Our hatred of Tesco is irrational
Posted by Christie Malry on February 18, 2012 at 7:48 am
Even after Tesco has pointed out that Jobcentre Plus got it wrong, the hate continues to flow. Some people are vowing to boycott Tesco while others mutter about how it would be okay for smaller businesses to participate. But not Tesco.
I'm sure these views are well-intentioned. But I think they may be misguided. Imagine that you run a small shop. You're doing alright. One day, another shop opens up next door. Only this shop has done a deal with JobCentre Plus to get some of its staff through the JSA scheme. Freed from the shackles of having to pay its staff, this shop can furiously undercut your prices at every step. You simply won't be able to compete against your new neighbour, and it won't be long before you go out of business, leaving your employees jobless.
You see, it's actually vital that we operate this scheme via large companies. Because large companies are big enough and profitable enough that this scheme is totally immaterial for them. Tesco employs some 294,000 employees 1 in the UK. The idea that taking on a handful of JSA claimants will boost Tesco's profits in any meaningful way is laughable. By contrast, for a small employer, a single JSA claimant could represent a very significant proportion of their workforce.
Incidentally, you'll hear many of the same arguments I made above about small shops made against charity shops, which receive preferential tax treatment and may use unpaid volunteer labour. That's not to knock charity shops, which serve a vital fundraising role and can fill otherwise ugly vacant sites. But it's a complex issue.
Why are Tesco shoppers really up in arms about being asked to present their unemployed for shelf-stacking? Is it perhaps, that the young squirts wouldn't last five minutes working so hard, as shelf-sticking surely must be for someone that hasn't worked, and lose their benefits in a matter of days? I am confident the hysteria is based around the education sector assuring them all that the future of their youth was almost certainly in high-earning management and the reality hurts.
#speechless The BBC state today that only a little over half the adult population have a grasp of Maths better than 11 year-olds.
I think it's a reflection of the commoditisation of protest. 10-15 years ago, if you wanted to protest, you could write a letter to the local paper, which nobody would read. Or you could stand outside the store with a few mates and probably get spat on by people pushing past you to get inside.
Nowadays, you can froth on Twitter or Facebook and get 'loads' of people all behind your cause. Yet they don't know that, once you've finished ranting, you'll be off down Tesco yourself. As indeed will they. Modern protest has all the hallmarks of a mass movement, but it's just as meaningless and irrelevant as it ever was.
(for the avoidance of doubt: 'you' not meant to indicate you personally, Pollee!)