Blunt but truthful (The Working Week: Do We Work Too Many Hours?)

Member Name: garysempirecom

Product:	The Working Week: Do We Work Too Many Hours?
Date:	30/08/05 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Take positive attitude to business, cooperate and be honest

Disadvantages: Depends on individuals opinion

The review I describe below represents a typical working houred week, which was 8am to 4pm for me, 5 days a week, with four hours overtime on Saturday only.

This was okay at the time because I missed rush hours going to and fro from work, but I now work whatever hours I want to, which in my situation I find a lot better.



There has not been enough encouragement from various governments over the years for people who want to start their own businesses.

More and more people are giving up working or not following through on the thoughts of starting up a business.

As time progresses the companies which survive put more and more restrictions and larger production targets from their workforces but are not prepared or able to give the staff the pay rises they deserve. Possibly through greed or too much taxation.

In my own experience, I've had several jobs that I have grown to enjoy doing over time or have gone into the trade with an interest already. But, just before I became disabled my job was a lathe turner for an engineering company doing the simple task putting screw threads on steel bolts of various sizes.

You may think this was an easy job but believe me it wasn't at times. The bolts ranged from around 5 centimetres (2 inches) in length to around 20 feet, approximately, the weights varied a few ounces to several stones (kilos).

It was noisy, greasy, oily and dangerous when the dyes shattered, when this happened they could have easily have penetrated your skull.

Yet the company I worked for did not treat its staff in the correct manner, or pay us adequate wages for the work we did.

Even though we obtained British Standards, in under six weeks and at a production of around 80,000 bolts a week. They then decided to make a new bonus structure - the old bonus structure meant each machine operator made their own daily bonus.

The new bonus structure ended all that. It basically meant that we all got, per day, 5 pounds sterling each throughout the shop floor, this meant a drop, on average, depending on our individual capabilities of around 20-25 pound per day bonus.

And, then they wondered why in the first week of production, with the new bonus structure, the production rate dropped to around 25,000 bolts.

They would not reconsider the bonus structure so they lost customers by not getting the work produced.

At the end of the day, management and employees must scratch each other's back to get a balance.

If either side do not cooperate, that is when the stalemate sets in, and things fall apart.

I had to give up my job because my eyesight was failing and because I was the best machine operator there, at that time, I was told my management that British Aerospace, one of their customers, only wanted me to do their work.

And, when I was told this, I decided that with my eyesight not being perfect I did not want that responsibilty, on my shoulders.

So, I left.

This may be a silly reason, to some people, but if the bolts weren't perfect I did not want to get the blame for producing defective materials, for such a company.

The wages did not reflect the responsibility needed.
But the safety aspect far outweighed the wages deficit.

So I left.

That was several years ago, I have since then been trying to set up a small business of my own, in various aspects but with no readily available assistance from the job centre or other government bodies, with my disabilities I now have, this goal must be achieved with a lot of help from outside sources.

These obviously need to be paid for. So I am now trying to set up internet websites but again this requires help from other people.

It has taken approximately 5 years to get to a stage, with the help of my carers, and a handfull of other people who have not ripped me off financially, to start to make a few quid.

But nowhere near enough to be self sufficient, but I will not give up hope. Each time I get knocked down I will bounce back and keep trying.

So the moral of my review is ''DO NOT BE PUT OFF BY WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU, TRY AND GET UP STRAIGHT AWAY AND KEEP PURSUING YOUR GOALS AND HOPEFULLY ONE DAY YOU WILL GET THEM.

Summary: Keep looking ahead and pursue your goals