that of retirees. Some assumptions were made by "the experts" - an economist said that older workers don't block youngsters from the workforce, which for a given number in a workforce doesn't appear to make sense? Then a Doctor made the assumption that folk are living longer cos they are now pursuing better quality life styles - again with all the obese kids knocking about, we're being told they'll be the first generation to die before their parents. Then there's the general assumption, that living longer means being fitter longer, when argueably what is in fact happening is that the period of elderly infirmity is being extended, so hardly workforce material? And all this hand wringing is being driven by the question of cost - can we afford the elderly at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted July 12, 2012 Report Share Posted July 12, 2012 And you believe all this claptrap Obs? <_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2012 Can you sort the clap from the trap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 Well , my wife & i have 4 kids between us who are not interested in getting jobs ,the eldest being 40 years old, whereas we have worked all our lives.No wonder G4S can't get enough reliable security staff to police the Olympics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlady54 Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 I wonder if, had they done the experiment with 65 year olds, or those who had just come to the end of their working lives, the results would have been different? It would seem obvious to me that having had a gap of 5 or more years since working, you possibly lose some of the skills used in regular employment and your brain starts to slow down (partly due to the ageing process)unless you make strenuous efforts to keep mentally active with puzzles etc. Just a thought! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 The plumber and plasterer, still retained their skills sets, but tended to be slower than the youngsters and basically less physically capable of enduring the rigours of working outside in all weathers. Likewise, the women who worked on the chocolate packing line were slower (too slow for targets), although one did complete the 14 day experiment. The two young lads didn't last more than a day at the factory, with one saying it was boring and the other going back to bed! The oldies did better at an Estate Agents, and the big success was a woman who became a waitress in a restraunt - she was actually offered a permanent job - but clearly an exeption to the rule. However, the question to be asked, is where are all the jobs? With over 2 million youngsters unemployed, assuming of course at least some of them are prepared to work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I ended my 'paid' working life seven years ago and now find it increasingly difficult to carry out the domestic chores I carry out throughout the week, ie gardening, helping 'her who shall be obeyed', window cleaning, keeping up with property maintenance etc, I'm reasonably healthy, active and alert for a male of my age but I am under no illusion that I could not return to full time employment and put in a useful and productive days/week's manual work. When I reached 65 I really was ready for retiring, although I had a total misconception in thinking how easy life was going to be, the one saving grace is that you can take a break, sit down and rest when you feel like it. I do genuinely pity these poor wretches who are being asked to continue working well into their old age, it's just another way of the government of the day carrying out a program of legal euthanasia, it would be less painful to lethally inject them. I suggest anyone reading this topic by obs, go to the following link and read the article in last weeks Guardian by Michael Holroyd regarding Bernard Shaw's satirical play 'The Doctors Dilema', Shaw saw things for what they were at that time and now it is almost "history repeating itself". http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/jul/13/george-bernard-shaw-doctors-dilemma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 The Government are clearly all over the place with this one Algy; but the bottom line is, it's about saving money on pensioners; regardless of their state of fitness or health, and regardless of the number of jobs available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 I never saw many plumbers and plasterers working outside in all weathers during my time on many big sites in the 80's and 90's..... it was us electricians (Me usually) who ended up working on great big air handling units on the roof at Kelloggs on Trafford Park; knee deep in snow in the middle of January and then got to work above the cornflake driers in the middle of July!!! Salt tablets were the order of the day! No wonder I was only 12 and a half stone back then! The plumbers and plasterers always had the cushy inside jobs as I remember 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlady54 Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 Perhaps they should introduce a sliding scale where the older experienced worker, not able or wanting to continue working full time hours, is paired with a young person, to train them, share the hours and once competent, the hours could be gradually changed until the young person takes over fully from the older one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted August 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 Your thinking outside the box SL; something our politicians appear incapable of. We have 2million or so young folk lying in bed, without the benefit of a skills set; we have older folk retiring. Common sense would suggest we put the two together in a massive trade training programme; with the older folk working part time in Colleges to pass on their skills to the youngsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 I think the major flaw in this argument is that it’s treating everyone as being the same. We don’t just suddenly become inefficient at the age of 65 in fact leaving aside the physical, certain jobs requiring skill and maturity are often performed far better by older people. Take the very obvious example of B&Q’s policy of employing older staff. Who would you choose to advise you, a young 18-year-old or a willing seventy-year-old? The young lad might be able to give you a lift with the three bags of cement but it’s the 70 year old that reminds you need the sand as well. It would make for a far better quality of life if people had a little more say in the retirement process. I know people who are struggling to continue working and would welcome an earlier retirement while others rather like myself who are not quite ready for the carpet slippers. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 I always have a giggle when I'm looking around the electrical section of B&Q and some 18 year old girl comes up and asks if I need any help!!! Now old Jim at the warehouse on the plumbing section is a mine of information! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 I always have a giggle when I'm looking around the electrical section of B&Q and some 18 year old girl comes up and asks if I need any help!!! I think I met her when I asked if she had any dimmer switches, and she replied that they were the dimmest they had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 hands wolfie the tin helmet and retires to bunker until fallout has died down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artie Posted August 11, 2012 Report Share Posted August 11, 2012 I always have a giggle when I'm looking around the electrical section of B&Q and some 18 year old girl comes up and asks if I need any help!!! Now old Jim at the warehouse on the plumbing section is a mine of information! dont let him hear you call him old jim he is only 68 and an old mate of mine his disablement hasnt stopped him working all his life --mostly outside-very nice chap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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