The Advantages & Disadvantages in a society with Full Employment

I notice that, not that I can currently afford eating out, but I see on advertisements and notices there are many “part-time” restaurants. Monday used to be the one day many restaurants closed, often to deep clean the place and do repairs etc.

I have seen quality of work going down, and elements of laziness set it. It’s kind of par for the course, human nature. I’m retired, but I know I’d likely be similar. I can understand why in some coffee shops they nearly throw the coffee at you, 🤣 they’re having the pittance virtually thrown at them by their employers.

It goes beyond the hospitality sector, I’ve had to encounter many medical receptionists in recent times, mostly they don’t even bother signing an email or letter, and use minimal wording, eg:

”yes, appointment 20/11/2023 3.30pm, be aware full consultation charge for cancellation after 48 hours”

And that’s if you are lucky to get any reply at all. It seems generally now, any old standard will do for an employee, once they don’t steal from the petty cash.

During times of somewhat leaner employment, people have to up their game a little and keep relatively competitive with others.

Ireland has the lowest rate of employment in the EU of people with disabilities. Of course disabilities are hugely diverse, ranging from vision impairment, mobility disorders to cognitive disabilities, so there would be limits of employability depending on the particular condition. A paraplegic wheelchair user without any other issues is probably the most easily accommodated as they can do a huge selection of roles on many many levels within their talent set once the work environment can make the requisite physical adaptions. Somebody with a cognitive deficit is probably more likely to be exploited in low paid roles.

Going by the stars it would appear Irish workplaces are less flexible with adapting the work environment, but there may be other factors at play, like people losing out on education, maybe in circumstances where educational institutions have not adapted well to various needs.

Back in the day people tended to “work their way up”, it was even more commonplace in my parents’ and grandparents’ day. People learned as they earned, and there were people to fill the junior roles such as filing, making the tea, doing book-keeping entries, finding out how the industry works from the bottom up. Wages started low and increased. Of course there was the huge anomaly, eg in the public service, where women were paid less than men, and had to leave when they got married.

Women also were denied mortgages. My single aunt, well established as a staff officer in the civil service and a good saver and a minimal spender, saw a bungalow in Sutton she could afford, but was denied the mortgage by the bank, even though she could have afforded the repayments. This was decades ago, but women weren’t trusted with their money.

Nowadays, it’s almost impossible for anyone who is early in their careers, and hasn’t won the Lotto, to be afforded mortgages, so it’s natural people will tend to try and grasp the biggest salaries they can from the outset if home ownership is the main goal.