13th November 2009, 05:33 PM
I think a touch of realism is needed. Times are hard. Anybody who thinks things were better before competitive tendering clearly did not experience it. Many more archaeologists have a half decent lifestyle thanks to it.
I have yet to see any archaeological firm charge out diggers at ?250 a day and any firm who tried charging this will out of business very quickly. The difference in pay and charge out rates is large - it is bound to be. There have been increased burdens placed upon the employer by the government, the IFA and bajr in terms of holidays and pensions for example. A rule of thumb is that the charge out rate should be at least twice as much as the wages.
The current 10% loss of jobs in archaeology is not as bad as it could be all things considered - it should be much much worse. I suspect many firms are employing people at a loss so they do not have to make more people redundant. In the circumstances any pay increase would be inappropriate. Simple choice pay more and make people redundant or pay less and have more people employed.
Peter Wardle
I have yet to see any archaeological firm charge out diggers at ?250 a day and any firm who tried charging this will out of business very quickly. The difference in pay and charge out rates is large - it is bound to be. There have been increased burdens placed upon the employer by the government, the IFA and bajr in terms of holidays and pensions for example. A rule of thumb is that the charge out rate should be at least twice as much as the wages.
The current 10% loss of jobs in archaeology is not as bad as it could be all things considered - it should be much much worse. I suspect many firms are employing people at a loss so they do not have to make more people redundant. In the circumstances any pay increase would be inappropriate. Simple choice pay more and make people redundant or pay less and have more people employed.
Peter Wardle