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Everybody wins! Except of course you. You have to work with absolutely no security, and you better work hard because if your bi-hourly performance evaluations don’t show an exponential improvement then the chances of your contract being extended will swiftly move from slim to none. The days when you walked straight out of school into a ‘job for life’ and left forty-something years later with a carriage clock and a pension are officially over.

HR personnel – especially ones on permanent contracts- will swear blind that this this ‘Sword of Damocles’ style people management is beneficial for all because it motivates you to be the best employee you can be. That’s a slightly rose-tinted way of looking at it though. You wouldn’t, for instance, say that a jockey is motivating his horse when he or she whips it across the line in the Grand National would you?

Another rationalisation for... Sorry, benefit of, the temporary contract is that it gives you experience of various workplaces, roles and challenges that can only make you a better, more adaptable employee. Yes it does, but it also gives you the soul destroying, blood-pressure spiking, hairline receding trudge of finding a new job several times a year. When you’ve been asked outline an occasion when you’ve ‘shown leadership skills under pressure’ three times in a day, the upside can be hard to see.

There are benefits of temporary contracts of course. The end of your four months maternity cover could, for instance, provide a welcome escape hatch from a workplace you’ve begun to loathe with a passion. When Debbie swans in for a visit carrying three week old Timmy and announcing that she’ll be back at work next month, you might just find yourself thanking God that you can finally get out of the place.

Not much of a silver lining I know, but you’ve got to take the wins where you can.
]]> Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:37:46 Matt26 http://www.moanaboutwork.net/forum/m-1204811055/ http://www.moanaboutwork.net/forum/m-1204811055/#num1 Some reports suggest people who work at home are more productive than their office-based colleagues but that many of their colleagues label them as skivers.
The people who work from home at my office are, quite often, not in when we ring them. I know for a fact they’ve been spotted in town when they’re supposed to be working but they get away with it.
If I went shopping for three hours in the middle of the day and was absent from my desk, my boss wouldn’t be so blasé about it.
My home-based workmates come into the office once or twice a week and have the nerve to complain about the weather or the traffic. It drives me mad-they don’t even travel at rush hour. It’s only is it quieter but it’s cheaper. Not only that, the odd comment like: “I’d usually still be in my pajamas now” or “there’s not much point me staying, as most of my stuff is at home,” seriously makes me want to poke them in the eye!
I’d love to work from home. I’d go the gym in the morning and get it out of the way. Have a leisurely breakfast with my laptop in one hand and TV remote in the other. Maybe send a couple of emails, have a cat nap, watch Neighbours, an afternoon movie-oh it’s 5 o’clock time to call it a day I think.
Work Wise UK who organise National Work From Home Day, say that just one day at home each week would have a huge impact on traffic congestion and overcrowding on public transport while improving productivity and employees' well-being.
I might suggest it-after all, it’s helping the environment.
If everyone can work from home every-so-often, I don’t really see a problem-it’s fair but while the chosen few get to work while watching the world go by from the comfort of their own sofa, it’s inevitable that us office-based employees will continue to have home-based envy and, quite possibly, get a restraining order for eye poking!]]> Thu, 6 Mar 2008 13:44:15 pinkchihuahuagirl http://www.moanaboutwork.net/forum/m-1204811018/ http://www.moanaboutwork.net/forum/m-1204811018/#num1 According to a survey by Employers Forum on Age, one in five adults aged under 20 have been put off applying for a job because of their age.
While the overall picture from the EFA research seems to support the widely held belief that age discrimination is just about older people (12 per cent of everyone questioned said they had been made to feel too old while only four per cent had been made to feel
self conscious about being too young), a closer look at the figures shows something else happening in the workplace. In fact the research found that one in five adults aged under 20 have been put off applying for a job because of their age - more than any other group.
Even people aged over 70 are less put off by their age
than those under the age of 30.
I’ve said before that I believe employers are put off taking on women in their 20s because of the fear of maternity leave etc. I experience a lack of respect from colleagues on a daily basis due to the fact (I believe) that I am young(ish) and a woman.
I work in quite a male orientated profession and it seems the males in my workplace feel threatened.  
Despite a promotion, many of my male colleagues continue to look over me for advice-even when it is asking questions about the contents of MY work.
I remember a time when the fresh ideas of young people where openly welcomed by employers but it seems, the years of age discrimination for older people has made
people examine and favour experience over new blood.
It is the case for many people under 30 though-how can you gain experience if no one will give you a chance?
Young people in particular are vulnerable to the preconceptions that are held about them and there is a risk that some will be turned-off from work altogether.
Employers have a vital role to play in increasing the appeal of work to young people, and in developing a working environment which harnesses the potential of people of all ages. As well as valuing new ideas from the young and experience from the more mature employee
in equal measures.]]> Thu, 6 Mar 2008 13:43:38 pinkchihuahuagirl http://www.moanaboutwork.net/forum/m-1204810864/ http://www.moanaboutwork.net/forum/m-1204810864/#num1 From checking the footie results on a Saturday and having your emails flash up to leaning in for a snog with your partner and having a mobile start ringing, work-life balance seems to be non-existent these days. It’s more work and life has become work.
It seems it’s even worse for people with children. If a mother wants to be there when her kids get home from school or, shock horror, even pick them up from the school gate, it can often mean her getting to the office at 7 in order to make her hours up.
Men don’t seem to get it any better. When couples have children and women reduce their hours, men often work even longer hours to ensure the same amount of money is coming in.
According to a recent survey, some eight out of ten working fathers and more than half of all working mothers have to regularly work anti-social hours which are 'stunting' family life.
This can also mean young children have to be spend more time with a child minder, a nanny, an au pair, in a nursery or at school than with their own parents.
If one parent works, but the other does not, four in five work antisocial hours, which often involve starting early and finishing late every day. Some partners rarely see one another except for getting in bed and a few snatched minutes in a morning.
It seems to be getting worse rather than better. The price of living has gone up. People can’t afford to bring up a family on one wage any longer so what can we do?
As I mentioned before, Communities Secretary, Ruth Kelly is proposing a new scheme to help women in the workplace but if this means starting work at 6am or not finishing until midnight, would we be any better off? Surely this would lead to exhaustion.
More than 70 per cent of mothers who are married or living with a partner go out to work, according to official figures.
At these levels, fewer than three in ten women with babies as young as six months are staying at home to care for their children. Maternity pay just isn’t enough for most people to have a whole year off. If I ever have children, I am going to have to save enough money to pay all of the bills for the six months or however long as I can’t rely on my partner’s wage alone.
In 1992, 62 per cent of women in traditional "two-parent" families with dependent children went out to work. Today, the figure is 71.4 per cent.
Sky-high property prices, with the average asking price now £215,000, are blamed for forcing women to work, rather than stay at home.
A recent survey showed that just six per cent of working mothers actually wanted to have a full-time job, but many did not have a choice.
Shall we all sell up and join a commune?]]> Thu, 6 Mar 2008 13:41:04 pinkchihuahuagirl http://www.moanaboutwork.net/forum/m-1204735718/ http://www.moanaboutwork.net/forum/m-1204735718/#num1
Does any of this sound familiar? If so, then the chances are you’re pretty stressed out. Stop wasting time reading this and get back to work then!

Sorry, only joking what you need to do is relax. Here’s how.

1. Perspective. Unless you’re an air traffic controller or a doctor or something, I’m willing to bet the consequences of you failing are not as grave as you’ve led yourself to believe. Take a moment and ask yourself, what’s the worst thing that could happen if you completely screw everything up?

The company won’t get/keep the big account: Not ideal but they’ll find another one. Plus, get over yourself mate, if the projects going that badly wrong then there’s many more people than just you to blame. Just who do you think you are?

I’ll lose my Job: these days almost everyone gets sacked/made redundant at some point in their career, might as well get it out of the way. Plus, you got one job you’ll get another. The job market’s never been more buoyant, it might even be a blessing to get shown the door.

2. Complain (to someone that can actually help). Contrary to what you may believe, I’ll bet the powers that be spend barely any time thinking about you and you’re workload – they’re to busy blue-skying, whatever that is. They’ll just keep piling work on till you tell them not to - which you must do when it gets too much. They may be management but even they understand that it’s better to do a couple of things well than everything badly.

3. Relax. Get some eccanacia tea, St. Johns wart and valarian root. Put all those on a bonfire then crack open a beer and invite your mates round. If anyone tries to talk about work, throw them out.

Job Done.
]]> Wed, 5 Mar 2008 16:48:38 Matt26