The media are very good at selling papers or getting viewers using sensationalist stories. Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain is not a sensationalist story. It is the account of James Bloodworth as he attempts to live on the breadline.
Initially the intro put me off, rambling politics and injustices just are not my type of thing. However once I got through this into the first chapter the style of writing changed. The book dragged me in to find out more. Each job explored starts with the location, finding somewhere to live then the application process. Looking at the costs involved and how quickly the process was. Then you get to find out what it was like. Unfortunately there are still a lot of politics mentioned however I managed to skip over these as this was not why I was reading.
The workplaces
Looking at how Amazon warehouses work. The magic between pressing a buy now button on your phone to the parcel arriving with you. How the jobs are taken with no security and empty promises. How targets are set so that you have to run. How toilet breaks are discouraged simply by the location and distance to restrooms. Plus the security checks and being searched for every break to deter theft – yet this cutting into your allotted time and giving you just minutes until you go back to work.
Then on to call centres in Wales. Insurance companies trying to keep customers, and incentives that are rarely gained dangling like a carrot just out of reach. However some are better than others and in the book it is one of what Bloodworth calls a better one discussed.
Some care work. How this allows anyone with just a criminal background check access to some of society’s most vulnerable. With limited training and the travel time between not paid for leading to many cutting corners to make it viable.
And finally driving in London as an Uber driver in the gig economy. Is this really a case of people choosing to be self-employed to choose when they work? Is it really self-employed if you cannot pick the jobs you want to take but have to accept the ones sent via the app?
The Verdict
This was an extraordinary look into way modern Britain works. Though it paints a bleak picture for those unable to climb the ladder. There seems to be a lack of careers, instead many jobs being short term with no security and low pay. Many are self-employed through the gig economy, giving people a false sense of being their own boss, but removing employment rights.
I would recommend this as reading to anyone wanting to know more about the job prospects out there…