Is a job in a supermarket, the equivalent of a steelworks job 50 years ago?

[sues_budgie]

It was said that if you got into the steelworks, or the railways etc.... then you had a job for life.

 

Is a job in a supermarket the equivalent for the 16 year olds of 2011?

 

It is a secure job, with potentially good prospects.

 

So would you agree that a job in a Supermarket for a 16 year old in 2011, would be the equivalent of getting an apprenticeship at British Steel for a 16 year old, leaving school in 1953?

[schoolrdgal]

It was said that if you got into the steelworks, or the railways etc.... then you had a job for life.

 

Is a job in a supermarket the equivalent for the 16 year olds of 2011?

 

It is a secure job, with potentially good prospects.

 

So would you agree that a job in a Supermarket for a 16 year old in 2011, would be the equivalent of getting an apprenticeship at British Steel for a 16 year old, leaving school in 1953?

 

I agree, its a secure job. If the company is bought out by a competitor its usually the area managers that are made redundant. I have worked in retail all my working life , had some great bosses and some B_ _ _ _ _ _ s.On the whole most Supermarkets are the same to work for , its the people you work with that make the job.

[SevenofNine]

I agree, its a secure job. If the company is bought out by a competitor its usually the area managers that are made redundant. I have worked in retail all my working life , had some great bosses and some B_ _ _ _ _ _ s.On the whole most Supermarkets are the same to work for , its the people you work with that make the job.

 

I agree, I worked for a supermarket for seven years while I was studying and bringing up my child. I always felt valued and enjoyed it most of the time, although sometimes it could be mundane. Since I have left I have particularly missed my collegues who made the job so much more interesting. There are still plenty of young people who work there, and even if they move on, I think it's well respected as useful work where you can pick up plenty of different skills. Any employer looks for those sort of things on a CV

[Paddy]

Strangely Sheffields newest and biggest supermarket is currently being built just on the outskirts of what was once the steelworks area!

[Rich]

Meh, I've applied for Supermarket work years ago, and more recently I applied to the new ASDA in S5, Co Op in S6 said I was "over-qualified", and the ASDA wouldn't progress my application cos I can't work evenings or weekends (for personal reasons, do NOT start about me being "workshy", I am not)

[0742Sheff]

Meh, I've applied for Supermarket work years ago, and more recently I applied to the new ASDA in S5, Co Op in S6 said I was "over-qualified", and the ASDA wouldn't progress my application cos I can't work evenings or weekends (for personal reasons, do NOT start about me being "workshy", I am not)

 

But you can go to pub quizzes in the evening Rich

 

 

I do not think a supermarket job is necessarily equivalent no. For a start, steelworkers were paid a good wage for a hard days work. Once they had/have learnt their trade they are/were valued much higher than someone stacking shelves.

 

It seems to me these days that any old ass licker or jobsworth can make it on the managerial ladder in a supermarket. The same can't be said about the steelworks.

 

Once these new recruits start making it up the ladder they are left with a huge amount of pressure to make targets. Even though they are earning as little as 25p per hour more than the people on the tills (referring to B&Q there and not a supermarket).

 

Nah. I'd take an apprenticeship in a steelworks any day over working in a supermarket.

[Mecky]

All the UK seems to be is shops and services and services are the easiest thing to outsource. What's the point in having a shop if nobody has money to spend in them? Napolean was right when he said we were a nation of shopkeepers.

[gnvqsos]

It was said that if you got into the steelworks, or the railways etc.... then you had a job for life.

 

Is a job in a supermarket the equivalent for the 16 year olds of 2011?

 

It is a secure job, with potentially good prospects.

 

So would you agree that a job in a Supermarket for a 16 year old in 2011, would be the equivalent of getting an apprenticeship at British Steel for a 16 year old, leaving school in 1953?

 

The prospect are slim as checkouts will disappear by 2020 and replenishment will be done by drones.Moreover home/online shopping will predominate leaving the supermarket looking anachronistic.

[gnvqsos]

I agree, I worked for a supermarket for seven years while I was studying and bringing up my child. I always felt valued and enjoyed it most of the time, although sometimes it could be mundane. Since I have left I have particularly missed my collegues who made the job so much more interesting. There are still plenty of young people who work there, and even if they move on, I think it's well respected as useful work where you can pick up plenty of different skills. Any employer looks for those sort of things on a CV

 

Can these skills not be acquired from places other than supermarkets-all occupations develop transferable skills.In my view supermarket workers possess few skills that are exclusive to that workplace.I would contend thatreplenishing shelves in isolation is reducing skills as is check-out work,unless sitting still is a skill.

[sues_budgie]

But you can go to pub quizzes in the evening Rich

 

 

I do not think a supermarket job is necessarily equivalent no. For a start, steelworkers were paid a good wage for a hard days work. Once they had/have learnt their trade they are/were valued much higher than someone stacking shelves.

 

It seems to me these days that any old ass licker or jobsworth can make it on the managerial ladder in a supermarket. The same can't be said about the steelworks.

 

Once these new recruits start making it up the ladder they are left with a huge amount of pressure to make targets. Even though they are earning as little as 25p per hour more than the people on the tills (referring to B&Q there and not a supermarket).

 

Nah. I'd take an apprenticeship in a steelworks any day over working in a supermarket.

 

 

 

The analogy of steelworks v supermarket is more based on the "secure job for life", which I would doubt a school leaver would get IF they did manage to get into a steelworks.

 

The wages are low, true, however the work would be constant and so you could budget for the long term, similar to the old steel works

 

You could pretty much say Supermarket work is a growth industry, esecially with a growing population, its likely more supermarkets will be needed to feed the growing population. For a 16 year old, there are prospects.

 

Pensons, I would imagine if you got into somewhere such as Tesco at 16, by the time you got to 65, if you paid into the pension pot for 49 years, you would ge one hell of a pension on retirement - how many industrys could give you that?

 

I would imagine it would be very easy to move from supermarket to supermarket for anyone lookng for fast track promotion. So in effect, a hard working 21 year old may end up in some sort of management position - potentially.

 

Now when I left school, stacking supermarket shelves was looked down on (our careers advisors were pushing for everyone to be lawyers - even the class duffers), however in 2011, I would imagine it would be a very good career move for a 16 year old - the equivalent of the steelworks in 1953