fatcat65

My OH is a sparky and will be back in June so he'll come and give you a quote for sure!

dunroving

Even RAF pilots are being made redundant:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12445321

- at a cost of £300m to the UK taxpayer.

Pistolpete2

No planes to fly so no need for pilots.

Pretty sick to make them redundant before they even complete their training to get their wings. But the Air Chiefs seem to concur.

Nimrods chopped in two. Pilots chopped off at the knees.

Pistolpete2

Where did all the Poles go?

My sister had a crew of very talented Poles for a job just gone but that's in London.

I now use a service company (sort of jack of all trades) do all my work in the south-east (Kent) whether it be painting, flooring, plumbing, installation ... and I got their contact (and the boiler man/meters) through my letting agency/manager. If you haven't already, check that route for those in your area. I use them regularly and they are reasonable as they would have to be.

dunroving

A lot of them went home. I think the reasons were: a) conditions improved in Poland, b) exchange rate meant £ bought fewer Polish zloty, and c) availability of jobs in the UK decreased.

NSBlake

Yep, think many have gone home (our cleaner certainly did late last year, about the time we moved over to the US)

I can remember being in Poland about 5 years ago and the Poland Office Finance Director complaining that he couldn't find any builders to finish his house. The previous builders just didnt turn up one day - the whole crew had gone to the UK

FPE88

I understand that but I am almost certain for me personally there would be more opportunities in OZ than in my area at the moment, you dont realise how bad it is.

Where the hell they get 8% for unemployement from I dont know, its a lot worse than 8/100 out of a job, people getting cut from jobs left, right and centre.

chris955

Something that I read recently that I found interesting was that youth unemployment here in Australia is around 19% compared to something like 21% in the UK. I expected the gap to be huge to be honest. Our 'problem' is that areas that rely on mining for example are booming while many other sectors are struggling. I feel we rely too much on the Chinese economy remaining strong and of course their demand for our coal and iron ore.

chris955

The thing is of course they average it out, areas such as the SW have much lower unemployment that the NE for example.

Sergia

To be honest, comments on this thread make me feel worried about the situation in the UK. At the moment I am covering for a maternity leave and I want to go back to the UK to find a permanent teaching job but I am not whether I will get it or not.

pain-in-spain

Hi Sergia, yes people here are usually very damming of the UK, especially those over on the Spain forum - I plan to start a topic about why the expat Brits in Spain are so against their country and do nothing but speak badly about it and always praise Spain. My experience of expat Spanish in England was quite different as the Spanish who leave their country still speak fondly of their homeland and often return one day (like my father).

If you really want to go back to the UK, not just for work but for the culture, the history and all the other wonderful things we have, then you should go with or without a job as being there is the main thing and it will be easier to find work whilst you are living there rather than having to make trips over for interviews whilst you're still in Spain. I am going back with no job and no idea what I will find, but I know that I am just existing here and so miserable that it cannot be worse - personally I don't care if it's sunny or raining, my heart is in London and it's where I belong. Aside from this, unemployment and salaries are much much worse here in Spain so you have little to lose. Don't let this negative bunch put you off!!

FPE88

How you can say that is beyond me.

Myself and many other people on this forum live and work in the UK we are not commenting from another country, atm the jobs in my area are absolutely dire, there is no work around, there are so many people applying for 1 job that the rates have suffered as well.

Its easy telling someone just go over and find a job over there, but what if they cant find a job? They still got to pay for house, food and general living costs!

pain-in-spain

You've clearly missed the point! I am comparing my experience to Spain where I currently live to that of the Uk - have you lived in Spain, do you know what it's like to find work here, no, I didn't think so. This is why I said what I said, I too am going back with no work yet it's so utterly miserable over here it's still the better and more hopeful option, until you've lived here and tried to survive here it's impossible for you to give your comments. Here in Spain if you lose your job you get some assistance for a few months then it runs out totally, the UK offers more help to those out of work. I also know that the other poster is married to a British guy so it's not as if she's going into the unknown, which would be stupid.

Pistolpete2

Help us out here Pain, those of us who are also mulling spending at least more time in the UK if not returning full-time.

In your case do you not feel that the bulk of the "loss" for you is being away from London per se rather than the UK. When I chat with relatives and friends back in London and they complain about certain elements of life such as cost of living they simply cannot entertain the idea of leaving London as it holds out so much for them in everyday life along the lines of how you have described it.

I accept the other negatives of life in Barcelona and male chauvinism for example but if one can afford to live in London then London it should probably be but it is not really representative of life in everyday UK.

Moving to the British expat bit. Is it possible that the British expats who have migrated to Spain have mostly or more gone there for reasons other than work and they are therefore a slightly different breed from those who have headed for say, US, Oz, NZ or even France? Therefore, they might be under less pressure on the work side and are reaping the benefits of the cost savings and climate which have brought a relative to the UK.

FPE88

I have not missed your point, the person posted said she is worried about returning to the UK, you then say we are a negative bunch.

We live in the UK right now, we aint making judgements from other countries, I dont care how bad spain is, im talking about UK.

People on here are just tellling you how bad it is right now, its the worst Ive ever seen not just my own profession, its gone onto NHS, Police departments, which you would never think would be cutting jobs!

If someone has no money, moving to the UK to find the solution is one hell of a risk, also there's a big line of people infront of you who have been waiting for jobs over here for months.