Originally Posted by
HollyBlack
And it sounds like ageism to me. Age should not ever be an issue, experience and union card should be the issue.
Not in the slightest - I think the point he was making is that a lot of the existing staff are near retiring age so will shortly be leaving the workforce and there are no replacements available.
I left engineering 20 year ago - I was 57 earlier this week and have no interest in going back. Occasionally I do get offers, one every year or two - agencies and previous employers I've worked for still have me on their files. They ring up and ask if I'm working at the moment - I am. It's usually my wife who answers these calls but I caught one myself last year. What they are looking for is people to train the apprentices. They're so short of experienced staff they can't release anyone to do the initial training before they can join the other workers and train on the job.
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Being surprised that they've rung me - I don't know these people - I asked why. They are going through old files to identify anyone at all that might be suitable to take on training positions.
Some employers might be taking advantage of current situations to take on Polish workers on low pay, but I think a lot of skilled engineering jobs have to be filled by economic immigrants. There really is no-one else available and apprenticeship schemes will take a lot of years to fill the void. More than just the training period - I reckon it takes 10 years experience on top of an apprenticeship to make a good engineer. It's an ongoing learning process that never ends.
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