And so the UK job market continues downward. Could these be examples of why?

Let's take company number one, a large fire alarm company based in Dartford.

They advertised for a member of staff to be involved in the instigation of a new quality assurance system. Someone of my acquaintance applied for the job knowing that their previous experience as a QA assessor in the fire industry must stand them in good stead.

Indeed it did and she was offered the job without even a second or third interview.

She duly left her existing employer and started work for the new company. However after two weeks it was becoming increasingly plain that no one had the faintest idea what this new member of staff was actually supposed to be doing. Despite asking her boss what was going on all she was constantly told was that it would all come together at some point and just to carry on browsing the internet basically to waste time. In the third week she was asked to attend a meeting ostensibly as the QA person. "At last" she thought "The job proper has begun.". But at the meeting the managing director asked why she was there. Her immediate boss said nothing so she told him that she was there as QA officer whereupon the MD called for a copy of her job description and, on the spot deleted 60% of it, informing her them that she was no longer doing QA and was basically to become nothing more than an admin clerk.

Needless to say the new employee rapidly became an ex-employee and took their skills back onto the job market, completely disillusioned with this supposed beacon of the fire industry.

Now there's company two, a large care providing concern based in Caterham. The company fell over themselves to pursue this potential employee, someone with years of experience both as a care provider and also as a financial accounting technician, in which role they had applied to work for the company.

She was interviewed by the manager of the location where they were to work and everything went perfectly. She was next told that a start date for an induction course would be mailed to her within days along with a criminal record check form which she was to complete and bring to a pre-induction meeting the week before the envisaged start date.

The CRB check form didn't arrive but she was told on enquiring about it that she was not to worry as that could be done at this pre-induction meeting. Then a bombshell was dropped as "by the way" the job had suddenly ceased being a full time post at location 'A' but had become a 25 hour a week part time job at location 'B'.

Somewhat bemused she attended the meeting to now be told that the job was now only going to be 20 hours a week. No amount of questioning could get an answer as to where the full time job had suddenly vanished to and, by the way this 20 hour a week post was at yet another location 'C'.

The potential staff member had made it clear all along that she was only applying for a full time position and so after due deliberation turned the post down, giving all her reasons for not wishing to start. At this point a rather objectionable South African telephoned and demanded to speak to the job applicant who, as it happens, was not home so the call was fielded by her husband. Lets just say that if this South African's snotty and arrogant attitude was indicative of the way the company was run, the applicant was better off out of it. Oh and the South African had better not run across the husband again any time soon.

Finally there's company three, a contaminated waste processing concern supposedly in Edenbridge but actually nowhere near.

The applicant, again female was going for an accounts job being unemployed following her previous employers going down the tube. Yet again this new firm, on being told that the applicant was also awaiting an offer from another company fell over themselves to offer her the post, admittedly pointing out that the position wouldn't be open until the first week of June.

The applicant was very pleased as she'd liked the 'feel' of the company and so refused the other job and removed her CV off of the job sites. Things were tight for a month without money but the company's finance man who had been on holiday contacted the future employee via the agency to say that now he was back he'd get the contract out to her that week.

It didn't arrive and yesterday May 31st the agency was told by the company concerned that the post was now not going ahead but there may be some part time work in the offing at some point. Needless to say the lady concerned is beside herself and, like previously mentioned had taken her details off of the job market and so now is back on that merry-go-round of horror.

Now my point following these examples is that it seems that companies now regard it as their right to lie, cheat, act fraudulently and do anything they damn well please to get staff over the doorstep either for interviews or for jobs which actually either change or simply don't exist and the potential employee has absolutely no redress, no comeback and no way back whatsoever.

Of course if these 3 women had wanted to stack shelves in supermarkets why do I suspect that nothing of this sort would have happened?

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