New column: Age of insecurity
The enemy of insecurity is confidence, a commodity in short supply these days. Prospects of secure, well-paid employment, and the lifestyle that accompanies it, are a remote prospect for many people in our area, young and not-so-young. The days when a man (and most workers were men) could make a decent living through being “strong in the arm and thick in the head” are long gone. Today’s jobs are often part-time and insecure: decent pay is hard to find.
The “green shoots of recovery”, much trumpeted by our politicians, may be just around the corner. Here in Amble we have new businesses especially in the area of the harbour. Now what we need is a campaign to encourage our young people to work at the things that will make them marketable.
My advice is to work on fitness and communication skills together with a range of practical skills. The demand for tradesmen (and women) in many areas of our economy can only increase.
To get a job you have to show an employer that you can learn what he wants you to learn. It’s a good thing to be articulate, but a hard -headed boss knows what he’s looking for and that’s a really productive worker who can increase the firm’s profits!
A recent survey showed that the North East is one of the areas showing job growth. My hope is more of our local people, of all ages, can play an active part in growing the economy.
Harry McQuillen
