workers from eastern europe?

zaratustra

I am wondering about irish opinion of workers from eastern europe.
Do irish people employ lads from eastern europe because they are
cheaper to employ or because they are good employees?

connundrum

Works & Jobs forum tbh

ShowUsYourXbox

They're here to work and make a few pound, so you know they aren't going to act the bollocks. Also alot of them have a wide range of skills, i've noticed at least.

biko

I don't know about cheaper. Isn't everyone paid the minimum wage?
9 something euro.

Terry

Moved from AH.

TEH REAL CDP

depends on the sector of employment.

In the science sector, eastern europeans (from my experience) tend to be highly skilled, highly intelligent, great numeracy problem solving abilities and have a serious work ethic.

they have to graduate with a masters before they can leave (takes them about 6years), are not funded to study and paid crap money in their home countries.

I've worked with a few polish and czech scientists, (graduates) and they're damn good and mad craic as well. Much higher calibre of graduates and have to go through a lot more to get their degree. A lot of them send most of their money home to help their parents.

I think eastern eurpeans in general get a rough time over here though.

Kintarō Hattori

I think it's a case of 50/50.

Certain companies and individuals would employ eastern european workers because they can get away with paying them less and giving them less benefits at the same time. They are easier to 'ignore' to a certai extent.

At the opposite end of that there are people who feel that alot of eastern european workers are of a high calibre and work extremely hard and with less grumbling than other european workers.

Within the company I work for we have several Polish people as well as the odd Czech and Slovak and they are thought of extremely highly. Hard working, knowledgeable, polite and they don't complain as much!

zaratustra

I think it's a case of 50/50

i have to agree

sickpuppy

I have worked in construction in Dublin for seven years and the influx of foreign workers has hit plague proportions.
Now this is not a rant many of the guys very few women are hard working but nearly all are getting underpaid.
Building companys are making afortune or saving whatever by not paying tax for these guys no benefits and rarely overtime for over the 40 hours or saturday work.
Your average foreign worked will risk his safety and that of others alot more than an irish man a they fear they will get sacked.
Quite alot of there work is shoddy a guy just walks ona site witha a saw says im a carpenter and starts butchering his work.
Maybe irish building workers had it to soft good wages name your price etc but its definitely changed, why employ an irish man when u can employ a eastern european dog who will work in the rain for peanuts and can survive on 10 euros aweek eating gerkhins and cheap bread.

dowtchaboy

I work with a lot of Polish and Czech folks in Dunnes Stores (and one or two others from Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia - never anyone from Estonia or Hungary for some reason?) - these guys are good - they work hard, they don't screw around looking for reasons to go sick or wait around for someone to tell them what to do and so on. Oh there's the odd chancer who will be as lazy as he can be but he is the exception. Employers like them for these reasons - the only disadvantage is understanding of English language - it seems like there has been too much book learning and not enough spoken English practice back home. Unfortunately in jobs like say night-pack in Dunnes when almost everybody is speaking Polish there is not much opportunity to improve your English!

It is true though that some employers are taking advantage of workers who do not know their entitlements such as sick pay, time off or pay for Bank Holidays, and recently I have seen Dunnes only hiring people on 9 month contracts and not re-hiring even the good workers! (this is because of union pressure I hear - the unions don't care much about contract workers).
db.

Dublin's Finest

sickpuppy wrote:

why employ an irish man when u can employ a eastern european dog who will work in the rain for peanuts and can survive on 10 euros aweek eating gerkhins and cheap bread.

The enlightened debate continues!

sickpuppy

No need for a debate what i is true your average Pole russian has no idea of there rights and dont care once they get a few quid, i for one cant wait for this plague to be eradicated.

Mr. Presentable

zaratustra wrote:

I am wondering about irish opinion of workers from eastern europe.
Do irish people employ lads from eastern europe because they are
cheaper to employ or because they are good employees?

Or because they can't get an Irish person to do it.

What are the Irish who used to work in Dunnes/McDonalds/Spar etc working at now? That's what confuses me.

My experience of Eastern Europeans is that they are generally dilligent, hard working people, with fine looking women. And yes, as with anything, there are employers taking advantage.

Sonnenblumen

zaratustra wrote:

I am wondering about irish opinion of workers from eastern europe.
Do irish people employ lads from eastern europe because they are
cheaper to employ or because they are good employees?

Most of the opinions expressed appear to be from an 'employee' perspective and much of it is the stereotypical cynical comment of exploitative employers and vunerable but willing employees.

before responding (as an employer) it is important to bear in mind that all sectors throughout Ireland are regulated, and in some areas eg construction there are stringent Health and Safety obligations for employers as well as employees. some commentators give the impression that companies do whatever they wish. No they don't but yes there are mavericks and yes they breach regulations, they do exploit etc etc but this is not the norm or representative of Irish industry. There are minimum wages which must be acknowledged and apply to all irrespective of nationality. To say that Polish workers earn less because their Polish is like saying Dublin people earn more than Wexford people! Yes and so what? There are differentials for perhaps valid reasons.

We employ amongst others a number of Polish people and much of the time (not all) we have found them to be professional, diligent but also enthusiastic about their work and responsibilities. In general we would consider such people more reliable than others. Consequently some of the highest paid employees in our company are Polish.

Its because they're worth it and I cannot put it any plainer. One area regrettably where the 'average' Irish still excell themselves is moaning. In a game of averages the Irish are sore losers but often pick weak points to rationalise their failures.

Raskolnikov

My parents run a shop and the staff compliment is almost exclusively foreign at this stage. They can't say enough good things about the Polish and Lithuanian workers that work for them.

I do however feel sorry for Irish teenagers looking for Summer work though. The parents got over a 100 CV's from Irish kids looking for work. There's simply no work for them.

Tha Gopher

nipplenuts wrote:

Or because they can't get an Irish person to do it.

What are the Irish who used to work in Dunnes/McDonalds/Spar etc working at now? That's what confuses me.

My experience of Eastern Europeans is that they are generally dilligent, hard working people, with fine looking women. And yes, as with anything, there are employers taking advantage.

tbh Ive found it to be men work harder than women rather than a race thing (bar the Chinese, they work harder than anyone).

Are there really no employed 16/17 year olds any more? Dutch Gold must be feelin the bite of it