Episode 5 Britain's Hardest Workers: Inside the Low Wage Economy

In Britain, more than 5 million people are now in low-paid work.

I am left with £12.76 every single week.

Some weeks, I'm just really struggling.

I have to borrow, in fact, off people.

Whether we're unskilled workers, graduates or aged 50 or over,

many of us could have a future in low pay.

Everybody is vulnerable. Work is the new poor.

With zero-hour contracts, automation and global competition,

employees need to be more adaptable than ever before.

There's losers in any transition period.

The question is what do you do to make sure that

some of the losers don't fall through the cracks?

So, how tough are these jobs and can anyone do them?

20 people, all proud of their work ethic...

I am a grafter. I've always been a grafter.

I don't ever believe anything is above me or below me.

Money doesn't just come to you. You've got to go out and get it.

..have been taking part in a unique experiment.

I'm your factory manager for the next ten days.

They've been putting themselves to the test,

trying out a range of low-paid jobs in real British workplaces...

So, that's what we're trying to achieve.

-Better crack on then, hadn't we?

-I thought this was going to be easy.

..and in a specially constructed factory...

-Whoa!

-I'll get there.

I knew it would be a slow start, but I'll get there.

..discovering what skills you need to survive in today's low-paid jobs.

I don't understand.

No! Sorry, it's squirting everywhere.

And just like in the real jobs market,

it's been competitive,

with the least productive worker being laid off after every task.

-The shift is finished.

-HORN BLARES

Tonight, as they take on the final and toughest jobs

of the experiment...

I'm feeling very nervous, actually. I think you can see that in my face.

..their resilience will be tested to extremes.

It's very important that you spend a few minutes just studying this.

I'm going for a five-minute break.

And the worker who proves themselves most able to cope

with the pressure is in line for a major bonus.

This is for one of you.

What would £15,000 mean to you?

It would change my life dramatically.

Over the past eight days...

Your next job is through those doors.

-Yeah, let's go.

-..from waste...

-Wow!

You don't realise that these are actually human beings

that are doing jobs like this.

-..to warehouse...

-Are you all right?

-No, I'm cracking up.

..the workers have been put through their paces.

Faster! Faster!

Last time, it was manufacturing...

I've never used one of these. We're going.

..where the workers saw the levels of skill expected...

They're inside out. Like that.

..and for how much.

Knowing that they get minimum wage doing this, I don't understand.

Now just five workers remain -

painter/decorator Martin with his ability to work at speed...

I need a new bin!

..fish and chip shop owner Stewart, who's shown remarkable resilience...

Well, it's taken me approximately,

ooh, five and a half hours.

I started this as a challenge to myself and to prove a point.

-Well done.

-No matter what age you are,

there's work out there, and if you set your mind to it,

you can go and do it to the best of your ability.

..warehouse worker Majka with her unparalleled focus...

-I like this job.

-SHE LAUGHS

For me, the most important to prove -

any job that I have, I'm good when I do it,

so I put everything

and make me proud.

..farm hand Berwyn, who's proved himself highly adaptable...

Even though I'm second,

I'm hoping to beat Majka to the top spot.

I didn't really think that I'd be here at the end of this experiment,

but I think it's, like, the hardest workers that are really left now,

so I just need to be more with it now, more focused.

..and graphic designer Leon with his positive mental attitude.

Well, I have to be more focused.

I came here to perform. I want to deliver.

I don't want to let myself down, anyway,

so I'm going to go for it.

Hopefully, this one.

Hopefully.

It's the final two days of our experiment

and the five remaining workers are about to take on

the best-paid work of the low-wage sector.

It's also the most physically and mentally gruelling.

Night work.

Markets like these have always depended

on a hidden workforce who labour through the night

to make sure we get fresh produce as fast as possible.

But as we become a 24-hour society

and businesses never shut their doors,

now over 3 million of us clock on whilst the rest of us go to bed.

So, how will the workers cope with the night shift?

Oh, I think I'll cope all right with this one.

Yeah, you walked bloody... How many hours?

I walked 19 miles during the night and done a day's work after.

I don't think working a night's going to be much different.

The workers are headed to St James Wholesale Market in Bradford,

a six-acre complex home to 35 different grocery suppliers,

many of which operate all night, seven nights a week.

-All right, let's go do this.

-Look really pretty with this.

The only night work I do

is to help the farmer out over lambing time,

and I really enjoy it.

I've got no kids, I've got no-one at home waiting for me,

so I'm quite a free man, really.

The workers are about to do a four-hour night shift

split into two parts - packing bulk orders for a wholesaler

and picking specialist orders for a restaurant supplier.

All right, all right. Wow.

Right, welcome to the Delifresh engine room.

This is where the magic happens.

First, they're putting together food orders

placed by some of the UK's top chefs.

So, pick sheet - really easy.

You just work down, but tick it off. Get it all in your little trays.

Once you've done that order, you bring it back here,

give it to us. We'll check it off, we'll score it.

You move on to your next order.

It'll be a test of their ability to work fast and accurately

to exacting industry standards.

Right, you've got to remember speed is critical,

but you've got to be precise.

Staff here can pick around 100 items an hour.

The workers will be judged on how close they get to that target,

scoring a point for every correct item picked in perfect condition.

It's all about picking the finest quality of fruit and vegetables,

so when the chef gets it, it has got to be perfect, OK?

So, we're going to go on a bit of a tour.

You've got to listen and pay attention to where everything is.

-OK.

-Right, follow me, boys and girls.

There are 1,500 products to choose from,

and while the workers have already experienced warehouse work,

it was not this highly specialised, nor was it through the night.

In here, there's a ripening room.

You'll find anything stored in there that needs to be picked ripe.

Also bananas, as well, all right?

This area over here, you might get Israeli couscous,

polenta, pistachios, walnuts, almonds.

They're all in there, OK?

Training for new employees takes several weeks,

as staff are expected to work almost entirely from memory.

-Are these labelled?

-No, no.

-So, you just have to remember where they are?

-Yeah.

-OK.

All right? You've got to remember it.

The workers will have to learn and retain new information

at a time when their brains are usually winding down for the night.

So, you've got a banana shallot, which is a long shallot.

-How you call it?

-A banana shallot.

-Banana shallot.

-OK.

-A lot of the stuff here is very continental.

-It is, yeah.

Now, we've got blinis, pain d'epices,

which is like a spiced, honey-scented bread, OK?

Truffles.

-£250 pound a kilo, these, yeah?

-Wow.

Be really, really, really gentle with it.

In this world, even familiar items can present new challenges.

So, you've got Green Tiger, you've got a Black Russian,

you've got a Zebra, San Marzano.

You've got a rose tomato in there, as well.

It sounds like cocktail names, doesn't it?

Black radish.

Wow.

There's a lot of produce in here that I've never even heard of,

never seen and we've only been shown once.

As well as picking the correct produce,

they'll have to make constant qualitative judgements,

carefully selecting only the very best produce.

So, this is kelp, yeah?

It's slimy, it's dripping.

So, you're looking for brightness. If it's brown, forget it.

This is where it is ultra, ultra, ultra important.

If we send something that isn't at its peak fitness,

we might lose our account, yeah?

The chef will be going mental in the morning.

Workers here earn £9.33 an hour - 30% above minimum wage.

But with a room temperature of around five degrees Celsius...

I have a nose like a snowman.

It's OK.

..this job will test their physical and mental endurance to extremes.

I'm feeling very nervous, actually. I think you can see that in my face.

But I will try my best, whatever happens.

We do a bit of cooking

and I watch a lot of cooking programmes,

so I'm feeling good about this one. I think I'll be all right here.

While most of us are tucked up in bed,

the workers have a whole night's work ahead of them.

Right then, are you ready? Let's do it.

Like Supermarket Sweep, this.

-Tidy. Let's go.

-All right.

It's not here.

OK, I'll try and find something else.

Chocolate mousse powder.

Agar-agar - 500ml.

I have no idea what it is,

so I'm just looking for something with a label that says agar.

The first time I've ever held a truffle.

You wouldn't see that in your local supermarket.

It would only be in the big supermarket,

like Tesco, Morrisons, Asda.

It wouldn't be in a Co-op or a Spar, you know,

and that's the only supermarkets that I've got in my home town.

The toughest thing about this job's finding things.

It's now 10.30 at night, but fish and chip shop owner Stewart

is undaunted by the prospects of what lies ahead.

I can do night shift because I like that sort of work.

Whether it's daytime or night-time, I like to be active,

and so night shift, it really doesn't bother me.

Plus, I don't sleep a lot.

Stewart has the benefit of 12 years' experience

in the catering industry.

Thin sticks. No burnt tips.

Well, any chef worth his salt would ask for the same.

You know, they would want the quality there.

They're very precise on these measures.

"No splits. Perfect caps."

So, they have to be sorted, so they will be.

I think he's doing all right.

Good attention to details, but you need to be quick.

You need to be really quick.

-You need to get a scoot on, yeah?

-Yeah, yeah.

I'll be here for a week doing this.

Majka, who is the last remaining woman in the experiment,

also has experience in catering.

I think it's that because that looks like a spaghetti

and that is from the sea, so I think it's that one.

-Can I give the first order?

-Just put the trays on the table.

I think I've picked up the good stuff, so fingers crossed.

Enjoy.

Majka spends much of her spare time

cooking at her partner's Polish restaurant.

I make dumplings. These people love it.

I like work. I work seven days a week.

I don't like to be, like, sitting in the house and doing nothing.

She earns no money from the restaurant

and relies on her minimum-wage job as a forklift driver in a warehouse.

I'm happy I have regular pay,

but it's maybe not enough to cover everything.

Only that is enough to live.

I never think about, you know, the future.

What I'm thinking is about this day, what's happened on this day.

I feel that life is sometimes hard

and only you must be much, much harder.

Focus, concentrate, not rush.

Over the last eight days, Majka has excelled.

You've picked it up very quick, actually.

She's come top of the leaderboard four out of eight times.

When I see the board, I am like, "Wow."

And the secret of her success?

Of all the workers,

she's had the most experience in lots of different low-wage jobs.

SHE LAUGHS

-That's the wrong product. Everything else is fine.

-So...

-Lollo Bionda is the green one.

-Oh, right. Sorry.

Majka has completed an order in just under 15 minutes

and scored nine correct items.

In the same time, an experienced worker could have scored 23.

When I came here, I worked in a factory.

Every three weeks, it was night shift.

I'd have more time for my daughter

because I can send her to school in the morning,

and when she's at school, I can sleep,

so working on the nights has been much easier for me.

-That is Lollo Bionda.

-SHE CHUCKLES

While Majka is on to her second order,

graphic designer Leon is still on his first.

He's got stuck looking for a type of cured ham.

-What are you looking for now, mate?

-Er, sliced pancetta.

-This is cheese.

-Yeah.

-This is cheese, yeah? So, charcuterie.

He hasn't picked anything and he needs to get moving.

Mozzarella - 125.

OK, this is what I need. Three of them.

Slowly and surely getting the hang of it.

I haven't had a night shift job before.

It's not that I wouldn't do it.

It's just that I've got a daughter, so it's just never been an option.

Celeriac - five kilos.

-What's for dinner?

-What's for dinner?

Being a single father to 13-year-old Armani

has had a big impact on Leon's career choices.

Employers are like, "Oh, you're a single parent.

"Are you going to be reliable? Are you going to be late?

"Are you going to tell me that your child is sick today

"and you can't come in? So, can I rely on you?"

You know, you've always got that stigma attached to go against.

And it's one of the reasons he's taking part in the experiment.

I want to show that single parents are hard workers,

they are reliable and responsible. I can get the job done.

Good, isn't it?

Ah, see, that's all you need to know. Just a smile.

You don't need to say anything. Cool.

Over the past few days, Leon has shown he has many

of the attributes required to survive in the low-wage economy.

All right, so, just remember to take my time,

-make it load and then move on?

-Yeah.

I think I work well under pressure.

And his calm approach has brought results.

Ooh!

-OK, OK, OK.

-MAJKA LAUGHS

Pass us the sheet.

That's good, that, Leon. That's really good, mate. Right, next one.

-Go, go, go.

-Right, fruit juice, carrot.

-Good work.

I always approach a job with a can-do attitude.

'That's what keeps me going.'

Prunes. Cow's mozzarella.

Leon's first order took him 45 minutes to complete,

his second, just 15 minutes.

But while Leon is improving,

farm hand Berwyn's memory is letting him down.

-Peaches.

-Right, mate, peaches.

-Peaches.

-Peaches. Come on, peaches.

-I can't remember where those were.

He's not doing too well. He's...

The first place we went to was the peaches -

where the ripening room is - but he can't remember where that is.

Where's my trolley? What have I done with it?

-It's midnight.

-Martin's getting his first order checked off now.

-Oh, first one done.

-He needs to crack on.

Painter/decorator Martin has more to contend with

than just battling fatigue.

-That basket is right.

-OK.

-That basket is wrong.

So, you need banana shallots.

So, I just need the banana, then?

Banana.

Martin should be looking for a banana-shaped onion.

Bananas should be here.

I knew that, at some point, I would have issues with my language.

I've got the banana.

When Martin first arrived in the UK from Bulgaria,

his job options were limited.

I didn't speak any English at all, so I didn't have much choices.

I just have to take the first opportunity,

which was a carwash working 11 hours per day for £25.

He moved in with his brother, and using subtitled films,

Martin taught himself how to speak English in a year.

I watched, many times, Harry Potter. Every night, before I go to sleep,

I put my computer on and I watched the same series.

Whoever looks for it, he will find it, right?

Just like Dumbledore once said.

HE LAUGHS

Since taking part in the experiment, Martin has impressed with his speed.

I like this job better than yesterday.

But it hasn't always served him well.

Martin rushed and almost stuffed it into the bag.

I've circled the things that you need to change, OK?

The workers are about to move on to their next job at the market.

Fennel. Fennel.

OK, it's the last thing. Come on!

When I panic, it makes it very difficult for me to concentrate.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

Listen, it's hard. It's hard-core in here.

It's busy, it's freezing cold, it's in the middle of the night

and we're asking them to do something

that's completely off the scale, they've never done it before.

Excuse me. Excuse me.

-There's only a few minutes left, yeah?

-Let's do this.

Oh, man, seriously.

Coming through. Coming through.

-HORN BLARES

-Oh, my days.

Time definitely flew.

I will try to do better in the second job.

Much of the country is fast asleep

and the workers are about to start the second part of their job -

packing for a fruit and veg wholesaler

under shift supervisor Peter.

Right, guys, job for you

tonight is to pick one of our orders.

This is a highly physical job, and as the shift progresses,

it will be a test of their endurance and ability to keep focused.

We're in the latter part of the night,

or should I say early hours of the morning.

You might be getting tired now,

but this job still requires 100% concentration

to make sure the product goes out to our customers spot-on.

The workers must prepare a bulk order for dispatch.

Pick it, pack it straight on the pallet.

Heavy gear at the bottom, lighter gear at the top.

-Get the pallet wrapped, ready for distribution.

-Yeah, OK.

There are 22 items per order,

and the workers will get one point for every correct item.

They can score a further 30 points

if their two pallets are well stacked,

securely wrapped and with no overhang.

The warehouse is yours. Fire away.

-HORN BLARES

-Let's get to it.

At the end of the shift,

the total points they scored picking and packing

will be added together,

and the least productive worker will be laid off.

Let's take these out.

It's a very physical job. I'm feeling good about it.

It's the sort of work I like to do. It keeps you active,

keeps you thinking, and also keeps you in shape, as well.

On picking, Majka and Leon scored the most points.

I go to the gym every morning, so it's like this is my workout today.

Gala. I need to find these apples. Gala, Gala, Gala.

It's another job that happens behind closed doors

when everybody is sleeping.

Just wake up and fruit and veg is there, you know, ready to buy.

You don't think that people are working through the night

to get it done.

Two, four, six. Yeah, two more.

So, how hard is it to work through the night, and is it worth it?

'I'm talking to Burbank's director Jonathan Kershaw to find out.'

How much do you pay and why?

It's an average of £9.33 a hour.

To maintain staff retention,

we kind of pay over the odds to keep staff

cos it's unsociable hours, demanding and it's quite a skilled job.

It's something you kind of learn on the job.

So, we reckon it takes about two months just to get up to speed,

to have a proper understanding of products and product identification,

so, really, we want to hold on to them.

So, what does it take to be able to do a job like this?

To work nights, you've got to be a certain type of person,

usually cos it fits in with the home scenario.

That's usually the type of person that wants to work nights.

Secondly, if they've not necessarily

got the educational requirements, it's a physical job.

-Do you need to be very tough to do it?

-Yeah, it's hard graft.

Proper hard graft.

They're coming to work as their partner's coming home,

so it is tough. It is tough.

And that's why we try to ensure they have a regular routine -

so that they can plan around their home life.

We don't change shifts or shift patterns.

It's a set shift cos it avoids fatigue, it avoids mistakes,

it avoids potential accidents at work.

I am a little tired,

only just because it's dark and my mind's telling me, "Bed."

But, obviously, with being the night shift,

you've got to keep your mind with it.

Studies show night shift workers can be 50% more likely

to make mistakes than day workers.

Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

He's only got nine asparagus when he needed ten.

If we sent this out with nine asparagus rather than ten,

it'd be an issue where we'd have to send it back out in the van

just for one box of asparagus, and it's just a long line of...

..chaos, then, for us, really.

22-year-old farm hand Berwyn

has always earned his living off the land.

I love just being outdoors.

At the age of 12, I had a weekend job mucking out sheds.

Just straight into poo

and just start mucking that out, but I loved it.

Just loved the fresh air, just loved the lifestyle.

It's really, really healthy.

But it's also hard to get a job in agriculture,

so I count myself lucky for that.

It's a precarious existence with uncertain hours for minimum wage.

Every day is a struggle worrying about bills.

My social life is just zero at the moment.

Got no savings.

You know, as long as I pay my bills, I'm happy.

Since taking part in the experiment,

Berwyn's discovered hidden talents.

-Would you do it?

-Um, yeah, if there was nothing else on the market...

-You'd give it a go?

-..I'd give it a go. Definitely.

But overall, he's found it hard to adjust

to the attention to detail required in these jobs.

Being a farmer, we don't tend to come across jobs

that are this small.

Hiya, Bers. Just a quick word.

Are you making sure you're checking your counts?

The onions are OK.

Your quantity counts rather than your weights and measures.

Melons are OK.

As much as they push us...

..it's going through one ear and out the other with me, to be honest.

What else does he want?

It does get to you. It's hard to admit that you're tired.

It is hard to admit you're tired.

-Parsley, parsley, parsley.

-It's not something you just go,

"Oh, yeah, I'm going to start a night shift."

It doesn't work like that, and that's why they're making mistakes,

not thinking correctly. It needs to be focus, focus, focus.

Research into night work shows mistakes are most common

on the graveyard shift between 3am and 6am.

-Martin.

-Yes?

-One second.

Your pick sheets, I've just been checking your pallet.

This is how many you require of each of the product -

four boxes, two boxes, two boxes, four boxes, six boxes.

Martin's overlooked the quantity column on his order sheet,

and he's been packing just one of each item.

You're just going down the list,

finding the item and just picking one.

'Rather than going, "Oh, I need two watermelons,"

'he's only got one.'

It's a big mistake.

Basically, I'm going to have to do everything again.

Night work puts workers under strain,

and as we increasingly become a 24-hour society,

will more of us be taking on antisocial hours?

To find out, I've come to talk to Ian Brinkley

at independent think tank The Work Foundation.

Are we seeing an increase in the number of people in Britain

working a night shift?

Overall, the numbers seem to be pretty constant.

So, in the past, we saw a lot of night work

in more traditional industries like manufacturing and mining,

which had to be run 24 hours

just because of the nature of the product.

Now, very, very few people now work in these industries today,

so what we've seen is a shift away from night working

in the older industries - in manufacturing and so on -

and many more people working in the service industries

in this new, 24-hour society.

So, it's very much driven by the way we're changing

and the way consumer demands are changing.

And what kind of an effect can it have on your health,

-working these antisocial hours?

-It's not a natural way of working.

We're not designed to work through the night.

We're designed to sleep through the night.

It's getting you out of sync with the rest of society,

so you may find that you're finding a greater degree of stress,

you may find it harder to sleep, you may actually find it,

you know, reducing your general sense of wellbeing.

I know that some studies have come out to say

that things like diabetes and breast cancer

can be linked to working through the night.

Have these health risks been exaggerated?

There is some health risk. That's probably at the extreme end,

but I think we can say, for most people,

if you're working nights over a very long period,

it's not going to be good for your health.

So, it's not good for your health,

it's certainly not good for your social life.

Are people working these antisocial hours

being compensated in other ways?

It's very hard to see that they actually are.

Typically, pay rates for low-paid workers

doing night work is pretty low, and it's very hard to see

how they're adequately being recompensed

for the extra stress and the extra risks they're taking.

Back at the market, it's gone 4am and the pressure is on.

Right, guys, we've 15 minutes left

and nobody's put any shrink-wrap on any of these pallets yet.

It's actually the way you pack it.

You've got to work out the shapes and sizes of these crates,

so work out a bit of logic.

-Martin.

-Yeah?

-We need to really start assembling this now.

-Yeah.

-OK?

OK, guys, we need some wrap and some labels on these pallets, please.

You've got one minute left. Nearly there.

-HORN BLARES

-I'm finished.

-Thank you.

Tired now, innit?

That is heavy work.

I'm tired. It's too heavy things, so...

..I will stop.

The workers are heading back to the experiment's test factory

where manager Mike is waiting to give them their pay packets.

Well, guys, you've completed another job,

so it's that time again - I'd like to give you your wages.

Martin.

Majka. Thanks, Majka.

The workers have been paid £9.33 an hour before tax.

Wow!

That's £2.63 more than the pre-April rate of minimum wage.

That's double what I earn.

'£9 an hour for that job, and I actually...I would do that.

'That's a good wage, you know.'

It's heavy work, it's hard work, it's fast work,

but there's satisfaction in it.

So, which of the workers has the focus and endurance

required for the graveyard shift,

and which of them will be going home?

Factory manager Mike is analysing the scores

from the overnight market.

This was difficult cos it was a night shift,

which is, to me, a nightmare shift. You're going to be tired,

you're going to find it difficult to concentrate,

you're going to find it really easy to make mistakes,

and the scores reflect that.

Experienced workers could score a total of just over 150 points

based on items picked and pallets packed.

While some workers started out well,

productivity tended to dip

as the night went on,

and the best worker scored just 57 points.

The guys who work well managed to concentrate,

they managed to focus, but it took a lot of determination.

The least productive worker really struggled,

scoring just 19 points.

That just underlines how difficult and how demanding

this warehouse task really was.

HORN BLARES

-THEY GROAN

-I was expecting that.

For me, I am proud because I am in the final, only one woman,

only one Polish girl, and I tried my best.

When I saw the leaderboard, I was just, "Oh, my God"

because just in my head, I thought I'd blown it.

Seeing Martin go has upset me because he's very humble.

He'd do anything for you.

All I can say is he's a really hard-working person.

After nine days of hard graft, our final four workers - Stewart,

Majka, Leon and Berwyn - are about to try their hand

at the last low-paid job of the experiment.

So, fab four, eh?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

Again, the hours are antisocial,

but this job is the most demanding they've done so far.

It's fast, skilled and highly pressured,

and the worker who proves themselves most resilient

will take home a bonus of over £15,000.

It's ever so real now.

This part of our factory has been converted into the kitchen

of a pizza takeaway,

and make no mistake, fast food is big business.

The average Brit is now spending a third

of their entire food budget on fast food.

It's worth an estimated £9 billion to the UK economy.

Services in food and beverage

employ over a quarter of a million people,

often on a part-time basis,

and pay in this sector is among the lowest in the country.

Because to keep up in this industry...

The key is to produce a high-quality product

at rock-bottom prices in the fastest time possible,

and at the sharp end - the workers.

What you will be doing for your final shift

-is making pizza.

-Wow.

-OK, let's go and take a look at the next job.

-OK.

Wow, pizzas. I absolutely love them.

The workers are about to do a five-hour shift

making orders for a typical Friday night

in a busy takeaway pizza outlet.

-What a set-up.

-Yeah.

-That's seriously sophisticated.

Papa John's is the third largest takeaway

and pizza delivery chain in the world,

operating 327 branches under franchise in the UK alone.

I worked at pizza delivery, but not making them.

The workers will be completing a pizza from start to finish,

and global training manager Kieron is teaching them

the seven-step precision assembly process,

starting with the base.

Pull the dough back, push down, roll under, OK?

It's considered the hardest skill to acquire.

And then stretch it out,

and the objective is to reduce this edge to a quarter of an inch.

What we'll do now is use this docker,

place it in the centre and then roll it to the edge like this.

This helps eliminate some of the gas bubbles,

so make sure you use this at least eight times on the base.

And now we're going to slap it. And as we're doing that,

we're actually passing it up the arm, stretching it evenly.

The sauce comes next.

For the large base, we're going to use one ladle of sauce,

tap it like this and then it goes on to the base.

We need to move the sauce to one inch away from the edge.

It shouldn't be any closer

and it shouldn't be any further away from that.

And the workers will have to get to grips

with ten different topping options on the menu.

And we have these charts here that you see in front of you.

That shows you what ingredients are on each pizza.

I pick up things quite easy,

so I may tend to do it my own way, but who knows?

But there's no room for improvisation or human error,

as the company expect all their pizzas

to look exactly as they do on the chart.

And finally, it's the pepperoni.

It says that there should be 16 pieces in total

in rings of ten, four and two.

The outer circle just goes over the sauce border

by an eighth of an inch.

Then, they must cover the pizza with cheese.

What we're trying to do is get rid of any red edges here,

and what we call create a good cheese seal.

And lastly, put it in the oven.

Close the box and your work is done.

As in real conditions,

the workers will have just 20 minutes

to complete an order for delivery.

OK, guys, your first orders have come in.

-HORN BLOWS

-And this is where the fun starts.

So the workers can get up to speed,

the shift will begin with simple orders.

My first order is ordinary medium double pepperoni.

Two hours in, the orders will become more complex,

simulating peak-time pizza production.

One barbecue.

It's quite technical, making up a base.

You know, there can't be any holes.

The sauce has to go on a certain way.

All the ingredients have to go on a certain way,

so it's very technical.

Making sure their crusts are clean

and not a single piece of pepperoni goes amiss

is a team of eagle-eyed quality controllers.

I suppose you do it just once and then it's done, don't you?

Techniques like all these finger movements and stuff like that,

these are the things that are going to count,

so it's just getting used to that.

The workers can score a maximum of two points per order -

one point if the order passes quality control

and an extra point if it's made on time.

Remember, we've got 20 minutes

to get these orders out the door to our customers.

The worker with the most points will come out on top.

Remember, try and keep your hands flat.

How's that looking?

Go for speed now. You've only got 20 minutes.

I've worked in a pizza delivery before,

so I know that, when it gets busy, it gets busy.

You just need to be able to hold your nerve.

Just under two hours from now,

the orders will increase to reflect peak-time production.

So, what qualities will the workers need to succeed?

How hard can this be, Matt? They're making pizzas.

I think people misunderstand

or don't appreciate how hard it actually is to produce a product.

You know, they've got to be very skilled

to do this accurately and do it well.

Hand and eye coordination's really important,

and to manage your time to ensure that you can complete the orders

in a timely manner. You know, you may label it as an unskilled job,

but when you see them in this kitchen, it really is skilled.

This is our final job, the final task,

the final test for our final four. What do you expect to happen?

You'll get an insight into what happens in a pizza shop

for the peak periods.

You know, you're talking six to 12 hours a week

where you hit the most of your sales and that can be difficult.

There's going to be different orders coming through

with different sizes, different quantities.

So, this is what we're going to ramp it up to,

so these guys have to work very hard

to get that right at those peak hours.

Just getting my first order in.

Wee bit of a slow start.

However, that should be it now.

Stewart has run his own fish and chip shop

for the past ten years.

The catering and hospitality industry is,

I would say, the hardest work in Britain.

It's so intense all the time. People don't understand.

You know, it's not just about putting a plate in front of them.

You have to smile all the time.

You know, you have to lift all these plates away.

The cooking, the heat. You're dealing with an awful lot.

At home in Belfast, he and his wife are battling to keep costs down

and prevent the business from going under.

You know, I've actually had people walk in,

and when I've told them that the rate of pay at that time was £6.75,

they've actually had the cheek to turn round to me and say,

"I wouldn't get out of bed for less than £7.85 an hour."

That's pretty hard to deal with, you know,

when you know that you're earning less than that yourself.

Over the course of the experiment,

Stewart's shown huge determination...

Today, we work, and we work damn hard at any cost.

..and proved he has the resilience for even the toughest challenges.

Being fast food, I should be able to achieve getting things right,

and this is where I should actually have a few extra strengths.

People eat with the eyes, so presentation's everything.

-Stewart.

-Yeah.

-This pizza you've made,

the way you've cut it doesn't look very presentable.

It wouldn't leave the shop floor looking like that.

The overall size of the pizza is too small for a medium.

You can tell by the size of the box.

-If that's too small, this is going to be too small.

-This is too small.

-Right, so, it needs to be a bit more.

-Correct.

-OK.

It's very important that we spend a few minutes just studying this.

Now Berwyn is about to get his first taste of quality control.

This should have 35 pepperonis on the medium.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

I can count just 23 pepperonis, so...

-Berwyn, you know your first pizza?

-Yeah.

-Pepperonis are not enough.

-OK.

You put too much sauce, as well, and after putting cheese,

you didn't clear the edges, so the cheese burned on the edges.

He wants it exact how they would do it in real life.

You're never going to get me to do that.

I'd be happy eating that. But like I say, it's their business.

I'd love for them to experience my work, as well,

so I can give them some feedback.

Next up for scrutiny is Leon's first order.

There's a bubble popped up there, so you've not docked enough.

-So, there's air in it?

-There's air in it.

-You need to get all the air out.

-OK.

You know for next time that's what could happen.

His timing was good. He was under 18 minutes,

which is pretty good, but he's failed

on the quality.

I just keep on going.

I just don't let, you know, many situations really get to me,

so if things are going wrong,

I just don't let emotion get the better of me.

While the other workers struggle to achieve the standards expected,

Majka is showing promise.

OK, so, looking at the edges, they're a little bit uneven,

but they're not bad. Overall, a good pizza.

It's good enough to give to a customer.

Two hours into their shift,

now the orders are about to get bigger and more complicated.

Right, Hawaii. Hawaii, Hawaii, Hawaii.

As we move into this stage now,

what we'll find is some more realistic orders you'll see

on a busy Friday night.

Responding to this will be a challenge for them.

Time management will be key

and it'll be interesting to see how that develops.

Berwyn has yet to get a pizza past quality control.

It's not good. I failed on every one.

I am a bit upset because we did give him full training

and I've explained to him and I've explained to him again and again

that cheese still should be right.

He needs to put toppings evenly distributed,

but, again, he's not doing what I'm asking him to do, actually, so...

-..I don't know what to do.

-I can't give any more.

I'd rather be in a field than in a kitchen.

While Berwyn is feeling the heat...

One, two, three, four pizzas and three sides.

..Leon is keeping his cool.

I just had three pizzas and two sides and a drink there,

so it's not much bigger than what I just did.

Large Garden Party. Large Garden Party. Where's that?

This is the most difficult bit - getting the technique.

Definitely need a skill to make the pizzas.

You know, making that dough and being able to handle it

is a skill in itself.

You would assume that it's quite delicate,

and when you understand that it is quite firm and quite robust,

you can play with it.

You just can't be scared of the dough. Cheese.

As he's progressed, as he's gone on,

his pizzas have got better and better

and he's got faster and faster. He's working hard.

In a low-paid job, you'll get the pressure to hit targets

and things like that, and in a high-paid job,

you still get a lot of pressure,

but you're getting a financial reward.

There's no balance.

Just in the nick of time. Ten seconds to spare.

-Good job.

-Good.

Performance management is an essential part of any business

and can help build motivation, productivity and job satisfaction,

but is its impact always positive?

I asked professor of organisation Kirstie Ball.

It can be motivating, as long as you have got

the right training to do the job,

you've got the right tools to do the job,

you know exactly what's being monitored and why

and you know how you can influence that conversation

about your performance. Yeah, it can be motivating.

If you're doing well, it's motivating.

If you're at the bottom and underperforming,

then it can be quite stressful, I imagine.

If an employee is really stressed by monitoring,

they could show great anxiety,

they might suffer from low self-esteem,

they might be suffering from depression as a result of that.

So, putting someone under great stress when they're monitored

can have all kinds of unpleasant results for employees.

Well, the employer might say that, "If you find it stressful,

"then maybe it's not the job for you."

So, if someone is underperforming,

the monitoring is merely showing that they're underperforming.

It doesn't actually get to the reasons behind

that underperformance.

It may be that they have a training need,

may be that they have all sorts of things going on

that we need to take responsibility for in management

before you show somebody the door.

The idea that you're ratcheting up targets

is to try and incentivise people

and get them to work faster and better.

I mean, you're saying that that's not what happens?

Well, it's interesting that,

when you make monitoring more intense,

it can sometimes provoke the behaviours

it was designed to prevent,

and so that's one of the ironies of monitoring, really.

Stewart has made five pizzas so far,

but none have matched company standards.

Stewart, make sure you don't use your fingers to touch the pizzas.

-OK.

-It's unhygienic.

-Yeah.

I am very aware of health and safety.

I have a five-star rating in my own establishment,

so I do understand what comes with it.

So, what I'm going to do now is I'm going to set these up.

That's my next order complete with a bottle of that.

I'm going for a five-minute break. Thank you.

I was getting frustrated with myself.

I just couldn't focus on it. I do this every day.

I cook food to order every day of the week.

I think, also, when you've got someone coming telling you

after you do something that, "You've done it wrong

"and it's going in the bin," that sort of got me even more frustrated.

In our brand, at peak, you wouldn't really go for a cigarette.

In that four-hour time, everyone's in their station,

and they do not move.

Majka, you're still working on this order

and we've got another order coming through now.

And Majka's feeling the pressure, too.

I burned the garlic bread, so I must make another one.

She got off to a good start,

but completing the bigger orders in time is taking its toll.

-Majka.

-Yes.

-I see that you're feeling the stress a little bit.

-So?

-Just need to stay focused on what we're doing.

-I am focused.

And we've still got the garlic cheese sticks over there

that need to be cut and boxed.

-If we can get those done...

-No, that is wrong.

That is the wrong size.

I don't give something wrong to the people who order good things,

so I've been waiting, I've been waiting.

-Only I give the good things.

-OK.

-Yes.

-And are you making that pizza again? OK.

In normal life, I'm not making mistakes in my kitchen.

Especially when there's always someone going around

and telling you, "You're doing everything wrong."

That is not me, so that's why I'm pissed off.

In my work, nobody going around all the time

telling something is wrong, so I lose focus.

Human beings are making these pizzas -

they're not made by robots -

so there will be a few little errors here and there,

but as long as it's within our standard, then yes, we'll pass it.

Human beings might be making these pizzas, but for how long?

Over the next 20 years in Britain alone,

11 million jobs are at risk of automation,

and fast food is likely to be among the first.

I've come to talk to Ryan Bourne

from the free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs

to find out what the implications are for the low-wage economy.

When we talk about being on the brink

of this fourth Industrial Revolution,

I mean, are we ready for this next technological change?

I don't think we are, really, at the moment, no.

I don't think many policymakers yet have quite grasped the extent

to which technological change could really,

fundamentally transform the labour market.

Essentially, there's going to be many more machines

that are able to do things that people currently do,

so some economists have described this as a situation

where either you'll be telling a machine

what to do in the labour market

or you'll be being told what to do by a machine.

And if we want a prosperous, high-skilled, high-value economy,

we've got to make sure that many more people are able

to use those technologies effectively,

and that's going to require much more in the way

of information technology and basic education

as people go through their working lives.

Are we going to have a section of society that just gets left behind?

I think there'll always be room for low-skilled,

low-paid work cos there are always some tasks

that individuals want the experience of dealing with a human being,

and often in sort of a capacity of care.

You know, machines and technology can do a lot,

but they can't yet provide that sort of compassion that you get

from the interaction with a human being.

But I don't think we should be completely pessimistic.

You know, people have said this before.

People said it when we were moving from an agricultural society

to an industrial society,

from an industrial society to a service sector,

and over time, new jobs do arise, new jobs are created,

and those jobs tend to be higher paid

and a higher economic value

than the jobs that are currently being undertaken.

As the workers race to complete their final orders,

the ten-day experiment is almost over.

-HORN BLARES

-Your shift has come to an end.

Congratulations. It's over.

-Yes!

-It's over. Oi!

I don't eat pizza, like, for two months. I have enough.

This job today, the final job, was the most pressure.

It was bonkers.

It got to the point that I thought, "You know what?

"If I go any faster, I'm going to make more mistakes."

You know, it's hard work.

It is seriously hard work trying to do all that and keep it all going.

The final job is over and our experiment is drawing to a close.

Our workers have toiled away in fields, factories,

warehouses and hotels.

Thanks to these 20 people,

we've experienced the reality of work

in the low-wage sector first-hand...

People who have to go through that on a daily basis,

I think it must be so, so demoralising.

..from the physical demands...

Can you get the 25A from up here, yeah?

The bus stop is just there?

I am shattered.

..to the emotional challenges...

It's all right. I'm not... If I go, I go.

Seeing your name on that leaderboard is brutal.

..from the targets...

Because all that product might now have to be rejected,

which is obviously going to cost money.

..to the time pressures.

OK, it's not just my fault.

I'm not saying it's your fault. It's both of our faults.

This is how housekeeping is, my dears.

Keep going. Faster, faster, faster, faster!

You're all looking busy, but the way how we go,

at the end of the day, I think you'll end up losing your job.

We've seen what these jobs are worth financially...

Compared to people that work in offices

and sit there and write stuff,

I think they should at least be paid 50% more than what they're paid.

..and what they're worth to our society as a whole.

The workers who do this, it makes me admire them even more.

This is one of those jobs

that you're pretty much invisible in society

because all people want to know

is that, "I can go to the shop and buy my food."

'Over the course of the experiment, I talked to academics, economists,

'union leaders and journalists to get the bigger picture.'

Do you think you could live on minimum wage?

No, I don't, and I bet you there aren't too many politicians

who could either.

Luckily, I don't have to answer that question.

I wouldn't for a moment underestimate

the pressures of living on very low wages.

There's absolutely no way in which I could live on the minimum wage.

Well, I could now, simply because I've paid off my mortgage,

I'm relatively well-off.

I think I could live on the minimum wage,

but that's because I've got

a huge amount of capital goods

from having not lived on it for a long time.

Before the four remaining workers find out which of them

has topped the productivity rankings this time,

factory manager Mike is paying them for their shift.

Guys, you've completed the last job.

I'm incredibly impressed with each and every one of you.

You've all done a fantastic job. Fantastic effort.

So, for the last time, I'd like to give you your wages.

Majka, thank you so much.

Stewart, well done.

The workers earned £7.85 an hour,

the wage recommended by Papa John's to their franchises.

-Wow, £7.85.

-Did you say, "Wow," yeah?

-Well, for a job at Pizza Hut.

-HE CHUCKLES

And Mike has a bonus for the worker

who proved themselves most able to cope

with the final challenge.

-I've got one more pay packet.

-OK.

In this pay packet is a year's living wage -

£15,511.60.

-This is for one of you.

-All right.

So, who's in line for the windfall?

To find out, Mike has analysed the scores

from the fast-food industry shop floor.

Our guys didn't achieve high scores,

and in my mind, that was two reasons.

Number one - it's actually quite a skilful job,

and number two - there was a lot of pressure.

Pressure distracts people.

Pressure takes away focus.

And whilst people are under pressure, they will make mistakes.

In these conditions, an experienced worker

would be expected to score 30 points over a five-hour shift.

The two least productive workers

scored just four points each.

They're really hard workers, but it just underlines the fact that,

even if you have a career in the food industry,

it's no guarantee you can switch from one type of food

to another type of food and achieve a good score.

The best worker scored 14 points,

achieving nearly half

the productivity

of an experienced employee.

The person with the top score, they kept their focus,

they didn't get flustered and they're a worthy winner.

And that person will be walking away with a life-changing sum of money.

What would £15,000 mean to you?

What I do want to do is start my own little flock

of a rare breed of sheep, have my own farm.

-Change your life?

-Yeah, it would change my life dramatically.

I promised my daughter we'd go on holiday to Barcelona.

So, I do everything for her. She's my heart.

And this would be the first holiday?

My first holiday for many, many years.

£15,000 - what would that money do for you?

Obviously, I'd be able to invest it in my business.

Everything I do, like, today, is an investment for tomorrow

and for Armani, for her future, so when she's older,

she doesn't need to go through the hardship that I went through.

What will that money do for you?

It would probably get us out of financial difficulties.

It would probably give me a holiday, as well.

HE CHUCKLES

HORN BLARES

-APPLAUSE

-Well done, Leon.

-Leon, just like to congratulate you.

-Oh, thank you very much.

-There you go. Well done.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

Already, that is more than what I earned last year,

and to have that in one go is a huge impact.

Excellent.

'Leon has been the best today.'

15 minutes when I gave up,

and if I don't give up, everything can be changed.

-He's buying the beers.

-THEY LAUGH

We've seen, from this exercise that, actually,

some low-paid jobs are extremely stressful,

extremely pressurised and extremely demanding,

and it's certainly opened up my eyes

and I hope that a lot of people start looking

at the low-paid economy in a different way after this.

-APPLAUSE

-Aw, yeah!

For the past ten days,

we've looked at some of the fastest-growing sectors

to see whether they're jobs that anyone can do,

and what we've found is that they're far from it.

To survive, you need to be fast, accurate, consistent,

tech-savvy and physically fit, but to thrive, like our winner Leon,

you need to have a special focus and determination.

Since taking part in the experiment, Berwyn's still on the farm,

but has taken on extra work as a plumber's labourer

to help him save for his dream flock.

It's opened my eyes to what other industries are out there

because, you know, all I've known is farming.

Stewart's fish and chip shop was declared bankrupt

and he's now working as a chef for a leisure centre.

Minimum wage might be tough,

but it's certainly not as tough as running your own business.

Certainly nowhere near it.

I would rather work for a minimum wage myself

and get my life back and take away the stress out of it.

Majka is still working seven days a week,

but she's found time to reflect on the experiment.

That was a very good experience for me.

I am very proud to finish in second place.

And in Croydon, Leon's bonus has made a big difference.

The money's enabled me to update my website.

I've managed to pay off credit cards.

He's also invested in his daughter's future.

My dad bought me these books to just help me with the world and

so I know what I'm working with when I'm an adult and survive out there.

One thing that I'd say I learned is

I've definitely got the ability to work under pressure,

-so, yeah, I'm proud of myself.

-HE CHUCKLES