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'Crap job' remark lands politician in hot water
Karin Wanngård, set to be the top Social Democrat in Stockholm City Hall, has come in for criticism after saying that people with sales jobs work in a ‘crap profession’.
Published: 21 Apr 2011 15:37 CET
Social Democrat Karin Wanngård, who will take over after Carin Jämtin as the party's top name in Stockholm City Hall, has landed herself in hot water after calling sales a ‘crap profession’.
Wanngård was presented as Jämtin's replacement on Monday and in an article with daily Dagens Nyheter (DN) on Tuesday she made the statement that has since had a whole profession up in arms in Sweden.
“Young people should not be forced into ‘crap professions’ like being a salesperson working on commission,” Wanngård told DN.
The reactions were quick to follow.
“I was horrified, especially when this comes from the Social Democrats who are supposed to be a workers’ party. In society there is need for all types of work, and who am I to decide what is a ‘crap job’ and what isn’t,” Ewa Samuelsson of the Christian Democrats in the city council told daily Expressen.
“All jobs have to be carried out, and all of us started somewhere”, she continued.
"I don't know if Karin Wanngård has ever worked in telephone sales. I don't know if she thinks there are more 'crap jobs' on the Swedish labour market or who should do them. But what is clear is that not everyone can be the head of multinational giant Hewlett Packard, as she was," the political writer Peter Wolodarski wrote in DN.
According to news agency TT, in the wake of reactions Wanngård felt that her statement has been taken out of its context and blown out of proportion.
But she still wanted to apologise for offending people.
“Let me be very clear. There are in reality no ‘crap jobs’. There are no unimportant tasks, no crap tasks. However, there are jobs with crap conditions,” she said on news site Newsmill in reply to the debate that has arisen around her statement.
Sales people have a very important role to play in any company and deserve respect for the function they perform, she added in the article.
“Let me finally once and for all apologize to all the sales people for what they interpreted as a derogatory comment about their profession,” she wrote.
Wanngård was presented as Jämtin's replacement on Monday and in an article with daily Dagens Nyheter (DN) on Tuesday she made the statement that has since had a whole profession up in arms in Sweden.
“Young people should not be forced into ‘crap professions’ like being a salesperson working on commission,” Wanngård told DN.
The reactions were quick to follow.
“I was horrified, especially when this comes from the Social Democrats who are supposed to be a workers’ party. In society there is need for all types of work, and who am I to decide what is a ‘crap job’ and what isn’t,” Ewa Samuelsson of the Christian Democrats in the city council told daily Expressen.
“All jobs have to be carried out, and all of us started somewhere”, she continued.
"I don't know if Karin Wanngård has ever worked in telephone sales. I don't know if she thinks there are more 'crap jobs' on the Swedish labour market or who should do them. But what is clear is that not everyone can be the head of multinational giant Hewlett Packard, as she was," the political writer Peter Wolodarski wrote in DN.
According to news agency TT, in the wake of reactions Wanngård felt that her statement has been taken out of its context and blown out of proportion.
But she still wanted to apologise for offending people.
“Let me be very clear. There are in reality no ‘crap jobs’. There are no unimportant tasks, no crap tasks. However, there are jobs with crap conditions,” she said on news site Newsmill in reply to the debate that has arisen around her statement.
Sales people have a very important role to play in any company and deserve respect for the function they perform, she added in the article.
“Let me finally once and for all apologize to all the sales people for what they interpreted as a derogatory comment about their profession,” she wrote.
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How did someone who is capable of stating a correct fact, get into Swedish politics? What happened?
Sales job in Sweden are at best demeaning and in reality abusive.
Those defending Swedish sales jobs in the press have obviously never done them. A large proportion of those jobs are Praktik based jobs.
I wish more Swedish politicians would follow her example and speak out. That will not happen though, as it would bring the chattering class's in Stockholm in there little bubbles, into conflict with real life.
In Sweden the average sales staff earns barely enough to eat.
Sales staff in Sweden are amongst the lowest paid workers in Sweden. They would be better of on welfare.
It's better that she lashes out rather than channeling her bitterness into lawmaking.
I have started as a sale agent paid only through commissions to earn 2,000 Euro/month in my sector working hard and now,after 2 year,I earn in average 12,000 Euro/month.
Every cent I earn it's because the company where I work SALES the products through me.
They paid me after the company has sold its products and the customers have paid the company.Not a cent before.
The nice point is that knowing already all the suppliers and a lot of customers if I'd go self employed I'd earn more than now!
"'I want to live in free society but I never want to be offended again!" Well… then you're an idiot."
Steve Hughes on being offended. To be found on youtube: cycXuYzmzNg
Because Sweden is a feminazist country, our female politician refused to use make-up, like those Shanghai babes working for Volvo!!!
http://www.thelocal.se/33324/20110420/
I used to work in sales, but it was a crappy job.
Today I collect welfare.
Great job.
Someone else works and pays taxes.
I collect money.
How she looks, what she wears has NO BEARING on her job, her ability, her intelligence.
Looks like your feminazis are a miserable failure if they haven't beaten that simple truth into you.
+1
Her party would like everybody on the dole. Welfare recipients, dependent on handouts from the gov't, are easily controlled.
Wanng? is destined for a brilliant future in the Soc.Dem. party.
and reason people settle for crap is because they cant get anything else.
and then people wonder why there is so much depression in the world .
maybe working like an animal with something you hate, with people you dispise, for a bad wage, might not make everyone happy like it usually does -_-x
The reality for most sales people in sweden is not one of making vast sums of money and getting the appreciation they deserve, it is one of poor pay, overwhelming demands and no appreciation. Sure there are some who do well and love their jobs, but there are so many who just do it as a means to earn a living, but for their sake something needs to be done to improve their working conditions!
I'm pretty sure she meant the other 90% that get paid and treated like crap. A lot of people move through sales jobs while in school. I don't there are many who choose to stay there though.
You communists are completely and utterly devoid of rationality or common sense.
Young people will do the jobs that needed to be done.
If we can make it interesting for them - then great.