Maybe Summer Will Be Back On Friday.

Excubriant Art

Just realised that I have spent the entire time since I got the laptop in front of me at 10.30 am to 14 pm looking for jobs for Nur, our visitor.

Sent him lots of mails packed with links, think that I have sent him more than enough links to be going on with.

He is looking ideally, for a Network Engineer’s job and failing that Customer Support/Care, he speaks English/German and French.

Should not have too much problem finding something soon, have noticed that the majority of contracts are only for 3 months that is quite a change from the standard 6 months contract since 9/11.

Before 9/11 there was plenty of multilingual IT work here and plenty more companies were due to come here.

It was a welcome boom time, after the deep recession here in the 80’s, which sadly did not last long.

It started quite slowly in 1997 and really took off in 1998 and by 2000 there were plenty jobs

IT companies were taking on more staff than they needed, as it looked good to have many network engineers on the staff.

9/11 changed all that as it became clear that none of the planned IT companies were coming here, and moving into the many purpose built office buildings.

The companies all moved out to Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, China and India, many companies are in India.

Instead of into what was to have been Amsterdam’s silicone valley, they all went elsewhere, as the new technology, meant calls could be routed anywhere in the world.

Companies took advantage of the lower wages and moved where they could make huge savings.

Additionally they would not have to maintain the more stringent conditions demanded for workers such as a limit on hours worked or health and safety at work in Europe.

A striking example of this is the huge Foxconn’s factory complex in China which employs over 400,000 workers.

It was recently described as a suicide factory, as 10 workers were so stressed by the intolerable and inhuman conditions, that they killed themselves.

That’s the factory where Apple Products such as IPhones, IPods,and IPads are made, the latest must have consumer items are the IPads which cost 600 UK pounds.

Where workers work long hours for peanuts, at present the monthly salary is 900 renminbi which is aprox 91,30 English pounds per month, the average working week for the workers is 70 hours per week.

Apparently from October 1, the basic salary for production-line workers at Foxconn’s will have been raised from 900 renminbi (£91.30) per month to 2,000 renminbi (£203) still nowhere near the cost of an IPad.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Apple-CEO-Steve-Jobs-Defends-The-Chinese-IPhone-Factory-Where-10-Worker-Committed-Suicide/Article/201006115642178?f=rss

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7807903/Foxconn-suicide-factory-raises-pay-70pc.html

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/3768364/Suicide-factory-no-sweatshop-Apple-chief


http://www.timeslive.co.za/scitech/article483110.ece/-lsquo-Suicide-factory-rsquo--workers-to-get-30--raise

http://theweek.com/article/index/203560/life-inside-the-foxconn-suicide-factory


Was recently put off Apple Products by the fact that you can only use their products under their close supervision.

You can only put your files on via their site, on the IPad there is no port for you to put your photos or music on independantly.

Now it seems they have no objection to their products being made in exploitative condiitons and with an enslaved work force.

Thanks to the Labour movement and the Trade Unions we have legislation here to protect workers, wonder if that will be dismantled here too before long.

Was pleased to find some 6 month contracts and even a few for one year, really hope Nur finds something soon, he is such a bright fellow and a good team player.

Looking for work for him really gave me a big boost nice to do something different and be taken for awhile away from my life as a severely handicapped woman.

With a laptop and phone I could almost see myself running a job finding service, not really going to set one up but it was fun thinking about it.

Today has not been a nice day, it has been gray, cloudy and non descript and then suddenly there was a huge wind and a downpour of rain a regular storm think also electrical as our mobile phones suddenly had no network.

Hope tomorrow will be a better day and the sun will shine, maybe summer will be back by Friday.