drpeterwardle
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18th March 2006, 02:29 PM
From what I can gather "digging" jobs these days are not far removed from casual labour with people being employed by the day or the week.
"Temping" is a common means of employment for chefs, secretarys and teachers as well as many others. An employer rings up an agency for staff to cover sick and other leave, busy periods and special events.
Would it be better to recognise that this is a valid mode of employment and establish a mechanism to put employers/employees in touch. The BAJR CVs on line ought to have this function but few people actually state what jobs they want, what there availability is and where they are prepared to work.
Dr Peter Wardle
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18th March 2006, 03:05 PM
Curses, Doc Pete, I thought I had spotted a niche for myself - I was musing about starting an archaeological staff agency! I was in fact boring my partner only last night with my ideas....
You are correct in what you say. The practice of employing "contract" staff is widespread in the professions where it is common to have a core of permanent staff and to engage agency personnel more or less by the job. This is not a ploy by evil or malicious employers but an expedient method of overcoming the fact that most professinal practices (architects, engineers and so on) are small to medium businesses working in a boom-bust industry and depending on winning contracts. They may have only two or three on the go: then they may have dozens. It is simply not possible to maintain high permanent staff levels. Contract staff are those that prefer to work that way. Their hourly rate (paid by the agency) gives them an income considerably higher than the permanent staff (including their team leaders) to compensate for unpaid sick leave and holidays and less security. Obviously they are the first to go in the "bust" periods. In addition they enjoy, er, tax advantages. The IR are always at least one step behind. (The downside is that between 1 in 5and 1 in 10, are any good).
Of course recent legislation has confused this system. I understand that the agency has to give them paid holidays but I stand to be corrected.
It used to be the case that construction workers were all hired on a contract or casual basis, for specific jobs (sites) but less so now as there are few if any labourers on a site - everything is done by specialist subcontractors who in turn employ their staff on a wide variety of contracts - permanent, self employed and temp.
I see commercial archaeology as being in the same position that construction was in. It is perhaps too risky for a smallish contractor to maintain a large permanent workforce with a fluctuating workload, combined with geographically widespread sites and contacts of usually short duration.
We owe the dead nothing but the truth.
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18th March 2006, 03:13 PM
Hi. An interesting idea but wouldn't having agencies just add another tier of admin'/clerking to be paid for? Also, as far as "Digging" posts being temporary and insecure, (a factor which, as I understand it, leads to alot of new talent leaving for "real" jobs)I'm not sure resigned acceptance is the best way to go. shouldn't we be trying for a more stable profession? The few people I know who've worked as temps haven't particularly enjoyed it, it was more a stopgap measure.
"Never put off 'till tomorrow that which you can put off 'till the day after tomorrow.."
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18th March 2006, 03:29 PM
I think the point is that those on other professions who work on a contract basis do so through choice, not because there is no alternative. It works fine in other fields, as I say. Archaeology is a construction related industry, and construction is inherently unstable, both as an industry as for individual firms. Certainly archaeology takes it to extremes, largely I suspect because it is literally so under valued (see also my post on another thread about methods of measurment and tendering).
Naturally the agency is paid more than it pays the staff, but its client (the contractor) doesn't have to pay the employment overheads - NI and so on and doesn't carry the risk of employment.
Essentially I suppose what I'm trying to do is raise the archaeological heads over the parapet and look at the outside world - there seems to be a tendency to try to re-invent the wheel.
We owe the dead nothing but the truth.
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18th March 2006, 04:34 PM
Fair enough, you obviously know more about how agencies work than I do. I still wonder though, why a unit would pay agency fees when it has a huge pool of labour that it can draw on, and fire, pretty much at will anyway? sorry if I'm being stupid, I just don't see the advantage. [?]
"Never put off 'till tomorrow that which you can put off 'till the day after tomorrow.."
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18th March 2006, 05:33 PM
How would this work geographically? How far could an agency realisticly expect archaeologists to travel for a single days work? Would the agency be expected to provide office office facilities for off-site activities i.e report writing?
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18th March 2006, 05:41 PM
Alright alright, it's only an idea.......B). I was drinking Timothy Taylor bitter at the time you know... after a 6X (the Speckled Hen was off).
Obviously an agency couldn't set up on a national basis overnight without a great deal of investment. The agency would provide staff only, as in other walks of life. The client (the contractor) would provide everything else as per normal. It's up to the staff how far they want to travel, as in other walks of life.
Still, if that's how you all feel, I'll go back to my other scheme - catamaran airships.
We owe the dead nothing but the truth.
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18th March 2006, 05:45 PM
Ahhh 6x...the cause and solution of so many of lifes problems...
"Never put off 'till tomorrow that which you can put off 'till the day after tomorrow.."
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19th March 2006, 01:09 AM
This is interesting.
The reason I ask is that I am thinking about advertising for casual labour on BAJR.
Occassionally I need an extra pair of hands both on site and in the office. An agency where I could "acquire" the labour would be very useful. At present I hire in, during the school holidays an X member of staff, and my wife.
Being a temp has worked very well for my wife - she found the right employer by working for them as a temp.
The invisible man if you are thinking of setting up such a venture please email and Mr Hosty off list to see if we can help.
Dr Peter Wardle
(Capital is only a problem for business ideas which will not work).
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19th March 2006, 12:21 PM
It strikes me that more co-operation between neighbouring archaeological units could provide a partial solution. I've seen this work well on a few occasions. One unit needs some extra staff for a short-term project and enquires with other nearby units if they have any staff available (that might otherwise be laid off). This works particularly well when a unit is working outside of their usual catchment area and can then take on local staff rather than providing accommodation or spending a fortune on transportation.
Another point, some units are finding it increasingly difficult to hire staff on short-term contracts, it seems that the pool of labour is starting to dry-up.
Just a thought.
D
I dig dead people
