I get daily emails sent from various job sites I signed up to. More and more often now, I’m noticing that contracts are often part time…and when I say part time, I mean part time…two jobs came in this morning, both in retail, and one was for 7.5 hours a week, and the other was 12 hours a week. More and more often I’m seeing this, and it really annoys me!
It means that someone would (theoretically) have to take on say, 5 jobs, just to make up a wage. Plus all the scheduling and organising that goes into it. Also, if you had to take time off for any reason…gosh what a nightmare that would be!
Just a wee rant against the way society is changing.
To be fair, that is possibly a step up from how things were. As many jobs in retail prior to lockdown were zero hour jobs. And part time can mean that any extra hours offered are at overtime rate. My daughter works part time for Tesco & gets overtime rate for all the hours she does over & above her contracted hours.
I think a lot of these jobs are geared for parents who have young kids ( Is it pc to say mothers ). I suppose this is the governments way of getting them back into the work force and less dependent on benefits.
Plus the work market at the moment is so fickle, I imagine a lot of employers just aren’t prepared to make that full time commitment to employ full time staff because they themselves don’t know what’s around the corner.
Even in local council we are seeing more ‘flexible’ jobs being posted for jobs that used to be full time.
I blame the ‘zero hours contract’ mentality of many employers we see around in today’s society. How anyone can organise their lives around zero hours escapes me.
@PixieKnuckles, while looking for work, I think you should concentrate on your crafting and open an Etsy shop - I’m positive you could sell some of your lovely poured paint pictures for a start, and plenty of other stuff, especially at this time in the run up to Christmas.
I agree zero hour contracts are brutal and must make financial planning and security and organising your life well nigh impossible
Sometimes though, a part time job can lead to more hours eventually I think these very part time jobs are sometimes to cover for when the full time staff aren’t available
Not only almost impossible, but what about the mental stability of such workers. They are classed as ‘workers’ and not employees as employees have rights that workers do not.
There is a very interesting web site where its all laid out for employers:- Zero Hour Contracts | Croner
I got a peed off with one of the jobs I do, so, I signed up to a site a couple of weeks ago, got sent details of a Self Employed position, hours to suit you, blah blah blah so I filled in the application online. Got a reply, and was asked to answer a few more questions posed by an “Interveiw Bot”? , all was going well till I was asked the question “Are you available for work duties between 1pm and 8pm, 1 Yes, 2 No, 3 Not Sure”, well because I do other stuff, I could not answer with confidence in Yes or No coz, I would have to reshuffle the other stuff so I picked “Not Sure” to buy some time or go to a subsection, but that was it, “Sorry you are not suited to this role, Thank You”.
Well, what happened to the “Hours to Suit” , love to give that Interview Bot a piece of my mind.
There are many things that impinge on our wellbeing and this C-19 crisis with all of it’s knock-on problems has opened my eyes to many injustices where this government has been found to be seriously lacking. I used to be an avid blue rosette supporter, but my opinions are now starting to change
Oh I so understand that Pixie! So many of my daughter’s friends have said I ought to sell children’s clothes when they’ve seen my granddaughter’s wardrobe, but I always say, just like you - I don’t want my hobby to turn into work. It would just suck all the joy out of it. Thing is, I want to make things randomly, things I see on Pinterest I think “ooh, let me try” (what was that advert years ago, haha?). So off I go, making bags, rope bowls, friendship bracelets, greetings cards, quilt tops, and I end up with all this stuff that I just give away to people, or stuff in a cupboard somewhere
I considered using Etsy but after doing a google search and reading some of the awful reviews I binned the idea… and some of the stuff for sale on there makes mine look like poor kindergarten stuff and the other half is Chinese imports undermining the whole concept of Etsy which was, to support and showcase the small independent crafter or talented artisan.
Yeah I read that about Etsy too, and formed the same opinion. I’ve found a site which allows you to have an e-shop for free, though, and they take 1% of sales. The thing with this though is obviously you have to drive the traffic there yourself via social media - there isn’t the same “footfall” that etsy has.
Perhaps it’s the same site I found? There’s no contract or monthly subscription. I’m not sure if it offered POD but it could be integrated anyway.
Trouble with Etsy now is it’s almost overkill … people go there for art and there’s thousands to wade through so there’s no guarantee they’d find yours.
If you’re not hoping to be famous or make a million but are doing it for a bit of fun or just as a personal ambition have you thought of having an exhibition in your local library? Mine does them… does yours?
I believe the council take a percentage of any sales for commission, nothing more.
I’m toying with the idea of local art and craft fairs held on the first Saturday of every month at my local civic centre, That way I can duck out if I haven’t got anything to sell.
Our library is undergoing a refurb, so basic use only at the moment. Not sure there are any craft fairs going on - but I could check. I’ve asked two local shops to take on some prints and they said they would, and I have a couple of packs of cards that I printed off. That’s as far as I have got, heh! Everything is gearing up for Christmas though, which is fair enough and people have been working on their Christmas stuff since summer, almost so I’m a bit behind…
The idea with the two local shops is good and that’s exactly what I did about 10 years ago but never took too seriously.
I got my prints in cafes and coffee shops and florists, even a beauticians where the customers could sit and stare at the walls. I suppose I should have kept it up . Some wanted to rent me a wall but most were happy to work on a commission basis. I’d just go back and change the pictures every few weeks or replenish the gaps as and when.
Oh well done you! I feel a bit encouraged now…I like your idea about customers who stare at the walls - it didn’t even occur to me to think of that My two shops are just gift shops on a sale or return basis. Yes I’m not taking it seriously either really… …more to see if I can or not.
Sale or return is a good basis … there’s no outlay for you.
Funny, I was surprised by how many coffee shops saw their bare walls as unattractive but didn’t want to have to fork out cash to brighten them up … so it worked well for both of us.
Treat it as a laugh and it can be quite fun… and good for your own sense of achievement.
, all was going well till I was asked the question “Are you available for work duties between 1pm and 8pm, 1 Yes, 2 No, 3 Not Sure”, well because I do other stuff, I could not answer with confidence in Yes or No coz, I would have to reshuffle the other stuff so I picked “Not Sure” to buy some time or go to a subsection, but that was it, “Sorry you are not suited to this role, Thank You”.
, love to give that Interview Bot a piece of my mind. 
The thing with this though is obviously you have to drive the traffic there yourself via social media - there isn’t the same “footfall” that etsy has. 
