Sheffield Town centre

[tzijlstra]

Tell me what there is about Sheffield for me to be happy about.Anybody who does not have your university background (which is pretty obvious) cannot get the jobs that are available at the moment unless you want to be on minimum wage or asking "do you want fries with that".Life in Sheffield is probably great for you but not for a lot of Sheffielders.There needs to be rewarding jobs for everybody if Sheffield is to ever get back to its heyday,sadly i cannot see that happening in my lifetime due to competition from the global market.If you have a rewarding job savour it because there are a lot of people who do not.

 

If you can't get happy in Sheffield without a degree, where are you going to get happy in the UK without a degree? There are lots of positives in Sheffield over other places in the UK, if you can't find something to make you happy here than you will struggle anywhere, I don't see any reason to blame Sheffield.

[ghost rider]

If you can't get happy in Sheffield without a degree, where are you going to get happy in the UK without a degree? There are lots of positives in Sheffield over other places in the UK, if you can't find something to make you happy here than you will struggle anywhere, I don't see any reason to blame Sheffield.

 

I feel as though Sheffield as let me down,difficult to explain why i feel like that about it.I am happy when i am out of sheffield,today i have been hillwalking in Cheshire and i have been happy.I do intend to leave Sheffield in due time when my family ties have gone.I am trying my best to get away,i am living right on the border of Sheffield now.I only have a few hundred yards to get away from it now.

[tzijlstra]

I feel as though Sheffield as let me down,difficult to explain why i feel like that about it.I am happy when i am out of sheffield,today i have been hillwalking in Cheshire and i have been happy.I do intend to leave Sheffield in due time when my family ties have gone.I am trying my best to get away,i am living right on the border of Sheffield now.I only have a few hundred yards to get away from it now.

 

Few more miles to lovely Barnsley!

[ghost rider]

Few more miles to lovely Barnsley!

No i wont be emigrating to Barnsley:hihi: i am more tempted to head west which is where i will most likely be going.

[999tigger]

There's a difference between whether soemthing is an addition to the legal sector which is what we were discussing and then you starting going on about the DWP, which is a completely different sort of employer.

 

DLA I said the sheffield office was probably the smallest after Liverpool. I wouldnt dismiss it as I said it was the one that I think has always been the commercial firm to go to since it was Broomheads. I'm well aware of the history amd the mergers.

 

I didnt say anything about Nabarrol We were comparing the market to Leeds and Manchester and I have illustrated how many more firms there are of a similar or greater calibre because their legal market is bigger because their economy is much stronger in financial services than that of Sheffield which has been based on manufacturing steel and heavy industry.

 

I merely pointed out that having HSBC here in terms of Legal doesnt mean the lawyers or their advisers are here. Its the one financial services employer I can remember coming here at the time. The issue was comparing for historical reasons the idea that Sheffield does not have a large financial services sector when compare to its rival Leeds, which is true.

 

It does matter because Sheffield has been unable to sufficiently replace the jobs that were lost and back in the 80's that could have been one of the ways forward. We opted for city of sport and Leeds went financial services.

 

As I said the Legal market in Sheffield is small in comparison to Leeds. That was my point you were trying to rubbish.

 

 

 

That has nothing to do with the wider point you now raise.

 

Is Sheffield popular with graduates, yes, not disputed, but just as some stay there are others who would liked to have stayed, but cant find jobs. Mostly the inevitable draw of the south.

 

You then quote some figures at me. Whats the source?

If the employment figure is 66.2%, then what is included? Are those jobs well paid? Does it include part time? How much of them are min wage etc> My point is rather than taking a base figure id be wanting to examine the composition of the labour market and look at how many of those were skilled/ well paid jobs and how many others were min wage call centre jobs? Thats got nothing to do with having a go at Sheffield and everything to do with knowing the true state of the labour market and hoping we had more people on higher salaries. Some people have very good jobs in Sheffield, but there are also plenty of not so good jobs. Again thats not being negative about Sheffield that's just true.

 

Having just looked it up it appears Sheffields employment rate has improved from 65% to 67.5% taking it from 52/64 up to 42/64 so an improvement there. The average is 71%.

http://www.citiesoutlook.org/summary/sheffield/employment-rate/table

 

You then tell me the workforce is amongst the most qualified. Where does that stat come from? Looking at the policy analysis on UK city economies from the centre for cities it seems to suggest that the skills level of NVQ4 and above, then Sheffield ranks 34/ 64 cities @29.98% with the average being 34.2%.

 

http://www.citiesoutlook.org/summary/sheffield/skills/table

 

No axe to grind, just those are the stats that came up. Sheffield has been through tough times, thats not to say you shouldnt look forward, but a substantial part of the reason it has developed and is where it is has to do with those things that happened in the past. You need to understand them to move forward because it has had a profound effect on the city.

 

Actually its all rather bizarre why we are discussing this, except it was about why the town centre is the way it is. Amongst other things I was stating it was due to the nature and success of the Sheffield local economy. More people earning more money means more retail business/developers interested in moving here and taking advantage of that prosperity. Hard to see how that is controversial.

[Se7enhills]

Sheffield really can be one of the most backward looking of cities, The 1980s are nearly half a lifetime ago! In that half a lifetime, one can make a new path in life, if one wants to do so.

I know this forum can attract a few strange ideas and isealists by its not as if Sheffield was the only place hit by the loss of heavy industry.......Other places just move on and stop moaning about the "good old days", Its alomst an article of faith that in someway Sheffield has been "robbed"....get with the 21st cetury eh!

[Itrytoplease]

Send the council on a pointless jaunt to Halifax instead?

 

Yea Halifax Nova Scotia

[1978]

There's a lot of nostalgia on SF, not least from me on occasions. Many things that would help can't be planned, they just happen!

 

Stainless steel wasn't planned to revolutionise the steel industry, but it did. Gripple is a modern success story, but we need more. We probably have more, but not enough.

 

How about looking for our successes, and helping them grow? How about encouraging those without work to feel they're valued, even if initially it's on the minimum wage?

 

Last week I met a man who's been out of work for at least 10, and possibly 20, years. He got a job on minimum wage for a part time contract. After a week he'd impressed so they offered him more hours and an increase to £8 an hour. All fell apart when they didn't pay him promptly, then when they did he didn't get as much as he expected. No explanations, no pay slip. I suspect he'd not allowed for NI and being on emergency tax code thus having 20% deducted. He walked out as he's better off (he says) on benefits. He should have had the situation explained with sympathy for his position.

 

Sheffield needs to get working. I know most of us do, but too many don't. It's not cool or smart to be on benefits. We need as many as possible who can work, to work. And we need to offer as much help and care as possible to those who genuinely can't. All the political parties claim they want to do this.

 

If Sheffield can crack this ahead of Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Halifax we'll solve the problem. Waiting for government action will get us - not very far!

 

I'm not sure we can rely on lots of lawyers to save us.

[cuttsie]

There's a lot of nostalgia on SF, not least from me on occasions. Many things that would help can't be planned, they just happen!

 

Stainless steel wasn't planned to revolutionise the steel industry, but it did. Gripple is a modern success story, but we need more. We probably have more, but not enough.

 

How about looking for our successes, and helping them grow? How about encouraging those without work to feel they're valued, even if initially it's on the minimum wage?

 

Last week I met a man who's been out of work for at least 10, and possibly 20, years. He got a job on minimum wage for a part time contract. After a week he'd impressed so they offered him more hours and an increase to £8 an hour. All fell apart when they didn't pay him promptly, then when they did he didn't get as much as he expected. No explanations, no pay slip. I suspect he'd not allowed for NI and being on emergency tax code thus having 20% deducted. He walked out as he's better off (he says) on benefits. He should have had the situation explained with sympathy for his position.

 

Sheffield needs to get working. I know most of us do, but too many don't. It's not cool or smart to be on benefits. We need as many as possible who can work, to work. And we need to offer as much help and care as possible to those who genuinely can't. All the political parties claim they want to do this.

 

If Sheffield can crack this ahead of Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Halifax we'll solve the problem. Waiting for government action will get us - not very far!

 

I'm not sure we can rely on lots of lawyers to save us.

It is the kids without the fancy education that need thinking about in Sheffield there are to many **** you jack i'm alrights in this City.

[tzijlstra]

It is the kids without the fancy education that need thinking about in Sheffield there are to many **** you jack i'm alrights in this City.

 

What is fancy about at least getting an NVQ? Those kids you talk about need to be dragged into school head-first and need to stop being told that the city is full of "jack i'm alrights" and that is why they can't find work. If they WANTED to work they could, they just feel entitled enough not to spent 5 days a week hand washing cars.