27th March 2006, 09:02 AM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by Beasley
Is it just me or has the time finally arrived in this glorious profession of ours that there are more jobs than experienced diggers? Is it the diggers time at last?
As far as job adverts go there are no more jobs being advertised at present than at the same time last year.
Whether there is a dearth of experienced diggers is another matter. There are two populations in UK archaeology, 'established' and 'transient' (just to give them a title). What appears to happen when people mention that there is a shortage of experienced staff is that part of the 'transient' population, for one reason or another has become 'established'. This always seems to be the case after a harsh winter or when there is a nice big autumn/winter urban project somewhere. It is much the same case with daffodils!!
I am sure if there were a 'real' shortage of experienced diggers our industry would respond in the classic market reaction to skills shortage which would be to substantially increase wages. This may be happening where units wish to hang on to staff they already have (although I have no evidence to support such a contention), but if that is the case doesn't yet seem to have translated to job adverts.