Ok, so jobs are finally starting to present themselves again…a little. Of course, while companies are forcing themselves back to normal, demanding people to return, the rate of infection in my area is doubling. But that’s got to be unrelated, right?
Unfortunately, what’s presenting itself isn’t the open-minded remote work embrace that is predicted via Linkedin and whatever rose-colored life they use as a crystal ball. It’s more in the flavor of scams and slave labour guised as legitimate work.
I’m probably registered on every single job site out there. I have also registered and have already interviewed with most, if not all, job placement agencies in my region. I’m not slacking, but I have also been enjoying the time of solitude, doing my part to stay out of the way of the medical community while they attempt to get a grip on one of the worse viruses to come along in quite a while.
I get calls. I get emails. Most of them are junk wanting me to purchase a franchise, or hook me into a “sales position” that is “perfect based on my profile” (no actual keywords indicate they read it) or ” work from home” opportunities. You glance any further into any of these and they are usually extorting money, or trying to get personal information out of you than no legit operation would dare to ask and then you have to “bid” for work. Think of every single survey site that gives you a thousandth of a cent to talk about the inner details of your personal finances so you can, over time, turn it in for shitty gift card.
But there is the legitimate operations…. companies laying off their entire staff and attempting to higher BA and MBA level people on contract, no benefits, for a rate that I would have been able to get with a high school diploma and no experience working as a telemarketer over twenty years ago.
I get calls from placement agencies where there are a dozen of them trying to place for the same shitty position. I have my first in-person interview next week and the recruiter asked if I was comfortable with that and I said “of course not, but do I have a choice?”
I love the idea of risking my health to possibly get paid less than what I asked, if they bother to make a decision at all. I’m well aware recruiters work for the company, but I see no reason not to be candid. Quite a lot of us are going to be fucked over repeatedly before anything will change. And it will probably have to be forced.
I really have a hard time not calling this shit out publicly. But there is always fear of a backlash, or it might adversely affect obtaining a decent job with a company that is actually worth a shit, who would think of me as antagonistic, or too political… but then… I have to remember….
I’m not the Groucho Marx mindset who feels that I wouldn’t want to be a part of any club that would have me as its member. I want to be part of the of company that would embrace my headstrong sense of fairness and forthright off the cuff way of tossing shit back at the source and go “fuck yeah, we need that.”
Does such a place even exist?
idioglossia: the blog 