But there's nothing for us to do!

[Less]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Well, I certainly didn't have any expectations. I left school at 15 with no paper qualifications......my only expectation was hard work and plenty of it.(that was spot on!)

At least you did get a job, which paid you a wage, the prospects for most school leavers today is stated in the title of this thread.

[cashman]

Yeh could get a job virtually anywhere when i left school n i certainly did. if yeh leave n get a job today its like winning the lottery.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Cashy...you and I are roughly the same age.....but I didn't find it easy to get a job.
And it wasn't for the want of trying. I wrote letters and turned up at factories and offices.

Yes Less....I did get a job. My first wage was 50 shillings......and I worked five and a half days for that. For those who are resourceful there is always something out there....it might not be what you want to be doing for the rest of your life, but it gives you a start.
I know quite a number of young people....some of them do not put any effort into getting a job.
One lass I know has been working on Saturdays and Sundays at Next since she was 16, she also worked at the Walton Arms washing up in the evenings......to fund herself through University which she starts in October.....she actively went out and searched for these two jobs.......that is what you have to do.....get out there and show those who will pay you that you can put the effort in.

[Guinness]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Cashy...you and I are roughly the same age.....but I didn't find it easy to get a job.
And it wasn't for the want of trying. I wrote letters and turned up at factories and offices.

Yes Less....I did get a job. My first wage was 50 shillings......and I worked five and a half days for that. For those who are resourceful there is always something out there....it might not be what you want to be doing for the rest of your life, but it gives you a start.
I know quite a number of young people....some of them do not put any effort into getting a job.
One lass I know has been working on Saturdays and Sundays at Next since she was 16, she also worked at the Walton Arms washing up in the evenings......to fund herself through University which she starts in October.....she actively went out and searched for these two jobs.......that is what you have to do.....get out there and show those who will pay you that you can put the effort in.

Really doesn't say much..are you saying that the 'some' are a majority or a minority, how many is a 'number'..2, 3, 4, 10, 20, 30, 100?

Sorry if i'm being a little pedantic here, but it really is far too easy to use cliches like that without quantifying.

Your example of the pillar of society young girl who has worked her way to university is admirable, unfortunately if she stays in this country after she has gained her masters, chances are she'll probably be back at the Walton washing dishes. Thanks to 30 years of politicians sucking up to non producing bankers, stockbrokers and financial traders whilst systematically destroying all semblance of productive industry.

Todays kids are far more media savvy than we were, they already know how bleak their future is, but i'll argue that the majority of them, when they get past that god awful 14/17 age range, still try to find work, despite the cruddy job centre weasels making them apply for 6 o'clock starts in Leyland, despite the platitude dispensing career officers and despite an education system full of second rate teachers that stifle creativity.

On a side note..You were looking for a job as a young girl in a mans world, was kinda different for us blokes in those days, think i've said it somewhere else on this forum, walk out of a job monday morning, knock on a couple of doors and be gainfully employed by tuesday morning was the norm

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Guinness

On a side note..You were looking for a job as a young girl in a mans world, was kinda different for us blokes in those days, think i've said it somewhere else on this forum, walk out of a job monday morning, knock on a couple of doors and be gainfully employed by tuesday morning was the norm

That has probably nailed it i think, its summat i never thought of to be honest, i aint bragging, but have worked virtually everywhere, its just fact.but it was a mans world back then, women were just expected to cook n have sprogs. in the main.

[Mancie]

I left school in the 70's and the jobs scence was decent..you could walk around to local business or the even the larger manufacturing companies and ask for a job and sometimes be employed..all that changed when Thatcher got in..the then large manufactuers like the engineering went down hill and the small businesses could pick and choose the youngsters they employed in no future jobs like selling Xmas cards and such..any building work was all of a sudden run by a near enough closed shop of agencies..from a working town point of view Accrington died

[Alan Varrechia]

My first job was 73, and even then you could walk out one day and the next day get a job somewhere else.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Guinness

Really doesn't say much..are you saying that the 'some' are a majority or a minority, how many is a 'number'..2, 3, 4, 10, 20, 30, 100?

Sorry if i'm being a little pedantic here, but it really is far too easy to use cliches like that without quantifying.

Your example of the pillar of society young girl who has worked her way to university is admirable, unfortunately if she stays in this country after she has gained her masters, chances are she'll probably be back at the Walton washing dishes. Thanks to 30 years of politicians sucking up to non producing bankers, stockbrokers and financial traders whilst systematically destroying all semblance of productive industry.

Todays kids are far more media savvy than we were, they already know how bleak their future is, but i'll argue that the majority of them, when they get past that god awful 14/17 age range, still try to find work, despite the cruddy job centre weasels making them apply for 6 o'clock starts in Leyland, despite the platitude dispensing career officers and despite an education system full of second rate teachers that stifle creativity.

On a side note..You were looking for a job as a young girl in a mans world, was kinda different for us blokes in those days, think i've said it somewhere else on this forum, walk out of a job monday morning, knock on a couple of doors and be gainfully employed by tuesday morning was the norm

I said SOME because you know very well I can't quantify....and yes you are being pedantic.

This young girl isn't a pillar of society...she is a normal young lass with a range of interests...she has a social life of sorts, but she has had it instilled into her by her parents that to get what you want in life you have to put the effort in and not expect someone else to do the legwork.
She has been taught to be resourceful....to have a plan, but also to have something in reserve in case things don't work out. She is focussed on what she wants, but is preapred to do other things that some young folk consider menial.
Sometimes it is what you have to do...and railing against the system(while it might vent some fury) is not in the least bit productive.
You have to do what it takes to get where you want...believe me I know.....I did it myself against the odds.
Perseverance and hard graft is what the youngsters need to learn...and a diversity of interest.

And yes, I know that it was a male world when I left school.....I would have taken an engineering apprentice-ship...or a plumbing apprentice-ship, but the ideology of the time was such that they were not available to girls......for us it was shops, offices, or the sewing room.

And as an aside, I thought this thread was more about youngsters spending their free time on street corners....not about youngsters of working age not being able to get jobs.

[Margaret Pilkington]

As for todays youngsters being media savvy.....well in my day the word media wasn't invented........what media was there? Newspapers.....radio, TV was something that was a luxury and most households didn't have it.
Todays youngsters have been brought up in the world of media...and one argument maybe that todays youngsters are socially handicapped in that they rely very much on text speak rather than communicate face to face. This means that interpersonal skills are very poorly developed in many of them.(no, of course I can't quantify figures for you - that is before you ask).

As for education - my education was very basic, but I chose to improve it. This choice is still available to those who have the foresight to see the value of education(but to some, educationis uncool)....and probably easier with internet access.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Mancie

I left school in the 70's and the jobs scence was decent..you could walk around to local business or the even the larger manufacturing companies and ask for a job and sometimes be employed..all that changed when Thatcher got in..the then large manufactuers like the engineering went down hill and the small businesses could pick and choose the youngsters they employed in no future jobs like selling Xmas cards and such..any building work was all of a sudden run by a near enough closed shop of agencies..from a working town point of view Accrington died

We were exporting jobs out of the country long before the Thatcher Era.
I worked in a weaving mill in 1966 that transferred lock stock and barrel to South Africa, manufacturing costs were cheaper.
I was out of work for only one week.

Much of industry went the same way...sanctioned by the government of the time, who were more interested in exporting(Queen's Award to Industry - Exports) without looking at the future consequences...after all they were not worried, it was not going to be their problem.
Now we are left with a small manufacturing base(which is getting smaller) because we simply cannot compete with places like China and India.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

We were exporting jobs out of the country long before the Thatcher Era.
I worked in a weaving mill in 1966 that transferred lock stock and barrel to South Africa, manufacturing costs were cheaper.
I was out of work for only one week.

Much of industry went the same way...sanctioned by the government of the time, who were more interested in exporting(Queen's Award to Industry - Exports) without looking at the future consequences...after all they were not worried, it was not going to be their problem.
Now we are left with a small manufacturing base(which is getting smaller) because we simply cannot compete with places like China and India.

Please don't forget the part the Trade Unions played in the decline as well, we had a great car and shipbuilding industry but were destroyed by the Red Robo and their communist paymasters

[Margaret Pilkington]

I hesitated to mention them for fear of Mancie daubing me with the 'tory' label...but yes, undoubtedly they played a part in the whole fiasco.

We cannot change the past, we have to learn to live with the consequences, adapt and become wiser.

I think we failed the younger generation in many ways, but could not see it at the time....personally, I was too busy getting on with making a life and a career for myself....too busy to lift up my head and see the wider horizon...and that is what political parties want us, the plebs, to be occupied with.
Idle plebs become revolutionaries.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I hesitated to mention them for fear of Mancie daubing me with the 'tory' label...but yes, undoubtedly they played a part in the whole fiasco.

We cannot change the past, we have to learn to live with the consequences, adapt and become wiser.

I think we failed the younger generation in many ways, but could not see it at the time....personally, I was too busy getting on with making a life and a career for myself....too busy to lift up my head and see the wider horizon...and that is what political parties want us, the plebs, to be occupied with.
Idle plebs become revolutionaries.

The Likes of Mancie conveniently forget about daily lightning strikes because somebody had changed a light bulb who wasn't a sparks, all out brothers, we can't have that, another few thousand hours down the pan.

Always reminds me of the old story, about a Union leader addressing HIS members, I've some good news for ya lads we've reached an agreement wi management for a one day week, we will be working Fridays, militant on the front row screams what every flaming Friday