Released: 1st March 2018
Genre: Non-Fiction, Society, UK
Number of Pages: 265
What does it mean to work in the UK today? Throughout the nation, it often comes down to a wildly fractured set of professions that offer vastly different salaries, worker rights and opportunities for further development. With “Hired: Undercover in Low-Wage Britain”, James Bloodworth has cut through these complexities to bring to light stories you rarely hear from mainstream media.
Across six-months, Bloodworth (covertly of course) took on four different jobs across the settlements of Rugely, Blackpool, South Wales Valleys and London. Working in an Amazon warehouse, Carewatch, an Admiral Call Centre and finally as an Uber driver, the author deftly brings together a range of personal stories placed against the backdrops of both their locations and older histories. The chapters in each section are broken into establishing context for the area, explaining how the jobs work and finally bringing the two together with the current situation of individuals in the companies.
There’s a lot of information given out in Hired and James makes it both intriguing and often shocking throughout. Bloodworth spends time with people who lost their jobs and homes around Blackpool and Romanian workers who are helplessly exploited by insanely stringent rules in the warehouses. By putting himself at on the same level, the book emphasises the vulnerability that hangs over these people and the futility of the situations they find themselves in. It doesn’t make for easy reading and as someone who often takes the likes of Amazon deliveries and cheaper taxis for granted, it certainly got me reflecting on today’s cultures of excess and what they mean for those who have no choice but to force themselves through these rough jobs on a daily basis.
While the author does refer to many background news stories and occasionally some philosophical elements, these are only used to establish background context. The book is tied to politics in a sense, but Bloodworth never goes on a flag-waving critique of the current government; instead he conveys the situation of low-paid, often ruthless jobs. This ensures that the reader is fully enveloped in each of the three locations, allowing them to fully engage with the stories shared throughout.
Recommended?
YES: Hired is an incredibly detailed and well-written collection that lays bare the lowest rungs of the working ladder and the shabby livelihoods they deliver for those hanging onto it. Bloodworth creates a resonant, overarching picture of UK employment but balances this out with a very level-headed perspective; he’s firmly focused on explaining and painting a picture, rather than political flag-waving and the book should be read by anyone and everyone in the UK.
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