Time to get on our bikes and mopeds to earn extra money to live on?

We are back to the days of Norman Tebitt who, when he held the brief for the old Dept of Employment told a tale of how his father ‘got on his bike’ to look for work. Working as I did then, as an Employment Advisor in that department, I and many colleagues thought it was a bit rich, chauffeur driven as he must have been, to refer to practices (even then!) that were of yesteryear! He was known as ‘on yer bike Norm’! after that! This present iteration is FAR worse, both laughable and insulting. There are many, many fit younger people who could do with getting off their fat bottoms (often literally, considering the obesity crisis!) and finding work. A decent state employment service would encourage them to do this. A decent provision for those less well off pensioners (as in other European countries) would make this silly man not spout such rubbish.

Many who work past retirement do it to make ends meet. I missed the daily interaction with work colleagues and also the routine of going to work. Nothing to get up for really. Got a part time job and now much more content.

I've always thought that if staff turnover is high it's for a very good reason such as inadequate training, a bad boss or unpleasant working conditions.

I think you'd need to be fit and healthy for delivery work? Late DH was a lorry driver (not quite the same thing) but the hours were long and the work quite onerous.

Sorry, county not country

I took early retirement a year ago. If I want a part time job, I will not be joining Deliveroo. I will join the casual work register at the country and district councils near where I live.

My boss did just that; he retired with a pension and then joined the admin pool. Very flexible and he can choose his hours.

I have the impression that there are plenty of jobs going around.

My daughter and her colleagues are facing redundancy, all of them including my daughter managed to lined up interviews even in roles that are slightly different to the ones they are currently doing.

One of her colleagues has just been offered a job in Europe.

Typical Tory off the cuff comment just like Tebbit's 'on yer bike' at a time of large scale unemployment and few vacancies. The shortage of fit and able workers is down to the NHS being unable to cope quickly at scale with the effects of Covid and the loss of EU workers due to Brexit.

VQ I don’t think that’s not case here. The ‘economically inactive’ are those who are not working and who are not available for/seeking work. Normally only those aged 16 - 66 are included in the figures. They include students, stay at home parents, long-term sick or disabled people, retirees under state pension age, and independently wealthy people. Because they are not known to be actively seeking work, they don’t show up in unemployment figures.

Zero hours is a lot more like self employed.

Which will suit some, and definitely not suit others.

Yes, it's impossible to financially plan on zero hours. One week can be full time, the next week nothing.

No sick pay, no holiday pay, no employment protection.

If I had to work and earn money, I'd want the security of knowing what wage I'd get each week.

They just want to massage the unemployment figures. If someone takes a zero hours contract they're no longer counted as being unemployed even though they rely on benefits when they don't get any work. The joke is they call it flexible working. Flexible for whom. Definitely not the poor devil who is employed on this type of contract. They have to constantly apply for benefits and never know from what money they will have from one week to the next.

The ones I know do. But that may just be me.
They want the flexibility. The sometimes work, sometimes dont.
Gives them time off as well as some work.

DAR they do know it. They still need many of those people to return to work to increase the labour force.

Of course, some people who took early retirement in 2020 or the years soon after may now need to return to work because the cost of living is outstripping their finances, but those people probably don’t want insecure or zero hours type work.

DaisyAnneReturns

Siope

To be fair, Stride was talking about economically inactive people over 50, which means between 50 and pension age. He was, I believe, specifically trying to appeal to those who gave up work during the pandemic, voluntarily or not, and who are living off their savings, or claiming sickness benefits, rather than engaging with back-to-work programmes/claiming unemployment benefits.

He’s not, inevitably, wanting this cohort to return to work for their own benefit, but because, as Dowden has admitted, inflation in the UK is proving to be ‘stickier’ in the UK than in the EU because we have a ‘tight labour market’ compared to them (oh, hallo, effects of ending free movement).

I think the shallowness of Stride’s proposals - let’s get the over 50s doing zero hours, insecure work, regardless of their extensive skills and experience - show yet again the absolute paucity and short-termism of government policy, in this case in tackling wider employment/labour market issues, ageism, and inflation.

So, someone who is economically inactive is not unemployed. How come the Tories don't seem know this?

I don't know. They started classing all those of working age, not out at at a workplace, and claiming any sort of benrgit/top up, as economically inactive.🙄

Oh, perhaps it's regional. Round here the jobs most needed to be filled are bar/restaurant staff, fruit and veg pickers, carers and takeaway deliverers.

Siope

To be fair, Stride was talking about economically inactive people over 50, which means between 50 and pension age. He was, I believe, specifically trying to appeal to those who gave up work during the pandemic, voluntarily or not, and who are living off their savings, or claiming sickness benefits, rather than engaging with back-to-work programmes/claiming unemployment benefits.

He’s not, inevitably, wanting this cohort to return to work for their own benefit, but because, as Dowden has admitted, inflation in the UK is proving to be ‘stickier’ in the UK than in the EU because we have a ‘tight labour market’ compared to them (oh, hallo, effects of ending free movement).

I think the shallowness of Stride’s proposals - let’s get the over 50s doing zero hours, insecure work, regardless of their extensive skills and experience - show yet again the absolute paucity and short-termism of government policy, in this case in tackling wider employment/labour market issues, ageism, and inflation.

So, someone who is economically inactive is not unemployed. How come the Tories don't seem know this?

Who are these out-of-work 50 somethings who might need that kind of delivery work, depriving younger, fitter people of work?

Our local Co-op has been advertising for staff for over a year. Most younger people apparently don't stay long as it's too 'boring'. They've just employed 3 older people in the hope they will stay longer than a few months. I think a lot of youngsters around here are bankrolled by parents, and only work if they want to or if their mates are doing something. Two of the three (our friends) are not retirement age but approaching it, and decided to work part time mainly for something to do. Although I'm sure the extra money is welcome too. We've considered it, too, but would need to work the same shifts as I don't drive anymore.

It all depends on what your previous career was, how fit and healthy you are, and what jobs are on offer.

Some people are clapped out by retirement age, others still raring to go.

Plus, at the moment, a lot of young people, many struggling to cover a mortgage or huge rent increases, might need these "second job" things more.

My Uncle was in his mid 70 's when he finally hung up his bicycle clips,.
He was a "Paper boy" he was a family Legend, we called him the oldest paperboy in town.
Kept him fit and healthy.

If you can why not get a little job it's good for your physical and mental health.

Siope

To be fair, Stride was talking about economically inactive people over 50, which means between 50 and pension age. He was, I believe, specifically trying to appeal to those who gave up work during the pandemic, voluntarily or not, and who are living off their savings, or claiming sickness benefits, rather than engaging with back-to-work programmes/claiming unemployment benefits.

He’s not, inevitably, wanting this cohort to return to work for their own benefit, but because, as Dowden has admitted, inflation in the UK is proving to be ‘stickier’ in the UK than in the EU because we have a ‘tight labour market’ compared to them (oh, hallo, effects of ending free movement).

I think the shallowness of Stride’s proposals - let’s get the over 50s doing zero hours, insecure work, regardless of their extensive skills and experience - show yet again the absolute paucity and short-termism of government policy, in this case in tackling wider employment/labour market issues, ageism, and inflation.

If they are claiming sickness benefits, they must be sending in Fit Notes, from their GP, or have been assessed as too sick to work.

Which, presumably, means they might not be up to manual work - whether it's Pizzas on bikes, parcels in vans, or food deliveries,

This whole idea is just because the government are desperate not to be seen to ask EU workers to come back and plug the labour gaps.🙄

Stride came up with this idea while visiting Deliveroo:

"Over-50s looking for work should consider delivering takeaways and other flexible jobs typically occupied by younger people, the work and pensions secretary has said.

Mel Stride made the comments during a visit to the London headquarters of the food delivery firm Deliveroo, which has recorded a 62% increase in riders aged over 50 since 2021.

In an interview with the Times during the visit, Stride said these flexible jobs offered “great opportunities” and that it was “good for people to consider options they might not have otherwise thought of”.

www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/03/over-50s-could-deliver-takeaways-says-work-and-pensions-secretary-mel-stride

Sunak behaves like a young, unpleasant child. It's never his fault, is it? So far he has blamed (I'm sure you can think of others):

Doctors, nurses and generally the medical professions,
Teachers, Schools in general, Universities,
Railway workers
The old
The young
The disabled
The poor
Carers
The cared for

And now middle-aged people.

He has just proved that moving to the right does not stop them being nasty people, part of the nasty party.

I wonder just who he thinks will vote for him other than other nasty people?

I think people tend to take such comments too literally.

Nowt wrong with older people who can earning a bit of extra cash doing jobs that need doing. This is a non-issue, surely?

Just to say, I personally would not want people to be put off by the thread title.
Just had a look locally, and the job I saw that were food delivery, used a van.

Not deliveroo. I dont know anything about that company. Work involved working in a warehouse too.

For people who want work, who are over 50, may be bored, may want extra money, have a bit of energy, I dont think jobs like this should be dismissed out of hand.

To be fair, Stride was talking about economically inactive people over 50, which means between 50 and pension age. He was, I believe, specifically trying to appeal to those who gave up work during the pandemic, voluntarily or not, and who are living off their savings, or claiming sickness benefits, rather than engaging with back-to-work programmes/claiming unemployment benefits.

He’s not, inevitably, wanting this cohort to return to work for their own benefit, but because, as Dowden has admitted, inflation in the UK is proving to be ‘stickier’ in the UK than in the EU because we have a ‘tight labour market’ compared to them (oh, hallo, effects of ending free movement).

I think the shallowness of Stride’s proposals - let’s get the over 50s doing zero hours, insecure work, regardless of their extensive skills and experience - show yet again the absolute paucity and short-termism of government policy, in this case in tackling wider employment/labour market issues, ageism, and inflation.

Doodledog

Quite a few Sainsbury's delivery drivers are retired, but that's very different from Deliveroo and the like. We don't get Deliveroo round here, but several local restaurants employ people to deliver, and they span age ranges. My son delivered Chinese meals in the holidays when he was a student, and some of the deliverers are a lot older. Again though, they are in cars not bikes, and it is a small town, not a city centre.

If someone who can afford to run a car is looking for a part-time minimum wage job with no guaranteed hours, and they are fit enough to cycle, fast enough in reactions to weave through traffic, and are happy to be out alone carrying money at night, then good luck to them, whatever their age. I think it sounds more suitable for students than almost-pensioners though.

I think this is on the lines of the numptie who suggested that older people started apprenticeships - it might work very occasionally, and there is no reason why someone who wants to shouldn't, but on the whole it's a daft idea.

Talking of "numpties"...

Owen Paterson (MP for Shropshire and Environment something-or-other) proposed that pensioners - voluntarily of course - could be dragooned into the fields to pick fruit.

This was an idea to counteract the need to import fit and hard-working Eastern Europeans.

Someone suggested that pensioners might be something of a liability to farmers (and therefore costly) - but apparently they (pensioners) could've been exempted from the minimum-wage rule. Meaning of course that they would work for less than the minimum wage!

Mr Paterson denied this. There was, however, some batting about of 'ideas'.