Political Trolling
I worked for a major corporate based in the city of London.
600+ employees in the City, plus another couple of thousand all over the world.
170 year old British company that in the maritime industry is a household name.
After 40+ years in the business for the last 15+ years I was heavily involved in training the newbies.
Typically around 40 to 50 would be employed each year, all in their early 20's, some with degrees, others with a bit of life experience.
They would start in the London office, if they were still there after 3-6 months they would be enrolled onto the trainee programme.
18 months later they would be given a position in London for 6-12 months, and then shipped off around the world for the next 5-10 years to gain experience.
By the time they were in their 30's or 40's with kids and partner in tow they would move back to the UK in a senior position and a six or seven figure salary.
And they start to be involved in training up the next generation.
It's a good system, it weeds out the chaff and its worked across the industry since the middle ages.
This year the adverts for new trainees have gone out.
Each year the spec changes, so that they don't end up with, for example, a generation of male, white, Eton & Oxbridge educated toffs.
This year, for the first time ever, the spec is for EU or Swiss citizens only.
I can see where this is going.
Some years from now the IT & Accounts departments will be quietly move 'for tax reasons' to Switzerland or the EU.
The head office may remain, on paper, in London, but everyone will know where the real power will lie.
The cost to the country in lost tax revenue from this one company alone will be in the hundreds of millions, each year, every year.
And we all know the single reason why this is happening.
600+ employees in the City, plus another couple of thousand all over the world.
170 year old British company that in the maritime industry is a household name.
After 40+ years in the business for the last 15+ years I was heavily involved in training the newbies.
Typically around 40 to 50 would be employed each year, all in their early 20's, some with degrees, others with a bit of life experience.
They would start in the London office, if they were still there after 3-6 months they would be enrolled onto the trainee programme.
18 months later they would be given a position in London for 6-12 months, and then shipped off around the world for the next 5-10 years to gain experience.
By the time they were in their 30's or 40's with kids and partner in tow they would move back to the UK in a senior position and a six or seven figure salary.
And they start to be involved in training up the next generation.
It's a good system, it weeds out the chaff and its worked across the industry since the middle ages.
This year the adverts for new trainees have gone out.
Each year the spec changes, so that they don't end up with, for example, a generation of male, white, Eton & Oxbridge educated toffs.
This year, for the first time ever, the spec is for EU or Swiss citizens only.
I can see where this is going.
Some years from now the IT & Accounts departments will be quietly move 'for tax reasons' to Switzerland or the EU.
The head office may remain, on paper, in London, but everyone will know where the real power will lie.
The cost to the country in lost tax revenue from this one company alone will be in the hundreds of millions, each year, every year.
And we all know the single reason why this is happening.
