My post was in sympathy Fenzink, not criticism.

I don't think you are wrong at all, FENZINK.

>>Am I wrong in thinking that jobs are slightly harder to get?<<

As a certified old fart, I can recall how simple it used to be for me.

Apply. Get interview. Start job.

This has changed considerably, all along the line, for school-leavers, new graduates, mid-life career-changers and those terminally unemployable over-fifties. Even trying to work out what to study at Uni to ensure an easy passage into a career in the professions is tough these days.

The nature of employment has changed substantially. The very idea of joining a company, staying with it through successive promotions until the handshake-and-engraved-clock is archaic to the point of extinction, although at one time it was not at all an unusual aspiration.

On the other side of the ledger, there seem to be many more small businesses than there used to be. The downside is that they all seem to be looking for skill-sets that have yet to arrive in the educational curriculum. And by the time a suitably qualified cohort of educators turns up, armed with the ability to impart those skill-sets, they may well have ceased to be relevant.

But the macro view is that you cannot go wrong by retraining into healthcare. All the signals point to continued growth in this field, fuelled by the combination of an ageing population and government policies that are increasingly influenced by that selfsame demographic.

It does depend what you are looking for.

Whenever I advertised for an administrative assistant I would have a hundred applications in a couple of days.

When I advertised for a stores person, or an assembly worker, I would rarely get half a dozen applications in a week. There is work around, but perhaps not what most want.

A couple of turf farmers & a Lucerne grower near me have given up entirely on trying to find full time employees, & can get only casual labor, who demand cash in hand payment, & we know what t6hat means.

A couple of friends who had small 2/3 man engineering business had to close their businesses when the work became too heavy/too hard on their backs, as they each approached their 60s. Both had full time jobs in a couple of weeks.

impossible now to become a cleaner without a P.H.D. in chemistry to ensure you understand exactly how cleaning-agents work and can comply with the related "health and safety" issues.

What remains is to repeal requirements for formal-education, so it is up to employers to decide whether you can actually do the job or not.
Posted by Yuyutsu,

Hi Yuyutsu
I agree with you somewhat, in an ideal world the employer decides which applicant is suitable or not & this subsequently speeds up the job application process. Having said that in that case, the risk of workplace injuries near miss accidents lawsuits or worse will potentially double.
Being a former employer myself, to run a business no matter how small carries a certain level of daily risk. Work safety inductions are essential for your safety, I just wish they could improve on the set time given to complete the training.

Hi Hasbeen

I've read your post & I apologize for the misunderstanding. This is my first time on any forum site. My main form of communication is texting & emailing so I still have a bit of catch-up to do.

Thanks Mate!

Hi Pericles

Thanks for the post. You are absolutely right regarding growth in the health sector. A fine example of this is the completion of the $2 billion Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch West Australia.

Thanks Mate!