Preview
  • Hired

  • Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain
  • By: James Bloodworth
  • Narrated by: Alister Austin
  • Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (18 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Hired

By: James Bloodworth
Narrated by: Alister Austin
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.54

Buy for $18.54

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

From the Orwellian reach of an Amazon warehouse to the time trials of a council care worker and the grim reality behind the glossy Uber app, Hired is a clear-eyed analysis of a divided nation and a riveting dispatch from the very front line of low-wage Britain.

We all define ourselves by our profession. But what if our job was demeaning, poorly paid, and tedious? Cracking open Britain's divisions, journalist James Bloodworth spends six months living and working across Britain, taking on the country's most gruelling jobs.

He lives on the meagre proceeds and discovers the anxieties and hopes of those he encounters, including working-class British, young students striving to make ends meet and Eastern European immigrants.

From the Staffordshire Amazon warehouse to the taxicabs of Uber, Bloodworth narrates how traditional working-class communities have been decimated by the move to soulless service jobs with no security, advancement or satisfaction. This is a gripping examination of Brexit Britain, a divided nation which needs to understand the true reality of how other people live and work before it can heal.

©2019 James Bloodworth (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"A very discomforting book, no matter what your politics might be...very good." (Sunday Times)

"Potent, disturbing and revelatory." (Evening Standard)

What listeners say about Hired

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not quite what it promises

The first and last parts (Amazon and Uber) are interesting. The other two parts (homecare and call centre) ramble on about other things, such as the history of coalmines and working class in general, and hardly mention the jobs he was supposedly working. I assume the author didn't really have enough material for a full book, so he added some fairly irrelevant stuff to make it longer. In short, the parts where the author actually talks about "working undercover" are interesting, while the rest of it is tedious to listen. While I'd find listening to a former coal miner interesting and their stories deserve to be heard, it was not what I picked this book up for. I also think the author only concentrated on the negatives of each job - in particular the call centre job did not sound horrible, but since he didn't need to stay working there, he was able to write any offered "perks" off as silly and argue that they should pay people more instead. He also earned what Uber told him he would, but then complained that he spent a lot of it on expenses such as renting a car and paying someone to clean it. All in all it was a fairly shallow book. Some of it was interesting, a lot of it wasn't. The narrator I thought did okay, he didn't have a lot to work with.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Complaints without solutions

Interesting peak behind the curtain of the newest form of crappy jobs...but what is the point? Is cleaning a toilet better or worse than driving an Uber? All societies have jobs of all types. A much better book is Woke, Inc which better calls out the hypocrisy of big corporations and now the masses that have been tricked into supporting them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!