06 May 2008

The book wot I didn't read

Last year Woolworths got into trouble for launching a furniture collection that included a "Lolita" bed for girls (story here). Possibly one of the few occasions when having an English degree would have had a practical workplace application.

I thought of this today when I passed the "Catch 22" employment agency in Victoria, en route to a client. Apparently the agency has been in business since 1982, though I wonder if, in all that time, any of its staff had bothered to read the eponymous Joseph Heller classic? It's not the sort of thing you'd necessarily want associated with a temporary employment agency - being trapped in a hellish existence by the merciless logic of the language of the system.

Or else the sort of place that wouldn't do much business:

"Excuse me, do you have any jobs?"
"Are you registered with us"
"No - how do I do that?"
"Well, first you'll need to have a job"

2 comments:

Phil Woodford said...

They could have given it a twist. Maybe "Match 22" on the basis that they're match-making between employers and potential employees?

At least Catch 22 is reasonably... er... catchy. I understand their main competitor - A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - is struggling to make an impact in the crowded recruitment market.

Mike Hoffman said...

LOL - :-)