http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1451111,00.html Low bids win in job 'slave market'
Alex Duval Smith Sunday April 3, 2005 The Observer Imagine an auction where the lowest bidder wins. This is happening in Germany where the online sale is as controversial as it is successful because the 'lots' are people looking for employment. On jobdumping.de, they undercut one another to win work. Founder Fabian Löw, 31, has provoked a torrent of anger from unions and politicians claiming his website is a 'slave market' where people are hired for as little as €3 (£2) an hour. The site is legal because Germany has no statutory minimum wage. 'This country has higher unemployment than at any time since the Second World War - 12.5 per cent. Every eighth man or woman I meet in the street is without work, and the authorities are failing to find them jobs,' said Löw, whose Münster-based firm has four staff and, not surprisingly, relies on 'a lot of outsourcing'. The concept is simple: jobseekers - from office workers to cleaners - state the minimum pay they will accept. On a different page, employers advertise jobs naming the most they will pay. Buyers and sellers remain anonymous until the auction is over, and there is a trial period of four weeks before contracts are signed. 'We have a dog trainer offering pet-counselling for €30 a lesson. We also have economics graduates looking for work,' he said. 'If your tumble-dryer breaks down, why ring a firm that charges €80 for a call-out when qualified people will do the job for less? Löw says he has held 3,300 auctions since last October, leading to work for 1,300 people. He takes a percentage of the first month's wage. But a Liberal party spokesman, Dirk Niebel, called the site 'a slave market that is unprofessional'. This claim was denied by Löw, who now plans an English-language international site - 'useful for students looking for work in other countries'.
