I'm a Paramedic... I have been for nearly twenty years.
We are currently losing I'd say at least one person a week at the moment.
No one in management seems to give a damn.
Any other professions experiencing the same exodus of staff ?
Maybe no one in management feels they can influence the root cause of these people leaving rather than not caring?
The whole of the NHS basically, dedication only lasts so long when you have no pay rise & have mouths to feed (NHS lab staff here)
Maybe no one in management feels they can influence the root cause
Unfortunately this is probably the case. I know that's the reality in local government where a couple of my friends are managers.
Brack- London? I do the same work but in sunny cumbria, and folks seem happy with their lot up here, but I guess the pressures of the big city are different?
[url= http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9299482/londons-999-emergency/ ]Spectator article about London paramedics[/url]
I've seen a few teachers leave the profession over the last year or two.
management love people leaving, it allows them to create new management posts with the savings made by the lower grades leaving. ex NHS employee twice left.
Drac to this post!
Scottish Fire service (aberdeen) is the same. Its crossed my mind more than once in the last few weeks 😐
23yrs + service counts for **** all to the bean counting government civil servants
Bro in law is a cop in Aberdeen. They're losing cops at a crazy rate over the past two years or so.
Aberdeen/Grampian especially - used to be a good force much like Northern.
There was a story going round a while back about an HR bod from one of the oil companies phoning Aberdeen HQ to ask WTF was going on as they had 30 cops CVs on their desk one Monday morning.
The takeover by Strathclyde is the worst thing that could have happened.
Agree with bruneep about the fire service in Scotland. You used to very rarely hear of people leaving, now they are leaving in droves. There's only so many 0% pay rises people can put up with, especially with the pension increases, currently about 13% set to be close to 15%. The enthusiasm for the job is rock bottom right now.
Great ape,
Same with the fire service, not so much Scottish more like a branch of Strathclyde,everyone is undergoing changes and cuts except them it seems.
MrsMC works in local government - her team was halved in the last round of cuts, half of the reminder have since retired, gone part time or gone altogether. She is looking for a move away from the team as well
I'm in central government - more of a trickle rather than a flood. Suspect that cuts to pensions, no pay/promotion prospects and increased management inefficiency are making people realise that the old days of gold plated civil service packages have gone and that any incentive to stay and hang on regardless has gone.
Maybe Mr Cameron might like to think about all those who are continuing to deliver front line services in his era of austerity in accordance with the wishes of his government, and wonder whether they deserve some financial recognition, cos if you think it is bad now, it ain't getting better anytime soon...
Biomedical Scientists. Me included. Sick of being asked to cut corners and to do more with less. You can only go so far and then you hit an event horizon. "Hey, look! A Black Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo......." Fffft! 🙄
management love people leaving
exact opposite. You now have the soul destroying task of trying to recruit people at far below market rates. You start to look forward to the telephone interview where the candidate, a) dials the right number and b) speaks english you can understand 🙁
40% of teachers leave the profession in 5 years, or something like that. Shit training, shit support once in post and shitting mental expectations are the problems. Seen a lot of teachers leave my current school too. Sucks.
Mrs ton has 31 yrs in with local government. 1% rise in 5 yrs.
had to go for a interview for her job 2 week ago, a job she has been doing for the last 14 yrs.
she is trying for early leavers initiative.
One job at a time.... until your 66...
The cuts etc. are having a big impact on the service that's now provided, but what I find worse is the senseless imposition of the Strathclyde way on the rest of the country. It's just appalling arrogance and control freakery from the top, and doesn't even save any money! Aberdeen is not Inverness, Inverness is not Stirling, Stirling is not Edinburgh etc. None of them are Glasgow. We're no longer allowed to police the area in the way we know works, same for your cops, same for everyone except the weegies, and the only reason they're not bothered now is because he came and wrecked their force six years ago. That's been far more demoralising than no pay rises, 14% pension contributions etc. - those I can live with, and while I don't particularly like it I can see why it is so. The rest, it's just bollocks. Sorry, rant over 🙂
exact opposite. You now have the soul destroying task of trying to recruit people at far below market rates. You start to look forward to the telephone interview where the candidate, a) dials the right number and b) speaks english you can understand
But surely thats down to poor management , staff leave, new staff are needed and the wage the previous staff had has been stolen to pay for something else, probably management , so lower paid staff have to be recruited.
great ape you Aberdeen based?
Par for the course in Social Work.
Have four close family members / friends who are teachers (sister, bro and sister in law, wife's best friend). Without exception they have all gone from loving the job to absolutely hating it within the last two years. Dunno what happened exactly, but something fundamentally changed and ruined it for them.
No, across the other side
poor management
what is your definition of management? Pay policy is not defined by managers. In the most case they are trying to do the best they can in the constraints of the policy makers. They too will also be suffering from 0% pay rises, increased pension contributions, crap morale etc... sometimes I feel I'm on the helm of a sinking ship
Pretty blinkered to think it is the managers fault who for the most part will be doing their best (yes you get rubbish ones, just like every role). Its a policy issue.
I had a chap leave a couple of weeks ago. £20k payrise and working closer to home. I said well done and good luck to him.
Not the same field but im a mechanic, i left my job last week along with 3 others. That only left 2 people in the workshop, management didn't seem to care, didn't want to know that the reason we left was them.
It's not just restricted to the public sector. I did work for a small, nimble, fun, Southern Californian software company. A truly great place to work. We got bought out by a bunch of Texan bean counting, box-shifting cretins who failed to take on any of our culture and ruined the company. We've had droves of great people leave. It's now just a job. 😥
"Dunno what happened exactly, but something fundamentally changed and ruined it for them."
That's easy to answer.
A Tory government and their public service hating dogma.
Any other professions experiencing the same exodus of staff ?
Funnily enough.
Drac to this post!
/waves
Biomedical Scientists. Me included. Sick of being asked to cut corners and to do more with less. You can only go so far and then you hit an event horizon. "Hey, look! A Black Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo......." Fffft!
Biomed is going to hit a crisis at some point as the supply of trainee Biomedical Scientists is effectively zero, there's no damn positions going.
It's not just restricted to the public sector. I did work for a small, nimble, fun, Southern Californian software company. A truly great place to work. We got bought out by a bunch of Texan bean counting, box-shifting cretins who failed to take on any of our culture and ruined the company. We've had droves of great people leave. It's now just a job.
Everything is about short term profits for shareholders so bean counters unfortunately become board members.
Human resources, litigation and the internet have also ruined the world of work, there was a time when you could get a job by turning up unannounced and showing enthusiasm throughout all walks of life. Companies recruited for enthusiasm and trained to develop skill, these days, human resources types get together in meetings and riff off a dozen of "core competencies" that become increasingly hilarious such as "being a good negotiator" for a lab technicians position. They then work out how little they can pay you and would rather advertise a job for months instead of training someone new, if that person turns out to be a **** they fire them and move onto the next person. They won't allow anyone to be taken on informally in an unpaid position for a few weeks with the view of eventually giving them paid work.
I'd rather have been 18 in 1920's New York, much more opportunity for people who operate like myself.
exodus of staff...where are they going, private sector?
My two fields, teaching and social work have people leaving constantly.
Just sounds like evidence of a strong jobs market to me. I know my sector has gone crazy over the last 12 months and staff turnover has rocketed. Those who have only experienced the post crash years don't remember previous booms and tight jobs markets.
anagallis_arvensis - Member
40% of teachers leave the profession in 5 years, or something like that. Shit training, shit support once in post and shitting mental expectations are the problems. Seen a lot of teachers leave my current school too. Sucks.
Yep, that's my experience too. I'm two years in and wondering how many more I'll do unless the work life balance gets a little more in the favour of 'life'. Our department, and the school in general, has a high turnover - mostly experienced staff leaving and Newly Qualified Teachers coming in. Of the six people I trained with doing science on my PGCE, three have already had enough.
Quite a few in my fire brigade leaving too. That and chucking their rank in and going back to fire fighter
Working my notice at the moment. When i go I'll be the eighth paramedic I leave our small station since February. Anyone who can get out, does. Anyone with different qualifications is exploring their options ASAP. Sadly I've only ever been an ambulance man, so my skill set is limited but my skills bought me a job at hq, away from the road for now while I gain some more practical skills. Why is everyone leaving? Work load up, responsibility up, conditions down, security down, safety down. Realistically I'm more likely to retire through injury than I am old age, I'm already carrying long term injuries, I've got kids and a mortgage, I need some security an the reassurance that I'll still have a job in 2 years time. NHS 111, minor injury units, teaching roles, primary care roles, there is options out there...
40% of teachers leave the profession in 5 years, or something like that.
is that really such a high number? five years is a long time to keep fresh entrants in any market. I don't have stats but that sounds right for the Super Efficient Private Sector that I worked in (journalism, consultancy, professional services).
Is it high, well yes it is when you consider the training is at least a year and the chronic shortages of good teachers. The wages are enough to attract people in but not good people. Do you have any evidence to back up your view of post grads leaving other professions at such a high rate? The figure also hides the massive number who leave the state sector very quickly or just go straight to private schools.
WTF are "professional services" 😉
I'm a Paramedic... I have been for nearly twenty years.We are currently losing I'd say at least one person a week at the moment.
No one in management seems to give a damn.
Any other professions experiencing the same exodus of staff ?
I'm guessing you must be in London then?
We lost 28 last month and 26 the month before, currently 500 ambulance staff short.
On a brighter note though, 17 of our senior managers are currently on a three week jolly to Australia to recruit anyone they can lay their hands on 😯
14+ hour shifts often with only one break after the first 8 hours or more, grabbing a drink of water where you can, nipping to the toilet if you can, no seeing the kids for 3 or 4 days, increasing skills for effectively falling pay, increasing workloads everyday, being the point of complaint for the system failing and people having a go at you for waiting 2+ hrs for an ambulance, attending serious incidents exhausted and expected to give your best. The appeal is wearing thin now, I've been in ambulance service 25 years next week. I've seen the job change over the years but the workload the last 5 years particularly the last 3 is unreal, we're crippled under workloads but the service is expected keep on saving money. I still love the essentials of the job, patient care, however I'm struggling to give that my best shifts after shift.
On a brighter note though, 17 of our senior managers are currently on a three week jolly to Australia to recruit anyone they can lay their hands on
****s
is that really such a high number? five years is a long time to keep fresh entrants in any market. I don't have stats but that sounds right for the Super Efficient Private Sector that I worked in (journalism, consultancy, professional services).
+1 I'm one of 3 of 16 left in my role after 6 years, although most went to the same job elsewhere for varying reasons.
Sounds very familiar.
Can't remember the last time I had a break on a shift, must be at least three months ago.
Crews regularly attending calls that are 6+ hours old.
The sickest people being left waiting while the idiot 18yr olds with a cold are getting a fast response.
It's all looking rather grim at the moment.
Public sector science, what used to be known as "scientific civil service" - making research/tech people do so much of their own HR, purchasing, Safety, QM (and sending them on the the associated courses) that they look around and see that these new skills can earn them at least double their salary in private sector.
Drac thats pretty grim. Its the same in teaching and whilst teaching may not be as life or death the life chances of these kids are whats affected. My dept budget has been cut by 33% this is after staffing so only a small total cut. What it means is that despite not having enough text books I'm not allowed to photocopy stuff, we started the year with no exercise books either, I get about 10 gluesticks for the year and 20 pencils, most teachers buy their own board pens. What this means is that I reckon I spend about £15-20 a week buying things to support my teaching, I cannot do many of the experiments I want to do as they cost too much and from next year for a levels there is a list of compulsory experiments to do, we dont have half the kit needed to do them. I love my job and despite not being an "outstanding" teacher my results are one of the top few in the school, but this sucks out all the joy. Despite my left wing idealogies I cant see myself staying in the state sector much longer. I dont want more money for me, although I wouldnt refuse it, I just want to be able to be the best I can be and so get the best I can for the kids I teach.
