Our Groundhog Year
Stagnant wages, antidepressants, increased stress in the workplace, rise in the use of foodbanks, it’s 2017 all over again
The latest Jersey average earnings report by the statistics unit shows, in real terms, wages have declined and overall that they’ve pretty much flatlined since the turn of the century and like a patient in a state of cardiac arrest, our economy is in dire need of an adrenaline shot.
The government could implement a living wage I suppose, but that would likely entail local business lobbyists subjecting us to passages from the Book of Revelations leaving us little material with which to describe the forthcoming changes to our climate.
The last government astutely failed to bring forward the Jersey Statistics Unit’s five year Income Distribution Report to before the elections, much to their distress. The last one showed that within the average wage growth the young had seen a decline in their wages, while all the gains had gone to the older generations. I doubt much has changed.
For the average worker the term housing ladder would better be described as a stairway to heaven, as that’s what more likely to be reached first saving for a deposit in Jersey.
According to the latest States figures, stress in the workplace has also soared. The number of days Islanders are taking off for depression, stress and anxiety are now at a five-year high, with a recent Freedom of Information request revealing that more than 1,300 Islanders were signed off work due to stress last year. So it’s disappointing to see that previous ideas, apart from employing more staff to spread workloads or offering better pay to improve standards of living, continue to fail. Have they tried offering free company branded Fidget Spinners to workers on induction day?
Fortunately the States have ensured — for jobs and growth of course — that there’s an abundance of comforting fast-food chains out there to satiate the stress of modern living. Probably just a coincidence, but Jersey saw an eight per cent rise for diabetes medicine last year and while we’re on the subject of medication, there was also a three per cent rise during the same period in antidepressants prescribed. Maybe Domino’s could offer a happy pizza that incorporates both as a topping?
One might consider the loss of jobs through automation an act of mercy at this point, with workers who’ve felt like robots now likely to be replaced by one.
“Dave meet your new colleague, AI-3148, don’t feel intimidated by the fact it works 24 hours back-to-back shifts and doesn’t require healthcare, I’m sure you’ll get on just fine.”
Just like last year, the use of foodbanks has once again risen, but fortunately the cost of this rise is likely to be off-set this year by revenue generated from a £10 million project to build new aircraft hangers to cater to a “growing demand” from visiting and locally based private jets. Maybe they could also donate the little bags of peanuts they don’t use?
What’s disheartening is writing about these exact same issues and repeating them again a year later. This is not to take away from all those who’ve worked hard to reverse these trends but the direction of travel continues to be the wrong one, and the casualties sadly continue to be our health and our economy.


