Careers Wales Manager Swaps Job For McJob
By admin
Issued on behalf of Careers Wales Cardiff
A MANAGER responsible for education and business links in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan will be swapping his suit for a uniform, and instead of sitting behind his desk, he’ll be behind the counter of his local McDonald’s, this Friday (July 27)
Jeff Evans, Education Business Manager with Careers Wales Cardiff and Vale, is taking part in a ‘job swap’ as part of an initiative to change the dictionary definition of ‘Mcjob’.
McDonald’s has officially launched a public appeal on behalf of its 67,000 UK employees and their colleagues in the service sector calling for the UK’s dictionary houses to reconsider the existing ‘McJob’ definition – “an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector”.
As part of the job swap, Jeff will be expected to act as a crew member at the McDonald’s restaurant in Cardiff Road, Barry, to get an insight into what the job really involves.
Jeff said: “Careers Wales Education Business Partnership (EBP) has great links with McDonalds in South Wales, and Huw Thomas, franchisee of two restaurants in Cardiff and Barry, was recently honoured as a Most Valued Partner at a Careers Wales awards ceremony for his help with the work experience programme. The job swap seemed like a great way of seeing McDonald’s staff in action.”
Huw Thomas, Franchisee of two restaurants across Cardiff and Barry, says: “On behalf of the 110 people employed in my restaurants, and the whole of the service sector industry in Cardiff, I would like to invite our friends, families, suppliers and valued customers to come along and sign the petition. The ‘McJob’ definition is out of date, out of touch with reality and most importantly insulting to the hard-working, committed and talented people who serve the public every day.”
Rita Cross, one half of a mother and daughter team, at the Cardiff Bay restaurant comments: “I’ve been working for McDonald’s for three years, and enjoy the variety in the roles I perform – I might spend part of each day performing customer-focussed activities like serving customers and preparing food or I can be found behind the scenes stock-taking and organising everyone’s shifts.
“Upon my recommendation, my daughter, Laura, has also joined the McDonald’s crew whilst she studies Beauty Therapy at college.
“As a family working for McDonalds we have benefited from the introduction of the ‘Family Contract’. This is an initiative whereby, if for some reason either of us can’t do a shift, the other can cover it without prior notice. This gives us the flexibility and work-life balance we need as a family. It is particularly useful for Laura because she has a lot of work to do for her college course and when she gets really busy I can take some of the pressure off her by covering her shifts.”
McDonald’s has also recently been awarded a place in th Financial Times 50 Best Workplaces rankings in 2007, further proof that the current ‘McJob’ definition is outdated.
In tandem with the petition, an Early Day Motion has been sponsored by Clive Betts MP which regrets the use of the derogatory phrases attached to service sector jobs such as ‘McJob’. The EDM has now attracted 34 signatures from MPs.
Huw concludes: “We need everyone’s support if we want our service sector employees to be recognised for the hard work that they do and the unfair definition of ‘McJob’ to be overturned.”
Petition books are available to sign in your local restaurants in Cardiff and Barry until October 2007. Alternatively, visit www.changethedefinition.com or text ‘Change’ to 62562 to register your support today.
