Low Jobs Or No Jobs? That Is The Question. Posted on Monday 30 January 2012 at 12:07PM by trrpaipai

Last week we ran a poll on our weekly newsletter in which we asked Enterns to tell us what they think about the statement Mayor Boris Johnson made the other week regarding work ethics in Britain. We got quite a reaction from our subscribers, voting both pro and against the idea launched by London's progressive mayor, so we compiled a list with the most interesting replies.

Here's what the mayor Boris Johnson told The Sun on January 20th:

"London is a fantastic creator of jobs — but many of these jobs are going to people who don't originate in this country. They are hard-working, good people, and we need to learn from them and understand what it is that they have got that makes them able to get those jobs that young Londoners don't have."

So his idea is that the job spectrum is in a deficit of demand, not of offer. No one really wants to take on the lower end jobs, apart from the foreigners relocating to the UK in order to touch up their income. He suggests the key problem for the British economy is the lack of energy among Britain's youth. You can read the original article here.

There are various factors that influence the equation 'unemployment+immigration+British work ethic', and the truth never seems to stay in one place. On one hand, the mayor is right in saying there are plenty of job offers that are waiting to be filled in retail and food industries, however is also losing sight of the fact that the case with professional jobs is a bit more different.

Our readers have also had mixed reactions to the statement, either putting the blame on a lack of willingness to work or simply on the outrageous economic fall Britain is still dwelling in. Read on:

"Being a foreigner myself and having worked very hard in this country for over 10 years in a low-paid, unrecognised sector (Hospitality, and specifically the Housekeeping side of it --that is, the most essential yet unglamorous part of it) where no English would set foot, I can but agree with Boris; and there are certainly some people whose trouble in finding work is laziness. But are they the majority? At the same time, I have seen a lot of people from this country work hard & long hours --providing the job suited them--, and some of them do try to adapt to new parameters.

Some suggest a closer relationship between Britain's politicians, employers and the youth will provide a better understanding of the British economic needs and how they can be met by the new generations of workers:

"Boris Johnson has generalised the youth and there are some people that are desperate to work. It's politicians that are giving youth a bad name and it is unfair on the people that genuinely want to work and that is the majority of people but companies simply don't want to employ English workers because they will pay more in wages. It's simple economics. I think politics is very under representative of the youth and need to be more directly influenced by younger people. Then they will understand what is really happening with the younger generation of people!"

While a dim appetite for taking on jobs might be one of the reasons young people of Britain are without work, there is a wide range of other factors that contribute to youth unemployment:

"Securing an interview presently can come across as such an achievement as many people do not even get that far. Consequently, the number of people and even youngsters on JSA has increased, it's no wonder they have no energy as an end result. However, it does not help that Mr Johnson is making such statements by comparing the UK workforce to "hard-working foreigners" as there are so many adverse factors already affecting people finding jobs. Our London Mayor needs to take a back seat and introduce plans to create more jobs rather than making statements that have the opposite affect."

Some are taking a rather different view, agreeing with Mayor Johnson in saying that work motivation is a crucial factor and that sometimes you just have to be bold and change the usual career path:

"I retrained as journalist after my Software Engineering degree in London in 2008 and ended up doing quite a few internships (because the job market tanked) when I was job hunting, eventually I got sick of interning (basically unpaid work) so I decided to do some voluntary work with an NGO in Bangladesh. Now I'm working in Dubai in PR. Sometimes a drastic change of scenery (or a swift kick up the backside!) helps to bring things back into perspective when you think your career options are limited to one region or country. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to chip in, for all his craziness, Boris Johnson is absolutely right about the poor work ethic of modern British youth."

Others go as far as saying that  Britain might lose the lead if it doesn't keep up with the enthusiasm of other emerging countries:

"Unfortunately, how crude it may sound I agree with statement. If people do no realise this, the development of countries like  China and Brazil is going up while the relatively UK is declining. People cannot be surprised (am not saying in the near future) but in the feature if they, for example, cannot find themselves travelling as much as before but having tourist flooding in to this country."

What is your take on this debate? Is Britain indeed slacking with job offers, disregarding the economic crisis that is still on-going? Or is the situation really as bad as not being able to keep up with the pool of young talent fresh from universities? Give us your comments here.