Cost of living bubble?

[G]

Tl:dr - are we soon to face a significant 'cost of living' increase for anything involving British labour?

A couple of things I noticed recently...

Job ad for bin lorry drivers...
£31.13 per hour.
Now, I presume this is a contract position, but so are a lot of HGV driving jobs.
6 days a week, but seemed to be over 40 hours a week actually working - a very respectable amount of money for driving around London.

Had a look around and plenty of tech contract rates are 'buoyant', let's say.

Parcel Force...
I ask "So why WASN'T it delivered the last two times, with no note left"... <mumbles>.. I repeat the question. "The driver didn't have time." I get them to confirm that yes, twice the driver ran out of time and didn't deliver my parcel.

A lot of places are having serious trouble getting enough slightly competent staff at the bottom end of the market. Pay more and it ends up being reflected in the money everyone spends.

Along with statuary increasing minimum wage (though I think May could have got out of previous commitments.)

So far prices of goods and services are being kept very low; the question is perhaps, how long can this last?

[M.C]

Bin lorry drivers get paid a lot because you need to be a specially qualified Glaswegian narcoleptic to do the job. Couriers are shit because they're given unmanageable work loads (3 mins per drop etc.), I get lost for at least 10-15 mins per drop

[grr666]

Both roles in OP are not real world jobs on account of being heavily unionised.
Private sector pay is not so generous for similar roles.
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[stinkwheel]

A bit of inflation isn't necessarily a bad thing at this stage I'd think.

It'll make interest rates go up a little for one thing which will have a knock-on effect on bond yeilds, pension income and may cool down the housing market a bit.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

In the case of delivery people, some companies still seem to have pretty serious issues getting staff.

This was just two examples that got me thinking - I know a lot of small businesses are having trouble with staffing at a price point that's reasonable.

For instance, apparently a good number of takeaways are closing down because they can't get staff willing to work for the money and conditions they can justify to be competitive.

Or the local dry clear, that used to do well enough ten years ago.
Now the owners are regularly working below minimum wage themselves and still having trouble getting staff in that will turn up when they say they will and do the work.

-

From various factors I was thinking it feels like it could be a significant surge, rather than just 'a bit'.

[M.C]

Really, with deliveroo etc.?

[-]

[Ste]

If you were driving a bin lorry, how would you post on BCF when you're meant to be working?

Roger is now less than 200 posts behind you which means you need to do a lot of posting on BCF to build up a safety margin of at least a few thousand.

[jjdugen]

Item on You and Yours this lunch time. (Thats radio 4 so maybe a bit above BCF's usual fare).
Seems that, in that London, 80% of hospitality jobs are held by immigrants. The interviewee held that she could not get any British people to work the hours for the money on offer. Come Brexit, all the hipster artisan cafes and bars either shut down, or, here's a new concept, pay the right F-ing rate! You Londoners won't even notice an extra tenner on your bill.....
____________________
The CBR900RR has been sold. Aprilia Falco worms its way into my heart.
Try Soi 23 on Amazon for a good read.... Self promotion? Moi?

[G]

[Pete.]

I bet that bin wagon job was a typo and was meant to read £13.13ph. Either that or it was what they would pay an agency to supply a driver, and that's still over the odds.
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Rogerborg]

Although I suspect that may be the bait figure before they pull a switcheroo, bin men do an important, shitty (literally) job and should be well paid for it. If that's what London living prices are commanding, that's what the taxpayers of London need to stump up. If it's unsustainable, then roll on the crash.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Rogerborg]

[Rogerborg]

[JonB]

It's a crisis incoming, but nobody will have a sensible discussion about it.

British people do not want to work for £7.50/hr. Yet, would like to pay £3.50 for a slice of cake and £2.99 for a white Americano.

There are people who do work for £7.50/hr - but they are not British.

But it turns out quite a few British people who won't work for £7.50, won't pay £6.00 for a slice of cake and £4.99 for a white Americano, also don't want to see people who don't speak English working in factories producing those goods. Because it might mean they'd also need to live in the community, use hospitals and public facilities.

Luckily for those inclined, it looks as though being able to stop people from the EU at least working for £7.50/hr is going to be possible. Whether they'll still be able to have their cake and eat it (see what I did there?) remains to be seen.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[M.C]

I know lots of people who work for minimum wage The difference's Brits are less tolerant of the scams that stop you earning minimum wage.

[G]

[Joncrete Cungle]

Dis one?

https://www.gumtree.com/p/drivers-riders-courier-jobs/lgv-dustcart-drivers-%C2%A331.13-per-hour-immediate-starts-/1254270582

Looks like Gumtree Tia Maria dun dun a typo. Like when she put her quad bike for sale on Gumtree.

[linuxyeti]

[grr666]

The Institute Of Fiscal Studies seem to agree with me. Maybe you're an exception.
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[linuxyeti]

Maybe, but, not based on the experience of my colleagues who left at the time, we've all got, far easier, and higher paid roles, and to top it off, I'm still getting more job offers as well, but what I have now is so cushy, I'll most likely change only once I get bored.

PS, The pension is also a vast improvement on my public sector pension as well..

Maybe your info is outdated, and, maybe it's why, the public sector is having trouble recruiting, I know, 6 months down the line, my old, public sector employer, has been unable to lure a single candidate to replace any of the 3 of us that left around the same time. I also know, before I left, one of the other teams, we worked closely with, had 4 vacancies, that were still unfilled, after over 2 years of being advertised.
____________________
Beware what photos you upload, or link to on here, especially if you have family members on them

[G]

[Rogerborg]

I suspect that's summer holiday cover for crews that are already pared back to the bone. Couple of weeks here or there if you've got nothing else on, you won't be paying off the mortgage.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[AngelGrinder]

There's massive wage differences in HGV driving, some down to European drivers happy to drive for big firms on minimum wage, where most people look at it and wonder why they're driving 44 tons of machinery on public roads, where 1 second of innatention could kill numerous people.

On the other end, there's companies that pay well, because they've nodded against other haulage firms for the lowest cost. And they've lowered their costs by removing drivers mates.i was driving 18t trucks last year for a company, pulling in an average of £700 a week. On a self employed basis. It was good for a few months, but the work was so hard, it's not a long term prospect. I was hitting 12 hours minimum every day, and delivering pallets of renal fluid to home addresses. Pallets there were regularly 500kg plus, and often needed breaking down and carrying upstairs. All while trying to access and park an 18t vehicle.

Fun times.

The company was literally begging the agency staff to go full time, but not a single person would, as the wage to work ratio just wouldn't work...
____________________
Currently Riding - 2002 Aprilia RSV1000 Mille

[Rogerborg]

Hah, I've just recalled: when I was being recovered by a breakdown monkey last night, he (totes srs) tried to recruit me. Reckoned he was just covering that van and area for the day, and they're needing folk out my way to run a patch permanently.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike