Web forum: Job cuts

Jan 19 2010 by Andrew Jackson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Web forum: Job cuts

IT’S not been great news regarding the state of local businesses this week and it’s prompted plenty of discussion on the Examiner’s web forum.

markmyword49 had plenty of questions: “The new year and the second tranche of redundancies and closures begin. Bentsfield Engineering and Kirklees Council locally plus the firm in South Wales, another call centre and rumours about British Gas.

“All this talk of a recovery looks to be a false dawn. All the sacrifices made by workers all over the country comes to nothing.

“So what is the government’s and all the opposition parties’ answer to the problem? Why, it’s to make even more people redundant.

“Who are the people advising government and opposition to take these drastic steps? The bankers, the hedge fund managers, the ratings agencies?

“Weren’t these the very people who were largely responsible for the credit crunch and the consequent depression?”

Dismayed_of_Dalton added: “All these redundancies and yet the Chancellor is confident that the recession is over.

“What will it take for this government to listen to the people and see what is going on?

I didn’t see any government minister turning up at these firms and giving them taxpayers’ money so they could pay employees huge bonuses.”

markmyword49 continued: “The problem is not just the government’s blinkered view but also the opposition parties and any number of ‘experts’. Living in the Westminster bubble or the ivory towers of academia they rarely see the consequences of their proposals and the resulting actions that are taken except as statistics on a computer screen.

“Those proposing and implementing the changes are unlikely to feel the cold draught of redundancy or if they do they will be cushioned from its worst consequences unlike those on minimum wages or work part-time.

“They are all like children following the latest ‘craze’. The only problem is that following the latest economic ‘craze’ has significant and long-lasting impacts on the social and economic life of individuals and society.”

phil3 concluded: “Labour will do nothing for anyone unless there is a media frenzy. Then they react and firefight as usual. After May they will be able to sit back and blame the Tories, who will no doubt be voted in at the next election.”