Scramble for jobs
Thursday 27th October 2011, 3:00PM BST.
TTS apprentices Jack Hinton (16), Josh Bates (19) and Jean-Luc Huard (19)
MORE than 235 young people recently applied for just six vacancies in a States apprenticeship programme.
Transport and Technical Services chief engineer Martin Gautier, who was responsible for the recruitment process, said that the department had never received such a high level of interest.
He said: ‘The employment situation in the Island is very tight and in the past, going back many years, there were difficulties getting large numbers of apprenticeship applicants because the finance sector offered attractive salaries to school leavers, in more buoyant conditions for the finance industry.
‘Obviously there are still opportunities, but the attractiveness of learning a skilled trade is stronger than it has been for a couple of decades.’
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Thursday 23 February
- Fall in house prices
- Van Morrison to perform in Jersey
- St Martin's Football Club looking for new home
- 6 pages of jobs
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What about teaching different trades ?
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It is vital that States Departments help young people into work with apprentice schemes like this. Kermit is right in saying that other trades need to be considered. There is much that can be done to get the island back on its feet – we need more doers and less bureaucrats. For every highly paid pen pusher in non productive roles, the States could employ several young people on jobs that will be of benefit to people. The roads need repairing, buildings need to be maintained, lawns cut, facilites repaired etc., etc. We need to get youngsters trained up to do all these jobs to replace those in post now, who can retire in the near future.
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I hear in reality that the kids are so well paid to stay at home with their parents while drawing a variety of benefits that few stay motivated to learn a trade.
Geoff Southern is rooting for the minimum wage to be raised to deal with this mockery.
Why not deal with it head on Geoff and cut the benefits and you will cut the unemployed.
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They have, this intake was for Carpentry, Mechanical, Vehicle Technician, Electrical and Gardening…..
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Why not go a step further and stop the benefits.
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Maybe the money we are about to spend to prop up the islands construction industry should be handed out to those firms willing to take on a minimum number of apprentices?
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“cut the benefits and you will cut the unemployed.”
Yup just like in the 1930s. There were no state benefits then so there can’t have been any unemployed people.
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It is interesting that so many people apply for these posts, while for many jobs in agriculture or tourism no unemployed islander applies, and all working there are hard working Poles. Hmmmm.
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I am 47, and it was nothing all that different to when I first went out to work aged 15. Many of us wanted to learn trades in the motor or building industry, but very very few spaces were available. After losing out to jobs I was forced to opt for a trade in Butchery, which didnt do me all that badly, as later on the understanding of the retail trade led me onto other things.
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@8 Scrutineer – It is not because of laziness that people will not work in the fields, retail etc the employers INSIST on polish or portuguese speaking people so that they can communicate with their co-workers – I have been there SEVERAL times.
Sorry to dispel the myth that Jersey Beans are lazy, but like most of the UK we are now the minority and are treated a lot worse than the immigrants. Not through laziness on our part but GREED by the employers.
Same in the retail and construction industries – and the states know it, that is why the regulation of under takings was not enforced in retail or construction only in finance, and even then never under any due diligence. The chamber of commerce bleated about the red tape hindering employment when they were more worried about profit margins.
Plenty of young local talent willing to work. States need to make local employment compulsory unless ‘technical’ local expertise cannot be found.
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How much money do you need to sit at home and play the playstation, not £90 thats for sure ( a lot more in some cases). We need to create more jobs for teenagers with decent wages, most kids won’t get out of bed for £4 an hour in their first year and £7 an hour in the final year of their apprenticeship as i had to endure. It’s much easier to just not bother. £160 for 40 hours work or £90 for nothing??….
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Plagne #3
Don’t worry. Once the finance bashers finally get their wish there won’t be any money left for welfare. You’ll either have a job or you’ll be begging on the street. Will be a bit like India except without the millionaires.
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it is a disgrace and a failure of govt that all these kids go for 3 jobs…how can that be success……? stealing hope from a generation is a crime against them.
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First there needs to be a complete stop to all immigration, including the over for a week from the UK, payment in cash types.
Work permit for all jobs, rigidly enforced, we obviously need doctors, etc.
Then no dole payments for anyone unless genuinely sick, old or disabled.
If the EU does not like it tough – look at the mess they have made of their own affairs.
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@ No 10 – Vote Quint……….You are very much correct. It is time to introduce legislation to protect the livelihood of the Island’s long term residents. I also find it astounding that some employers in the retail sector employ migrants who can hardly speak or understand the English lanuage.
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@14. Re the B&B builders, I was speaking to a plumber and he was totally open about the problem and reckoned up to 25% of builders on one site where he has been working are of the B&B variety.
He went on to say that they import cigarettes, and electrical goods bought online and shipepd to Jersey (tax free) and then into the UK to sell, they claim benefits and all claim they do not have bank accounts therefore are generally paid cash in Jersey – all tax free.
Time to send the bobbies around the Guest houses and the tax department to building firms. Several laws are being broken and the island tax payer is being bled to death as well as keeping people out of jobs.
Maybe immigration can find out who flies/ships out on a Friday and back in on a Monday?
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joker we’re heading there now. Look after the rich and sod the rest appears to be the mantra now.
In case you hadn’t noticed we are paying more and more for the luxury of keeping finance here. GST is the result.
I would much prefer the disengagement from something that is becoming more and more under the spotlight around the world and getting into something with a long term future. To be more and more dependent on one sector is complete stupidity but it comes as no surprise to me with the sorts that occupy the CoM.
I warned about this in the late 80′s as finance began to take a strangle hold and sucked in thousands from the UK to fulfill its expansion. This artificially created bubble can’t last and as it has grown bigger and bigger the bang will be bigger as well.
However those running the show will keep clutching at straws and as finance dwindles many will be left high and dry. They won’t be able to adapt to minimum wage jobs and doing a hard day’s graft. Much easier to sit in an air-con office surfing the net and looking at face book to see the latest postings and getting paid better wages.
As for minimum wage jobs these tend to be done by immigrants around the world in every country you look at you will see this hapening. However some seem to think it is just a Jersey thing. As many have come in from the UK they will be well aware of this happening in their own ex-places of abode.
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I can only see this working in the states depts, as they will be subsidised for non productivty,there is no way a small to medium manual firms will be able to take on non productive apprentices over skilled workers without govt assistance.Where will that money come from?
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Vote Quint – Maybe immigration can find out who flies/ships out on a Friday and back in on a Monday?
How can they not know? hell a basic computer programme scanning bookings could highlight hits and investigate. I worked in the building trade for over 20 years and when 5 yr rule came in it didn’t change anything.
It’s not just construction, retail how many customer facing positions have an encumbent that can’t speak English or speak it so poorly that it cannot be understood.
There is an easy fix to our current situation, enforce the 5 yr rule, kick any illegals out immediately and shut the door to any new jobseekers unless essentially employed.
How hard can it be and more importantly knowing what the problem is why don’t our COM act?
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