Earn £40k shucking scallops? It’s not worth our while, say workshy snowflakes
IT is cold, wet and you may come home with a whiff of the sea, but for £40,000 a year you might think it’s the catch of a lifetime.
Yet fishing industry bosses claim they are struggling to fill scallop-shucking vacancies on their factory floors – because many young people on benefits say it’s not worth their while.
An advert by one of the largest seafood processors for a shucker – who opens scallop shells and scoops out the meat – failed to draw a single application.
But an office-based role at the same firm and advertised at the same time, for £21,500, saw 76 people apply in 36 hours. A source said: ‘On the Continent working
‘People have walked out after two hours’
in fish is a prestigious job, but to work in fish in Scotland is a poor job. Yet this perception that the fish industry is a dead-end job is not the case – it is a very professional industry.’
Three months ago, the UK Government announced it would spend £10 million to encourage entry into fish processing work.
But there has been little improvement in recruitment amid concerns that when staff reach retirement age, younger generations will not take up the work, preferring to attend university, work in an office or remain on state benefits.
Wages in fish processing are based on volume and the top factory-floor worker last year earned £85,000, a wage rivalling many executive salaries.
Alistair Brown, operations director at Nolan Seafoods in Aberdeen, says a common reason he is given for people leaving soon after being hired is that the work is ‘a bit wet, a bit cold’.
He has also witnessed many interviewees refusing work after a job offer because the difference between their benefit payments and the pay is not great enough.
Mr Brown, 60, whose workers can pocket up to £1,000 a week, said: ‘The potential for people to have good earnings – if they have the aptitude – is fantastic.
‘We make people aware of the environment they will be working in but we’ve had them walk out after two hours.’
Jimmy Buchan, chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association,
said entry-level work for young people is ‘less appealing’ than further education.
He added: ‘Fish processing is laborious and a cold working environment. It doesn’t liken itself to being in a nice, warm office.
‘I have known people turn down £400 a week saying, “I am not going to take the job for £150 a week extra when I get £250 for not working”. The [benefits] system is a bit soft.’
Scotland Office Minister Malcolm Offord said: ‘I engage extensively with the sector through my chairmanship of the Scottish Seafood Industry Action Group.
‘Industry and Scotland’s two governments have roles to play in achieving what we all want – thriving businesses, attracting those we need into the sector, delivering world-class produce.’