Agency worker's LinkedIn rant about 'picky' staff leads to job offers

Lee Moore said fellow agency workers had been embarrassed about wearing a hair net

An agency worker whose rant on LinkedIn about the "shocking" work ethic of colleagues went viral says it led to "hundreds" of job opportunities.

Lee Moore, from Nottinghamshire, took up a temporary minimum wage role at a food manufacturer in April while looking for permanent sales roles.

The father-of-one was shocked when four other agency staff "walked out" just an hour into their shift at the factory.

His post about their "pickiness" was eventually seen by 4.6 million people.

The 36-year-old, from Kirkby-in-Ashfield, said he had been out of work since mid-February and was forced to take a three-month mortgage holiday.

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"Obviously it was worrying. You're worried about how long it will be until you can find something, how much you're eating into your savings," he said.

"My wife works part-time, but she's not long back [at work] because she had most of 2019 off due to cancer.

"Then she had to shield during Covid as she was on the vulnerable list."

Mr Moore's LinkedIn post was seen by 4.6 million people, and received more than 120,000 reactions

While Mr Moore was interviewing for other roles, his recruiter offered him temporary work at a food packaging manufacturer.

Although it was significantly less than he had been paid in previous jobs, he was happy to take the work.

"My feeling is you'll do anything to pay your bills and provide for your family," he said.

But an hour into his first shift, he was staggered to find all the other new agency workers left.

After finishing his shift, he wrote on LinkedIn: "I'm amazed people that are out of work can choose to be so picky and refuse to work because it's 'boring' or 'embarrassing to wear a hair net'."

'Hired on attitude'

The post got more than 120,000 reactions and 5,000 comments on the business networking website.

"It was mad. My phone ran out of battery by midday with the number of notifications," he said.

After receiving hundreds of messages of job offers in sales and recruitment positions, Mr Moore landed a role with Derbyshire-based firm PermaRoof.

Mr Moore has now started his new permanent job

The company's director Adrian Buttress said: "I believe in hiring on attitude as everything else can be taught.

"When I came across Lee's post on LinkedIn, I knew I had to speak to him.

"Lee had hundreds of job offers so I am truly delighted that he chose to come and join the PermaRoof team."

Mr Moore said: "My LinkedIn post showed there were so many people who said they were in the same boat.

"The more people we can get into work and get their lives on track, the better."