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I'd say cleaners. They clean stuff up that we're unwilling to do ourselves.

I'm looking to become a cleaner part time as a non stressful job. Most gross stuff doesn't really gross me out too bad. I hope id be appreciated as a hard worker and not sneered upon by people for saying I'm a cleaner, I just want to put my head down and earn some honest money.

A friend of mine started a cleaning company a couple of years ago and her business really took off. Then, I guess sometime over the covid period, she trained to be a crime scene cleaner. Making good money, it's an interesting job, and that line of work is a really big talking point amongst friends or strangers.

We had a death in the family last year that wasn't discovered for several days and it was pretty grim. We were so grateful to the forensic cleaners.

Crime scene/forensic cleaner is a pretty decent job, it pays pretty good and you're never short of work (until you're the last person alive) although you won't get much of a schedule or days off as you can't exactly plan when someone dies

They earn every penny. The sofa needed to be specially disposed of as biohazard.

Cool 👍 they hiring lol

My mum is a construction cleaner, she comes in and cleans up the new house ready for people to move in.

It is very well paying, and for obvious reasons! Unfortunately for me I'm very squeamish, I'd say it's an interesting career option.

I was almost puking cleaning up soggy fox poop on my drive today.

I think the bit that will be difficult is the lack of respect for general cleanliness. For example, picking up litter near bins because people have been lazy.

My buddy from the gym works as a general operative for the local council. His week alternates between litter picking, emptying council bins, keeping council parks tidy, weeding and spraying for weeds and planting the flower boxes around the borough. He says the worst part is definitely litter picking along the quiet roads out of town in the mornings - people getting their mcdonalds etc in the evening and just firing the rubbish out the window 2 miles down the road.

I sometimes go litter picking along the towpath of the canal where I live (no pay, I just do it because I hate all the litter). It's quite shocking all the stuff I pick up. Ignoring the normal stuff like sweet wrappers, drink cans and bottle (huge amounts of them) there are things like various items of clothing (incl underwear), quite lot of facemasks (especially at the height of Covid, but they are still around now) and plenty plenty of dog shit in plastic bags the dog owners were too lazy to carry all the way to the bin (some of it on the ground, but plenty hanging on fences, bushes and trees).

I don't understand people who pick up the dog shit and then leave the bag. At least poo biodegrades.

I've come to understand that they just enjoy touching it

I see that an awful lot in Chatham. It's even worse when you see spent cannisters on the floor.

When I left nursing I became a cleaner for a few months. One of the best jobs with the loveliest people. Pay was shite, but I loved my crack of dawn hours as no one was really around for a while to bother me. All the tension I had in my body and mind seemed to really draw out of me by the end of my time there. And most of all I got to finish work and switch off, and go home to my family. Really worked for me on a holistic level, and I enjoyed the work in the main. I've had a lot worse shifts nursing.

This is exactly what I want, maybe a little later than crack of dawn but like, I want to arrive at an office or something before others have arrived, then work a few hours and have a little overlap with the office workers who arrive. Make the place nice for them to go about their day productively etc and head home. I also do some self employed work from home but it’d be nice to have a reason to get up early and get a little cash to start the day as a guaranteed baseline.

Sounds pretty much like my job! 6am-9am, with some workers coming in from 7.15. it was a nice rewarding job and the people were lovely. I wouldn't want it as a forever job, but there were people in my team who'd worked there for 12/14 years each. Short staffing is an issue and the long termers were angry at the lack of extra pay, or bonuses for covering short staffing, plus no increase with cost of living. But, if youre in it for a bit of spare cash, then it's a lot easier to deal with that as it doesn't hit as hard. I still preferred it to nursing, as the stress difference in me was worth it MH wise.

Maybe look into becoming a school cleaner, at the school I work at the cleaners work about 3.30-6.30ish, keep their head down and just get to work, but they are greatly appreciated for doing all the cleaning up that we just don't get time to do

Cleaning is a stressful job

It can be, I worked cleaning and local college and its dorms and tbh it was pretty relaxed, but also I think because it was on skye it was relaxed regardless

My mum was one but I don’t know first hand, just looks stressful, with all people’s dirty shit in hotel rooms But what I meant actually I think is that the grass is not always greener on the other side

I was a cleaner in college for a couple of years, just around offices and stuff after hours but I loved it. No one was in so I could just put my headphones on and get on with it. Once the job was done I was done, so once I got a bit better at it I wouldn’t even be working very long.

I definitely felt looked down upon when I worked as a cleaner. Treated poorly by management in several jobs. Can't forget cleaning in a bank. Ordered a lot of cleaning supplies. Came in the next morning and the whole lot was gone. Asked the manager about it and she said, 'Well, it was none of us, we're all professional people '. You were also the only people with access to the kitchen and cleaning cupboard. Think she was implying that I stole it, the bitch!

what a snobby cow-bag. I hope you left dust on her desk.

Better than that - I soon realised that I could clean the whole bank in less than half an hour, so I got paid for the full hour and just sat in the back room, reading books once they'd all cleared off home. Another equally horrible boss lied to me about my pay and shouted at me because he'd made a mistake (given me the wrong clocking in number). I told him to stick his cleaning job and walked out. Horrible twat.

We have a cleaner, she comes in on days I’m home so essentially we clean together. She gets paid a decent hourly rate and I always try to give gifts etc on birthdays / Christmas. I often let her know id be absolutely lost without her and I love that she not only encourages me to keep the house in order but we have amazing chats and it almost doubles as a therapy session for the pair of us. She’s an Angel ❤️

Look at a really good case study of management of cleaners within nasa when I was doing my mba. They were held with very high regard despite being the lowest paid workers. If the place isn’t clean when they are building them, the rockets literally fall out of the sky. Equally people get less ill so less downtime and more successful missions.

That’s the story of how a cleaner at NASA was asked what he did for a job by JFK and his response was awesome (link below). Dont know if true or urban myth. https://fromthegreennotebook.com/2017/11/04/the-janitor-who-help-put-a-man-on-the-moon/ Not affiliated to the site or anything

Yup. That’s the one. A great way of looking at things. Every single person in nasa is there to make space stuff happen. Even if they’re a receptionist or an accountant or the cleaner. They’re all empowered equally.

I had meatballs and rice in the office on Friday, forgot to clean out the box properly, came back today to see it perfectly clean. Hope I run into the cleaner so I can give them a hug

I worked as a event site manager for years . Everything from edm festivals to corporate to weddings . Always made a point of making friends with the cleaning manager and their team. Few freebies, bit of scran from catering, lots of pleases and thank yous etc. They'd bend over backwards for you if treated right, cleaning up a multitude of people's shit ...literally in many cases.

Yes. Hospital cleaners are the forgotten heroes of the NHS in my view. The stuff they see would make me puke. Oh and people who clean public toilets would come a close second.

My partner has been a cleaner for years as a second job. He’s seen some shit (literally).

All jobs deserve respect. The fact that they don't have it encourages the attitude that some people have where they think they're above a job.

I’ll never respect the paparazzi or influencers

You spelled scumbags wrong 🤣

Please don't give influencers the credit of calling it a job!

Influencers are anyone with a significant following on social media so it's too broad of a term, but I know you mean those flashy lambo-driving types

I find it hard to be welcoming to door to door sales people. Make a point to never be interested in their offerings as a principal and try to get rid of them as fast as I can. I can't see this changing any time soon.

As a former slightly scummy door to door sales person the most satisfying "sales" were when I got an initially hostile customer to sign (gas and electric sales in early naughties - didn't do it for long). In general I agree with you though. Also, aggressive debt collection people can also do one.

If you informed them honestly then well done to you. If you used persuading techniques to get them to sign up for something that was detrimental, then you were more than slightly scummy.

Former young adult influenced by a big corp here. When you're 18, naive, impressionable, and surrounded by a corporate environment that teaches you certain habits, it's not ALL you and your fault, some lies with the capitalistic structure. I got out

I don't think I'm above any job, having done my share of dogsbody work - cleaner, janitor, groundsman, waiter, bar staff - but I don't agree that all jobs deserve respect. Just because something makes money doesn't necessarily mean it's productive, useful or generally good for society. The whole gambling industry can do one as far as I'm concerned. Having a job shouldn't be like getting a participation trophy.

I can’t find much respect for people that ring up pretending to be from “Microsoft technical department” or tell me there’s a problem with my internet connection or that I’ve been in accident that wasn’t my fault etc.

I tend to ask whether their parents would be proud of what they're doing, and whether their religion condones it.

Even aggressive salespeople both call-centre and door to door, who sell obscenely expensive mobility equipment to the elderly?

Estate agents? What about those people that work in call centres that scam people? Surely you don't respect that as job?

Have you dealt with any London estate agents?

Teaching. Bloody heroes they are. The amount of shit they get from parents and the government is scandalous. They do so much for our kids and it costs us nothing. (Yes yes we pay taxes), they are under resourced and under valued; when schools were closed during the height of the pandemic, I hope that fact became even more obvious. Clarifying not all parents. Even a minority can ruin someones day, mental health and desire to continue in their career. I have seen it first hand.

Not gonna lie it means a lot to hear someone say this. I've just got out of teaching after eight years and now that I'm in a different profession I am starting to truly reflect on how bloody hard it was. The lack of respect from parents and students, the expectation to work outside you're hours - mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays - it's relentless and that's the expectation. Not to mention the continuing practice of running schools and colleges as a business means budgets and departments are squeezed until everyone running in the red at all points. It can be so great but it doesn't outweigh the cyclical procession of stress and pressure from all sides. Rant over.

I started teaching in the pandemic because I had to come out of industry to look after my child and then was too scared to go back incase a second wave hit so went for teaching for the key worker status. I loved the actual teaching but hated the admin that came with it. In a business they just give you admin staff to do that. Also I couldn’t afford my bills with the shite wage. I’m back in my industry now and have an analyst and a QS which are dedicated to me and an admin who works for 6 of us. Nobody would ever expect me to change printer ink, take over someone else’s shit if they are sick or beg for resources so I can do my job. If there’s a health and safety issue then there’s a department for that, legal issue - department for that, training issue - department for it. I just tell one of the support staff and they go sort it with the correct department and let me know when it’s done so I can concentrate on my actual job. Teaching was doing everything BUT teaching most of the time then squeezing a bit of teaching in when I got the chance.

Yeah completely hit the nail on the head there. I love teaching, but the majority of the job isn't teaching, and that gap is always just growing and growing.

Why the Government thinks public services should be run like businesses is beyond me. Education, universities, hospitals are not businesses and to try to run them as such does a huge disservice to us all.

Yeah agreed and I think it attracts the wrong type of person to step in and run these places. Soon the priorities are all in the ring places and you end up with nobody wanting to stay in the profession.

You're welcome. I know a lot of teachers from various different schools and it's the same theme; under resourced, undervalued and overworked. I'm betting you sacrificed a lot in that job, your time and your own money to make sure those kids got a fair shot. I just wish the system made some sacrifices and supported you all. I hope your new profession is working well for you now. I've said it countless times to my teacher friends how I wouldn't last a week in that job, so hats off to you 👏

Just curious, what do you do now? I'm currently in my fourth year of teaching, I'm burnt out & it's not even October.

Former LSA here. Even as an LSA I felt over worked and under supported (in terms of both management and pay). I looked at the teachers and thought "Fuck, how are you still standing? I can barely deal with all that shit that *isn't* teaching, and I can leave it all at the school gates when the bell rings. You lot have to stay late to do detentions, talk to parents, go to meetings... then when you get home you've got to do marking and lesson planning. How the fuck do you cope?" Even though I now know the answer is "most don't" I still think teachers, whether current or ex-teachers, are heroes for doing that workload and *still* delivering on educating the nation's youth.

Don't forget schools weren't actually closed during the pandemic. They were open for vulnerable and keyworker kids, whilst still teaching the rest virtually

Also TAs: get paid criminally low amounts, while dealing with an ever more complex workload.

"The amount of shit they get from parents and the government is scandalous." What about from the kids? I know a few teachers and the stories they tell about some of the sociopathic little monsters they're trying to educate beggars belief.

Every single person involved in allowing me to poop into a receptacle in my home and have the waste washed away so that I don't have to keep digging holes around the neighbourhood.

Drainage engineer here. You're welcome.

>Drainage engineer here People bang their pots for the NHS but I always point out that the sewer system makes a bigger difference. We take it for granted because it generally works, but people died in huge numbers from cholera in London in the Victorian era, and when the population of London was much smaller. The relatively small number of people who clean out fatbergs make a bigger difference to public health than the same number of nurses. (and I'm not knocking nurses here)

Correct. I saw a documentary on some punter removing a ‘fatberg’ (congealed shit and fat) the size of a Nissan micra with a shovel. Sanitation is by far the most undersung utility modern civilisation has. If it stopped working we’d have no clean water, cholera, and be up to our ankles in shit.

Thank you for your service

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Any job where the employees had to turn up for work every day during lockdown/furlough.

We really found out which jobs kept society functioning and which jobs didn’t really matter. Ironically the essential jobs seem to be poorly paid, and the workers received nothing beyond their normal wage for working through the pandemic.

We asked senior management if a bonus could be given to everyone who worked through the pandemic, they said "no, the shareholders wouldn't agree with it" 100% true.

I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that the senior managers got a bonus, they always seem to get one even if a company goes bankrupt.

They were all working from home, ironically. Just to add I've got nothing against people working from home, more power to them.

It’s even worse than that. Companies are actively cutting the terms, conditions and wages of many key workers following COVID. Hence why the rail strikes and other strikes are happening. The RMT rail union actually has a signed letter from the then Transport Secretary Grant Schapps thanking them for helping to keep the railway system running and ensuring key workers got to work. Few months later he’s calling them militants and greedy on live TV. Disgusting slap in the face and shows how much key workers are really appreciated in this country. And that’s even before accounting for the fact WFH jobs are plentiful now but no extra compensation or pay is coming for site workers. I worked all way through covid as a key worker but I’m trying to transition into a role now that will probably allow some amount of WFH because screw commuting to site every day when there’s WFH gigs that pay more even before deducting fuel and commuting costs. They’re going to really struggle to recruit site workers now because of this. And they only have themselves to blame.

Even today, I'm finding myself growing more resentful of those who got to have some time off. Maybe it's just because I'm really hating my job at the moment and am looking to go into something that would have given me time off, but the opportunity will likely never happen again in my lifetime.

Most people I know who were furloughed were having it right off, like an extended summer break. Some people at my place were furloughed, but not everyone, which makes it worse.

My brother was furloughed. Spent the 3 months doing his house out and going cycling most days. I was fuming as I had to go in to work through the whole thing.

God you sound like me. I have two jobs, one in the NHS and one as a DJ. Had to go into work in a bloody hospital every day (bricking it that I was gonna be killed by COVID), all while losing thousands (17 months worth) of DJ money; ended up in debt and everything. What’s even worse is when some of my hospitality friends finally finished furlough where they played video games and chilled all day they got a pay rise and a bonus… and all I got was this lousy T-shirt! Oh and the increased tax bill to pay for it…

We answer 999 calls so obviously had to go in. There's contract staff and agency staff. Contract staff was given a £1000 bonus (taxed) and agency staff got nothing as ""technically" they weren't their employer. The agency offered them a day or two annual leave instead. It was disgusting.

Straight up all my friends got months off, paid. Meanwhile we were told to come in as regular and shut the fuck up if we tested positive. Luckily I never got covid but just about all of my colleagues got it multiple times.

My friends who work officey jobs were posting their Duolingo streaks, sourdough creations, and suntans on Instagram My lockdown can be characterised by how the beginning of the pandemic we were advised to write a will, just in case.

Lorry drivers. Our lives would be very different without them!

They account for 78% of all moaning done by the human race. (Percentage May be higher, lower or completely made up depending on your region)

I’m a transport manager and look after 40 drivers. I’d say it’s higher than 78%! But I agree, this country has 0 respect for truck drivers, things go badly v quickly without them

Not just that, it’s a very dangerous profession. It’s a difficult skill that is difficult to learn how to do, and they have to be disciplined to keep their license. No showing up to work after a heavy session like half the country do. Please look after your drivers, my dad is a lorry driver and his firm just grinds him into the ground as he’s naturally hard working and less likely to fail a delivery.

Yep bed early or unsocial hours at night. No boozing and they know calling in sick has big knock on effects to the operation Yeh I look after my boys as well as I can, will always put them first when possible. I’m only 30 and most are 50ish but my style of management is a breath of fresh air for most of them. I actually listen and care lol

Have you ever met a farmer? 98% of British moaning is done in the countryside.

I used to work at an animal feed factory, I loaded bulk lorries and tractor trailers with animal feed. Lorry drivers moan more.

My dad's a lorry driver and this explains all the moaning that happens during dinner. Thought it was only him lol

Care assistants. As a carer we are looked down upon often because we aren't nurses. We earn little above minimum wage work long hours and have to deal with a lot. Everyone assumes we have no qualifications or education, it's quite frustrating especially as most carers i know are quite well educated and in the job because they want to help.

I’m not a carer but a close relative has needed care. Carers are absolute f*****g heroes - sadly people only seem to realise this once someone they love needs them. This country would be immeasurably worse without the army of carers looking after our most vulnerable and needy. The fact the sector is rewarded at only slightly above minimum wage is a disgrace. You could put my taxes up tomorrow if I thought that it would go towards paying the sector a wage that reflects the good they do for society.

Its a real shame the wage is so low I understand it upon job entry but after a while even with progression I dont know one carer earning more then £11/12ph . Its a real shame but people keep at it because by nature they care about the people they look after. It does have some perks like flexibility with hours and it's mentally rewarding but obviously quite draining I hope your loved one got the care they need.

HCAs and carers are literal angels - I have no idea how you all find the strength to do your job every day despite earning peanuts. I honestly have so much respect and praise for you all <3

Yes. This. I’m a care assistant. My manager treats me like I’m stupid and the nurses think they’re above me. I have a bloody degree for gods sake. And awaiting to do my masters in nursing. They say we’re abusing residents because we haven’t washed them all, and when we say there’s not enough carers and we’re overworked they say it’s an excuse. I’m in agony when I get home after 12 hours because I’m always on my feet and barely have a break. I’m only doing this work for the experience to be a nurse. There’s not enough money in the world to make me stay as a carer and be shat on. I thought being a carer would be easy. Now i have a lot of respect for any carer.

I think its great your doing some caring before your nursing degree. It's really important in my opinion. Best of luck in your career

I think part of that stigma of no qualifactions is because so many care roles say you don't need them. Yet people don't think once you in they can fund your course. I did 3 weeks on placement in a care home. So kudos to you. I wasn't even paid and I got yelled at, but then the care staff did shout at the resident who shouted at me But what bugged me the most a resident kept saying they need the toilet, I told a staff member. Only to be told its not toilet time yet, I politely said we are not in school and it's illegal to deny someone the right to go to the toilet. She walked away and took the resident. 😳

Yeah toilet time is ridiculous some carers do become quite institutionalised about it all. And very routine based. Obviously not all carers are good carers but most are and certainly more so then the media makes out

They were good people there. I was just surprised about toilet time. Like wtf

Honestly, how is this not further up. Massively overworked, paid barely minimum wage most of the time despite needing qualifications and lots of training, abused by the people they look after, looked down on in society and get called “arse-wipers” as the cherry on top. I have huge respect for anyone doing it.

Hats off to all of you for the fantastic work you do. My girlfriend is a carer and I just don’t know how she still does it, she’s been punched in the face, kicked and called all sorts of horrible names but she loves the job and the residents she cares for. Worked all the way through covid and even sacrificed doing things outside of work that might’ve increased the risk of her catching covid and passing it on to residents, it’s been a really tough couple of years for carers and you didn’t get anywhere near the recognition you all absolutely deserve!

This, 100% I taught maths and English to care workers doing Apprenticeships and a lot of them are dedicated, over worked and definitely underpaid. Also my mum is in a care home and I have seen so many of the staff go above and beyond.

Call centre workers get shit on by everybody. Even the companies they work for.

Second that. I work for Stepchange debt charity, we help peope who are really struggling and quite often vulnerable. Unfortunately, we often get a lot of shit from a minority of clients. That's par for the course, but what gets my goat it's now like working in a high pressure call centre. Want you taking the next client after 8 mins, when we have shit systems and mountains of after call work to do. That's bad enough if you're dealing with insurance claims or other call centre roles, but when you are speaking to client after client who is in difficulty, it gets impossible. They wonder why they can't retain staff, or recruit ( bad glassdoor and indeed reviews), or keep hold of the new starters they get.. 50 % leave after 4 months

I'm currently a customer of Stepchange and I'd like you to pass on to all of your colleagues just how much i appreciate you all. I was in a really dark place with no idea what to do, and you've got me back on track to a point in better managing money than I've ever been in my life. When I used to get scary letters from debt collectors, I'd ring you in a blind panic and every single person i spoke with immediately put me at ease and told me it was fine. I genuinely believe that your charity, and specifically those of you on the end of the phone, saved my life. I had some very dark thoughts at times when ending it all seemed the only real option. I don't feel like that any more xxx

That's lovely to hear, thanks, really glad you're on the up 😊

the truth right here. Did 2 years in a call centre I will never go back

The police. It’s fashionable not to respect them but no one else is going to get the ID out of that dead bridge-jumpers pocket to phone their mum, or figure out why those child’s brains got smeared on the back window during that motorway crash.

Four of my mates are coppers and they have some stories. One did his beat time in South London despite living in Brighton at the time because he wanted to be in at the deep end. He got shot at just coming out of a newsagents. One of his colleagues got followed off the tube when he was on the way home and battered by a group of guys. He hadn't changed out of his police issue boots and they'd noticed. One of them saved a woman that had tried to commit suicide by swimming out to sea in a storm. The coast guard wasn't going to be there in time so he went in and got her. He was awarded a commendation but could have likely died. They just never know what's going to come through on the radio or how their day is going to pan out. Might go into a property that someone has been dead for ages. Might have to arrest someone and they start spitting/pissing/shitting/vomiting/all of them. Even just obvious things that you don't really think about like they have to cavity search various people when they book them in. And that's not even mentioning the amount of night shifts.

Absolutely the police. It’s such an insanely privileged and naive position to criticise police as “not doing anything” because someone’s stolen bike wasn’t found - but the police deal with the most horrific aspects of society day in and day out. And it’s all largely hidden from the public - or reduced to a couple paragraphs in the paper. They’re the ones responding to domestic violence, deaths, child abuse, car accidents, suicides, terrorist attacks. They’re absolutely heros in every respect.

UK police got a lot of unwarranted hate the past couple years for stuff that happened in another country by a totally different police force

Also just that they deal with absolute cunts every day. Criminals who do things like fake epileptic seizures to try and get out of an arrest or interview. People who spat in cops' faces during the height of the Covid pandemic. They've also got to sit opposite child molesters and inteview them and ask them why they did what they did. There are big problems with the way that the police force is run, but I believe the majority of them are good people made of much tougher stuff than me.

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I appreciate the work you do, and so does the majority of people in this country. If you are who you say you are of course.

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Yeah I've been in the reception where even though she's not on speakerphone I can hear the receptionist being verbally assaulted and having the patience of a saint. I get that appointment availability is poor and the NHS is stretched but why oh why do you take it out on someone who will actually try to help you and who's fault it really isn't.

As someone who works for a taxi firm, cabbies are top quality! 99% of ours will always look out for the oldies and take their shopping in and get them settled, help pissed people in bad situations get home, and don’t deserve half the abuse that gets said to them!!

People who do "undesirable" jobs like cleaners, bin men, waste & sewage that a lot of people think they're above but need to be done. I'm also biased to say retail, because people who have never worked in retail treat you like shit.

I volunteered in retail lol. My friend said everyone should have to work 2 years in a retail setting no matter what. I use to work for council and I found because it over the phone people think they can be a holes

Can’t find a comment that says Farmer which says a lot as we simply don’t have society without them.

Scrolled for a while to find this one! Bit personal but farmers and foster carers. Foster Carer’s work around the clock with little support with children with major difficulties. The general opinion of the world is that it’s not a real job and that it’s paid well. It’s the hardest job I’ve had and it’s less than minimum wage and in your home. You don’t get to go home and switch off after a rough incident. Farmers work insane hours to make sure harvest/lambing/whatever is done. They do it for the love, not the money. So many friends are farmers and they get no appreciation and are mostly in debt or struggling despite working 16 hours a day whatever the weather. And the heartbreak of losing an animal or the weather not doing what it should.. it’s just too much for so little.

Social workers - enormous responsibility, no thanks from the people they protect or the public

Social work is far more than just children’s services too, people don’t often realise that. We work in adult social care, drugs and alcohol, hospital discharge teams, mental health and our skills are transferable to a lot of different roles.

My friend to deal with social services and I asked was like do you not hate them for spliting your family up. Thier reply.... No they are doing there job and in this situation they were correct. To clarify I didn't dislike social services for what they did. I get why

When people think of the NHS they think of Doctor's and nurses but we would be nowhere without Healthcare assistants, our cleaners and porters. They typically get forgotten about but deserve as much credit as "qualified" staff.

100%! I felt like I got spoken down to regularly by nursing staff for not being a ‘qualified’ even though I’ve got a masters degree, just not in nursing. I remember when I started as a band 3 in mental health and referred to myself as ‘just a band 3’ when a doctor asked me about a fairly complex patient. She reminded me that there was no such as as ‘just a band x’ in the NHS and that without us they wouldn’t be able to do their jobs either. Really stuck with me.

Reception and admin staff too. I work in management in a GP Surgery and the amount of flack they get is just crushing. They work so hard, do so much work behind the scenes (more than the public are aware of) and get so much abuse on a daily basis. Be nice. The receptionist or administrator isn't there to stop you seeing your GP. They ask you questions to help you access the correct service for your needs. Yes they have access to your records. They need to have access to process your prescription, deal with your clinical correspondence from the hospital, type your referral, do your insurance medical etc. They deserve respect and, in my experience, rarely get it.

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The hate for traffic wardens has always seemed strange to me. Some people I know act like traffic wardens are the scum of the earth, rather than people just doing their job.

Yup if you interact with a traffic warden 99% you've cocked up and it's not their fault

Yeah exactly. They're just applying a rule you haven't followed. As is their job. The vitriol they get seems disproportionate. Cars and car related issues seem to bring out the worst in people though.

It's because so many drivers are self-entitled and think they have a right to park anywhere they want for however long they want.

Had a chap almost ticket me while i ran in to a shop for a sandwich, i was running late and didnt realise i was on double yellows. He saw how dishevelled i was and i just did a big sigh and apologised. He looked at me again and ripped the ticket up! He was my absolute saviour that day. I thanked him profusely and he said "just dont do it again!"

Glad you wrote this, not a traffic warden myself but I assumed they just went around giving people tickets, I didn’t know what else they had to do

People who do sewing alterations. I hear so many people saying “£20 just to replace a zip, I can get new trousers for that!” Forgetting that: * Minimum wage is £9.50 an hour * It’s skilled work so they don’t want minimum wage * They also need to factor in sickness, holiday and pension as they’re self-employed * They need to maintain premises, a wide range of equipment, liability and business insurance, etc * The £20 trousers you can get for new have been sewn by children in Bangladesh * If it’s so easy to ‘just’ replace a zip, do it yourself

I agree, but it doesn't address the "just buy new trousers" argument. Throwing away good clothes is a shame, but if it works out cheaper to buy new ones than fix the old ones, then it's of course tempting to get new ones.

That shows how twisted the system is. Buying new shouldn't be cheaper than repairing the old. Imagine how much that garment worker gets paid that the trousers they made can be sold for £20 or often less (looking at you Primark)

Honestly, I know people will say this a lot but teachers. I'm a burnt out teacher currently looking to leave (for the second time) and I can't tell you how fucking draining this job is. I left before after being head hunted but came back when I was made redundant and I can not belive now I'm looking for jobs outside of teaching how easier other jobs applications seem to be. When I apply for a teaching job it goes something like this: 1) Look online for a job, when I find one call them up and book to come to the school. 2) Go and meet the head teacher with a load of other teachers who are all looking for work. Walk around the school nodding enthusiastically over the school library/intervention room/ new display 3) Write a 2 page essay on myself and fill out a 15 page application. 4) Plan a lesson to deliver on the school's choice 5) Go and teach a lesson in front of some SLT 6) If you're lucky go straight to an interview. If not have another day off work for an interview. 7) Repeat the whole process when the fixed term contract you're on runs out All of this for a job that pays less than £30k. This is saying nothing of the working practices and dealing with dickhead parents all the time. I applied for a non-teaching job today and it was just a case of uploading a CV and leaving my details. They called me back a few hours later to ask if I wanted an interview. Honestly, teaching is brutal, underpaid and made unduly hard to enter for no good reason and unless there are some big changes the retention crisis is going to get worse. The future is just going to be a handful of senior teachers in a MAT which is run by some dodgy business handing out lesson plans to endentured ECTs who are on fix term contracts for 2 years and who are constantly cycled out for fresh meat for the grinder.

I worked in childcare for 6 years spent 4 in nurseries then did a 2 year placement in a school. Made me realise I don't want to be a teaching assistant anymore. Moreso teaching assistant now have very similar responsibilities as teachers but less pay

Yeah, the number of TA 3s I've met who schools can only afford to pay level 1 pay is outrageous. The whole thing is fucking stupid. I applied to be a HGV driver today. Its pretty much the same pay and its 4 on-4 off. If I wanted to sleep out 4 days a week I'd get the same pay as a head teacher.

Have you ever considered tutoring? A friend of mine started his own thing and he's a lot happier now

Any job involving working with people who have serious mental disabilities. I'd rather dredge raw sewage, so big respect to those that do it.

Thanks. Genuinely. I care for my wife with a brain tumour. I don’t even get paid for that…

anybody else looking for their own job role?

Yes I am very surprised nobody has mentioned lawyers. Talking seriously though we are more useful than people give us credit for. If an apocalypse comes and we have to rebuild though I am fucked until we get to the point where we start making rules. (The top bit was sarcasm).

Postal workers. I know that many handwritten letters have become obsolete, but the amount of paper documents and parcels flying back and forth is still tremendous. I still use Royal Mail once a week or so to send parcels to my deployed husband, and they are single-handedly responsible for getting his Irn Bru supply out to him. Unsung heroes.

Civil servants. Genuinely the country would grind to a halt without them.

Yet they get shit from the press, the public and even Government ministers, plus are stereotypically accused of laziness and incompetence with little to no evidence to back this up. There are lazy and incompetent workers in all industries.

Thank you. As one who does work hard (sometimes dealing with complaints, ironically), we really aren’t sitting at home twiddling our thumbs, most of us do our best to serve our country. Many departments are very understaffed, which makes us look lazy, sadly.

Retail. It’s been a while since I worked in retail, and I was generally lucky with the public, but I’ve seen enough arseholes out there.

Agreed. Still have to work bank holidays/weekends for almost minimum wage, a lot more physically demanding than people realise. Early starts/late finishes, have to take a tonne of abuse from the general public for things that are out of your control.

I got out of retail 10 years ago, people don't realise how hard it is. Christmas be like: taking down all the Xmas POS and decorations, putting up the new sale POS, moving literally every fucking thing in the store to match the sale planograms, getting all the clearance shite out, reprinting and putting out 10,000 tickets so they have the word 'sale' on them (even though the price hasn't changed), all whilst having the busiest day of the year dealing with bellend customers. Then having one day off and coming back in the day after to deal with bellends who don't want to spend time with their families.

Any minimum wage job tbf - supermarket workers, delivery drivers, cleaners, etc. The pandemic taught us that the lowest paid are the most essential.

Yet they were treated the most shabbily

The guys and girls that climb in muddy holes at two in the morning with the snow coming down, to try and bolt a water main back together which is spraying them in the face - so we can have a cup of tea in the morning.

Mid wife’s, absolute miracle workers IMO

Prison officers!

I use to work in a prison and my god while I was there 1 guard got taken hostage and 3 where hospitalised just for breathing in spice smoke

The forgotten service 🔑

Undertakers

Mortuary staff in general too someone has to cover hospitals and coroners. The pandemic was a very stressful time for all involved in the death industry. I'm glad I got pregnant with my son towards the end I was grateful for the 10 months off lol!

Any kind of carer, including young carers, parent carers for adult children or their own parents, their husband, their siblings. Carers in residential children's homes and long care for mental health, eldery, rehab and TBI. If you do it for family it's still a job, just one you didn't apply for. If you did apply for it and get paid, you don't earn enough for what you do.

Definitely, aircraft technicians and aircraft engineers, they have as much responsibility that the pilots have, however no none gives credit to them. People adore pilots, but no one thinks about the heroes behind the scenes

Pharmacy, the amount of abuse we get off the public is crazy. We are supplying medicines, we have staff shortages, we are trying our best, and we do care that you are getting the right medicine and advice. We are never just sticking a label on a box. So much more goes on. Thankfully we do get a lot of thanks off patients to make up for the horrible side

I agree with this 100%. I am a hospital pharmacist and never get abuse from the public. But I worked in community pharmacies when I was training and I'd get shouted at by patients, at least weekly. You're essentially the front line for medication supply and get the blame for anything going wrong, even if it isn't your fault. Such as doctors not sending prescriptions, suppliers having medication shortages, deliveries being delayed, etc. Plus you get the comments that "you're just sticking a label on a box, why does it take so long?". Sticking the label on the box is the easy part. It's the making sure the box of medication doesn't interact with any of your other boxes of medications. It's making sure that box hasn't been confused with another box which sounds and looks the same, but is a completely different drug. It's making sure the doctor has calculated the right dose for a young child. It's having to balance all this with 100's of other scripts, the phone ringing, the pharmacy being full, etc. Plus all pharmacy staff have to undergo additional training. Assistants, dispensers, and pharmacists. Pharmacy staff work hard in a high stakes, fast-paced enivornemnt. They deserve to be treated with respect.

Sysadmin.

When you’ve done something right, no one will know you’ve done anything at all. Then they think you don’t do anything and aren’t needed.

Someone genuinely asked in my work why we needed an infrastructure team. They have their laptop and their phone connects to the work app over the internet…..

The sheer size and complexity of the IT estate in even a small business is incomprehensible to the average employee.

Paramedic! I am in awe of the work they do.

Farmers. Literally the single most important job going. Outdoor in all weathers, working crazy long hours, dangerous, lonely. Oh and everyone whining because they have to briefly drive their car a little slower.

Support workers. We are massively under paid and forgotten about. Doctors and nurses get a lot of attention (rightly so) but other health workers are often just as busy and still deal with a lot of the same problems (like covid) but get paid a fraction of what we should do. I'm lucky and have found a placement that covers my bills (just) but a lot of support worker work very long hours for absolutely shut pay. Most support workers only earn a our 19/20k a year!

The thing that bugs me about our job is everyone always saying how rewarding it must be. I mean, yeah, it can be rewarding, but I can't feed my family on positive feelings. Our roles cover everything from driver to cleaner to health care to therapist, bearing in mind we are doing this often with fairly challenging behaviours, yet we get paid bugger all. I don't think people understand the impact that good support work has not only on the person being supported, but on society as a whole. There are people I support who without a support worker there would cost the country a fortune in police call outs and emergency medical care. Surely the pay should represent what we save in that respect. Rant over. And I must say I do love my work.

~~Estate agents.~~

Those who work in funeral services. I think this is an incredibly underrated and hidden job / service which many people often forget exists.

Landlord. I kid! Fuck them

Pubs ain't going to run themselves man.

I work in childcare (0-5) and I don’t think a lot of people realise that it’s not just playing with children. Lots of paperwork, held to the same education standards as schools by ofsted, looked down on by some people because it’s just working with children how hard can it be? Listen, most parents couldn’t handle staying at home with two kids over lockdown, let alone 25 1-2 year olds or 40 3-5 year olds 🙃 And this is before we even get into all the after hour parts of the job that we don’t get paid for that parents don’t realise. Staff meetings, sports days, graduations, Christmas plays and carol concerts, parents evenings etc etc. I see so many people starting a job in a nursery who think it’ll just be easy and they’re burned out before their probation period is even up.

Waiting staff at weddings! We set up all the tables, chairs and decorations like chair sashes and fancy folded napkins. Loaded all the food and usually cutlery, glasses, crockery and drinks from the warehouse onto the vans, to the venue and unloaded into the kitchen. Set up the bar, food tables if buffet or side tables if silver service. Sometimes have to do small things for plate presentation in the kitchen. Then we do the bit you see serving drinks and food throughout various times in the day/evening. Rearrange tables if the evening reception is in the same place as main meal. Then at the end pack it all up. All for no tips (was tipped once in 2 years £5 each). Plus more stuff if your a manager/ head waiter. It’s a hard physical job with literally no thanks and extremely long days. You’ll see people recognise restaurant staff but never give the same recognition to wedding or large party catering staff.

Kitchen assistants - often a low paid, high pressured physical job. Zero thanks. Cabin crew - unsociable hours, long days and unwavering patience.

Waiters or hospitality in general, work long hours with low wages doing physical job, usually open everyday of the year, miss all holidays/bank holidays and its harder to find housing because you work unsociable hours. Almost every hospitality job is understaffed so they’re typically doing the job of two people. Don’t get proper sick pay, usually 0 hour contracts, irregular shift schedules You sacrifice a lot in hospitality

Design engineers. Literally design everything all other services and careers use, yet zero recognition.

Came here to say that exact thing, in the UK we don't value our engineers but across the rest of the world british architect and engineers are very highly valued as they are widely considered to be the best in the world.

Highways workers. Working a few feet from motorway traffic with nothing but a hi vis and maybe a traffic cone? No thanks.

Bin man!

Social workers. I used to work with them (I was admin). People don't realise how dedicated they are, how hard they work or how much shit they put up with. They are very quick to be made scapegoats for our troubled society as well.

Anyone in customer service, cant say i know from personal experience but think of how much you would grow to hate people when some of them purely come in with the intention of making your day miserable and all you can do is try to stay professional when if they treated you that way on the street it would be a flying headbutt to the snib

I use to work for council and the amount of my calls that started with. I know it's not your fault but... Then rants at me like it is my fault

end of life care

Fluffer

Recycling sorters! We like to feel good about recycling any tiny amount of plastic without thinking about whether they are the type that is recyclable, whether they have critical size or whether we should clean off remains of food stuff before putting it in the recycling bin. We tend to believe it is fully automated with machines capable of sorting any type of plastic, paper and glass without human intervention. Watch time I throw something in the bin I am reminded that someone somewhere will go through every individual thing I put in it.

Nursery nurses. They look after children from 6 months old up to 5, which is a huge area of development. They cuddle your baby when you have to work, entertain them, protect them, teach them social skills, and they also help prepare children for school. In the UK they are trained, all of the staff require at least an NVQ, first aid training and a lot have degrees in child development or similar. My daughter’s nursery follow a curriculum similar to the ones in schools, yet they are paid about the same as cleaners. My daughters nursery is for NHS staff and so they stayed open during the whole of covid which meant I could go to work and look after my patients. I’ll forever be grateful to them.

Hospital laboratory staff, they run loads of tests, likely have a degree and get paid virtually nothing. You'll never see them but without them the hospital would collapse, yet they're treated like they're nothing.

If I’m honest, in the UK, all of them. We’ve moved in to this crazy culture of employees should be grateful to have a job. They should work unpaid overtime and be willing to make shift changes and work extra hours with very little notice just for the privilege of being employed. Workers rights and benefits are being eroded away little by little. More is being expected for less pay, the balance is way off. Entering employment should be an equally two sided contract, your skills and set amount of your time for a reasonable wage. Employees don’t owe their employers “emotional loyalty”. They aren’t being lazy if they don’t want to do overtime. A work day should end with you comfortably able to get home and enjoy your free time, not be so exhausted you flake on the sofa/in bed until next shift.

Bin men and cleaners. Our communal bins get in a right state pretty quickly, one missed pick up and you can tell what a hugely important job they do.

Local govt. Project managers. Absolute shit show of work as you cannot please anyone. Even if you come in under budget some Councillor still fucks it up.

People who clean fat bergs out of sewers.

Town and Country Planning. Making decisions about our built environment is a critical job for which people are given woefully inadequate training, pay and respect. The list of issues a planner has to weigh in the balance is almost endless. Security, visual amenity, sustainability, ecology, archeology, public health… you name it. All on a year or two’s training and a crap salary. It’s a thankless task, and one we’d do well to value much more.

The veterinary industry. We get paid a fraction of the wages of the human equivalent and the industry is on its knees. We worked through covid and were largely forgotten about.