Job Discussion Forums

[Linguist]

This is not meant to be racist post, but rather, an eye opener for those of us who believe that Arab kids are spoilt and do not have what they need for the job market.

[sisyphus]

�So, clearly, when you have these bright young Eastern Europeans who really want to work and have very good customer service skills then employers are going to turn to them � and quite right'

Utter nonsense; eastern europeans generally have appalling customer service skills. Their students also are lazy, generally lacking in soft skills and have even worse personalities. They may be prepared to do the crap jobs english people refuse to do, but that doesnt make them better. They do , however, have better fundamentals in Maths and Spelling etc.

[veiledsentiments]

I'd say that you could substitute "American" for "British" in the description of employer complaints... and perhaps substitute "Hispanic" for "Eastern European." Seems the same problem in so much of the world.

And, of course, in both cases, the employers are way too often really not being clear about the fact that the "immigrant" work force will work for less money - that local workers with the proper work ethics and skills wouldn't consider.

VS

[teechar]

When you say "Arab kids," I think you mean well-off Arab kids, right? There are many Arabs who work in jobs in service in some of the less wealthy Arab states.

I really don't think it's a question of being innately lazy; it's more a question of perceived entitlement and ignorance of hardship. I mean, for the class of people this article is referring to (school graduates), they may have never known what it's like to live without. They also have no desire to do jobs they perceive as beneath them. When I think of my parents and grandparents: they did extra jobs to make ends meet when necessary, but the world I grew up in didn't view that as normal (I'm in my early thirties). My younger brother is a landscaper/yard guy, and he is one of two people I can think of who finished from our high school and went into a manual job like that out of school. We were just lead to believe we were above that, and I honestly bought into that for quite some time. Even when I was working hourly jobs, which I did from sixteen to 23, I never even considered accepting that as the place for me. It was snobbish, and I'm wiser now, but I'm not much older than the kids discussed in this article.

In terms of the lazy/unqualified teachers coming over the the ME, I think that a system that prizes whiteness and native speakers over anything else is a flawed one and will lead to some bad recruits. I also think that the lazy kids exist all over the world. However, when you have immigrants filling positions in sought-after locales (USA, UK, Western Europe, etc.), they will certainly do all they can to stay in that position. For most language teachers, the ME is a stepping stone or a place to fill the bank before moving "home." An immigrant who wishes to make a home in a place is more inclined to work harder than one who is there on a short-term basis. And an immigrant who is sending money home to his or her starving family is working for more than pride in his or her work ethic.

Sorry that got so long. The article was interesting!

[scot47]

Coming through Stansted Airport yesterday I was surprised at how FEW natives were working there !