as I usually do I’ve had a pint or two and spent my Sunday generally unwinding and pondering things.
most people like to reminisce about days gone by and how things have changed. a big moaning point is the way agencies have spread like a cancer slowly wiping out the full time direct jobs.
the way it works is that a driver signs up with them, then if they have work they allocate it to a driver. this is all well and good if they have good contracts, but you never really know what you’re going to get. when you’re a newbie who already has a job (albeit a job you hate or a job that you just want to leave to follow your dreams) do you take a risk on the word of an agency and leave, hoping there is work? how about when you’ve been driving for years and for some reason you want to change jobs. most of the good full time jobs are never advertised, do you take a risk? trust the agency to do what they said they will and send you to the job they told you about? if you have responsibilities, do you walk out of a secure job and take the risk?
I do miss the days when companies advertised jobs and interviewed people. but those days are fast coming to an end. most of the ads in the paper are for agencies, lots of times the jobs don’t actually exist, its a bums on seats exercise. I’ve been caught many a time with the promise of a certain job with a certain firm, only to leave a job and be passed from pillar to post.
on the other hand, I’ve had good jobs, higher rates of pay than any full time position and a couple of agencies have given me a full time contract with guaranteed hours (even if I wasn’t working I’d get 40hrs pay) I’ve worked part time when the mood took me.
but if I decided that I wanted a new job, would I wait for a full time job? its hard to knock on doors when you work full time. most of the full time jobs get swallowed by agencies. or would I take the risk, trust an agency to do what they promise?
then if you look at it from the other side, if you were an employer, would you advertise in the paper? or would you ring the agency? how do you get the best people? if you advertise, you have to wait, interview and you are bound by employment law. if you ring the agency you get someone instantly, but what quality? if they don’t work out you just ring and get them to send someone else. but you could find the perfect candidate then they get a better offer from the agency and your back to square one.
whether I like it or not, agencies are here to stay and jobhunting of the future will become more and more “production line”
I went into an agency years ago and they reeled off a list of companies and jobs that were available for “immediate start” funny but they all disappeared when it came time to start.
it seems a poor way to operate. if a company needs a temp, immediate start is understandable. if you want the best person for permanent staff, they will probably be employed already and would need to work notice. would you employ someone who was willing to drop an employer of many years with no notice? what does that say about the persons commitment and reliability?
I’ve heard it said that if we stop feeding the agencies that they would die out. but for better or worse they are here to stay. with an ever increasing queue of drivers getting longer by the day, are we doomed to a ‘fast food’ system of employment where the only winners are the middle men who provide a blind date workforce?
