Scrutable

This is literally the first I've heard of it.

Anyone got any sources or anything interesting for this thread. Labour Relations absolutely fascinate me.

I'm also trying to make a career change... But then, I'm always trying to make a career change.

Maybe now is the time to look for new jobs?

I want to be a time thief when I grow up.

I’d quit work tomorrow if I could, and I have an interesting and worthwhile job.

The article doesn't really make sense to me. Instead of taking advantage of a labour shortage to get better pay or conditions in their current job, or get a better job, the author seems to be suggesting that people just kind of stay where they are but be passive aggressive about it. I don't think this will help anybody.

It makes sense to me. For me a “better” job is not having to bother with one. I’m a bit burned out with it all, frankly. Does anyone really believe all that career b.llsh.t?

plodder wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 10:53 pm It makes sense to me. For me a “better” job is not having to bother with one. I’m a bit burned out with it all, frankly. Does anyone really believe all that career b.llsh.t?

I understand wanting to retire as early as possible, absolutely. I count the days until I can apply to study ancient history part time and do a bit here and there in a charity shop. In my usual habit of swimming against the times however, I just took a 2/3rds paycut to do something I didn't feel morally uncomfortable with.

But the author's advice seems to be for people who don't like their jobs to just piss their boss and coworkers off by being half-arsed and sulky. Following this advice will put most people on the short-list for redundancies the next time their managers decide it's time to cut costs. Some of them will end up getting fired faster than that and have real problems with money.

Wouldn't it be better for people in this situation to negotiate for a better hourly rate and then reduce hours but still show willing whilst they're in? or just earn more money to save for retirement faster? or just take advantage of the shortages to trade up for a better job?

There are lots of better options than to be maximally resentful and unhelpful to the people at work. There's not really a future in that.

I suspect the Great Resignation is merely a lot of resignations saved up while people felt it was too difficult to change jobs or lacked incentive as they were on furlough. With all the fallout from Covid and Brexit, it is desireable that people reshuffle themselves into the right jobs. For example, we need HGV drivers, but some people are moving into HGV driving from other essential positions, such as bus driver or delivery driver, so it's a good thing if they can do that and then someone else turns up who'd like their old job.

The bus company will wait ages for a driver and then three will turn up at once.

I am seeing some evidence of this at the Uni, several colleagues (4 in my smallish area) have either resigned or moved to a different role internally where they could continue working entirely from home when we were ask to start returning to the office 1 or 2 days a week.

We are currently struggling to recruit replacements who are happy to take a job where they have to be in the office a couple of times a week, one excellent candidate accepted a job but then changed their mind when they realised it would involve in office work.

I've managed to agree only 1 day a week in the office, but if they try to make me go in more often I'll be looking for another job despite the fact that I love what I do - the better work/life balance is more important.

kerrya1 wrote: Fri Nov 05, 2021 9:34 am I am seeing some evidence of this at the Uni, several colleagues (4 in my smallish area) have either resigned or moved to a different role internally where they could continue working entirely from home when we were ask to start returning to the office 1 or 2 days a week.

We are currently struggling to recruit replacements who are happy to take a job where they have to be in the office a couple of times a week, one excellent candidate accepted a job but then changed their mind when they realised it would involve in office work.

I've managed to agree only 1 day a week in the office, but if they try to make me go in more often I'll be looking for another job despite the fact that I love what I do - the better work/life balance is more important.

There is much discussion where I work between the people who would much rather work 4-5 days at home per week and are happy to participate in meetings via video conference, and the people who say they need to have person to person contact and found the lack of it during lockdown to be very difficult. Pre-Covid we all had to be in the office 4 days per week. At the moment people are able to decide themselves. But there have been calls to reimpose mandatory days in the office.

Personally, I like being in the office as its a quiet place where I can focus upon work, and I can leave work there when I go home. But I'm fine doing meetings etc digitally.

Woodchopper wrote: Fri Nov 05, 2021 9:54 am

kerrya1 wrote: Fri Nov 05, 2021 9:34 am I am seeing some evidence of this at the Uni, several colleagues (4 in my smallish area) have either resigned or moved to a different role internally where they could continue working entirely from home when we were ask to start returning to the office 1 or 2 days a week.

We are currently struggling to recruit replacements who are happy to take a job where they have to be in the office a couple of times a week, one excellent candidate accepted a job but then changed their mind when they realised it would involve in office work.

I've managed to agree only 1 day a week in the office, but if they try to make me go in more often I'll be looking for another job despite the fact that I love what I do - the better work/life balance is more important.

There is much discussion where I work between the people who would much rather work 4-5 days at home per week and are happy to participate in meetings via video conference, and the people who say they need to have person to person contact and found the lack of it during lockdown to be very difficult. Pre-Covid we all had to be in the office 4 days per week. At the moment people are able to decide themselves. But there have been calls to reimpose mandatory days in the office.

Personally, I like being in the office as its a quiet place where I can focus upon work, and I can leave work there when I go home. But I'm fine doing meetings etc digitally.

Yes, we also have people who really want to be back in the office full-time, but they are very much the minority in my team at least (two out of 14 I think). The rest of us would quite happily never seen the inside of an office ever again.

It's a weird one, for me, this working from home stuff.

My PhD has always been mostly work-from-home, which I thought would be great as I do like plenty of time to myself to feel calm and happy. But it turns out I'm not really productive or even particularly motivated without plenty of contact with others working on the same stuff, so I'm dragging my arse into the office a few times a week. And with hindsight I'd much rather have been based at a large campus than a tiny outpost.

I'm in. Email sent at 23:28

I'll tell you what you can do with your eye teeth and your job, you can take that mail and that franking machine and all that other rubbish I have to go about with and you can stuff 'em right up your arse!

Boss will prob find it a tad confusing as it's a bar rather than a post-room in an advertising firm.

jdc wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 11:42 pm I'm in. Email sent at 23:28

I'll tell you what you can do with your eye teeth and your job, you can take that mail and that franking machine and all that other rubbish I have to go about with and you can stuff 'em right up your arse!

Boss will prob find it a tad confusing as it's a bar rather than a post-room in an advertising firm.

It's excellent opportunity to gaslight them. If you do it right you'll get them doubting themselves and wondering if in actual fact they ARE working in a post-room and not a pub.

That's when you strike* ...

*Either meaning