"Minimum wage, minimum effort!" - the usual statement workers make when asked to perform more challenging work.

Over the past few years, I have worked in many warehouses in Greater Manchester, mostly for short periods, as this is typically when things start to become a little strange. Most warehouses employ nearly anyone with or without experience; you will find ex-convicts, weekend addicts, handicapped people, foreigners, dropouts, lazy individuals, and people who have just had it too hard, working themselves to the grave for minimum wage with a full heart to burden them. Everyone is welcome in warehouses, with no overt judgments or discrimination, though such sentiments may surface in canteen conversations. This lack of censorship is not necessarily a cause for concern; it reflects the essence of democracy and the need for open dialogue.

You will only ever find the working class in such places; even the directors and operations managers are most of the time cut from the same cloth, spending their lives climbing the ranks at one specific company. These people are the most difficult to deal with as the workers have allowed them free passage to dance around within their personas of 'Being the one for the people' while openly sacking them for any little disputed randomness. This is mostly due to the hiring process being such a fiddle; one could be gone in the morning, and someone else could be hired on the same day by dinnertime.

Most of my relationships have been short-lived in these environments; sometimes you become so close to your work friend, and the next day you're gone, neither of you exchanged numbers for reasons you know you wouldn't associate with them outside of work. The only beautiful thing within the warehouse walls is that you know it's not necessarily an authentic role, a role that you should take seriously; even the line managers understand this. It's mostly the operations managers who are just arseholes, and most of the time you're all there together in this unity where you all have a simple aim: to earn quick cash at a quick pace.

Zero background checks, same-day induction start date.

Recruitment agencies are the most hypocritical, self-defeating, pretentious shambles the UK's employment sector has to offer. The majority of people who work these jobs are individuals who have been sold the "commission makes big bucks" slogan dream; unfortunately, they lose their character under the banner of a promised developing character over their years in the field. Most of them simply aren't committed to the grind the way they would like to be: spoilt eighteen-year-olds beginning their paths, old-timers who have simply been steered away into the oblivion of the sales lifestyle. There's nothing peculiarly wrong with this lifestyle choice; by all means, seek what you please. I'm not suggesting by any means that there are problems with their worldview design, at least to some degree anyway. It's rather an idealistic approach that could aid the employment field in this area. You need correctly oriented individuals in these roles, not ones who pretend to be the English version of the Wolf of Wall Street, passionately flogging these mundane, depressing warehouse roles.

Most recruitment agencies are content with doing the least amount of work possible. They pretend and deceive you into start dates, consistently lying to you about work when you inquire. I believe this is an incompetence problem and an issue of spontaneous confusion. In the end, both parties, the warehouse company and the recruitment agency, can't promise anything. Everything is constantly changing; the very cosmic interference is found right there down a dusty aisle that hasn't seen daylight in four years. Fate reveals once more the misfortune wrought by the governmental structures that entwine our lives.

The interesting thing about the warehouse teams is that none of them want to be there. Nobody enjoys the work; they just do the work because fate demands them to; they sold their lives, now they're just holding up the other end of the bargain. I have heard the same sentences said at different warehouse companies post-break times.

"Let's get back to this shit then."

The young lads that seem to take up a larger quantity of the workforce in most of these places, the average age I can trustingly claim is around 19-26, and their reasons are: working while being a student, working before university, working before finding another more 'real' job, and 'fate has brought me here'. The point of this is that they make up the majority of the workforce: young men. And they treat the place like a circus show: constant laughter, tricks being played on strangers and within their groups, loud music from portable speakers if it's permitted by one of the managers, or simply if the manager is not there for the week. The team leaders and supervisors may allow them to play the music.

Throughout warehouses, there is a presence similar to a school, where you're a pupil and there are teachers, monitoring not so much your work but your presentation and dignity, vitality and professionalism. Working in Warehouses in the UK has brought me closer to the forefront of young men today. Seeing them and interacting with them has led me to the social dilemma quite fiercely. Not only are the young men today low in confidence and quietly expressive, but I have noticed that they gather in groups to expand their confidence. But as soon as they leave the herd, the collective together, they return back to their sub-personality structure, which I believe is their authenticity.

Working in warehouses gives these unfortunate men a sense of brotherhood, not so much as a cult, but rather that they are aware this job is bad and their lives are not intact and it sucks, but they're going through it together, similar to a battlefield, a war zone with soldiers. Men thrive under masculine conditions like war; they are tailored for it; this is instinctual. And The tragic thing is that they are isolating themselves by the day. But the majority of the men that find themselves working there longer than they intended are vastly immature. The schoolboy swagger and schoolboy ethos still permeates their mentality, often they just haven't simply learnt to grow up.

The question arises: What motivates people to behave in this manner? For me, the answer is simply a profound lack of maturity, an innate fear that deters them from embracing growth, akin to Peter Pan and his eternal youth ideal. These are men who, despite being over 20 years old, engage in graffiti in public bathrooms reminiscent of teenagers doodling on classroom tables. This leads me to suspect that the men of this generation are more prone to linger in immaturity well into adulthood.

Meanwhile, those older than 30 seem to have spent their lives in this state. Working in a warehouse presents a theatrical paradox: on one hand, you have young men barely scraping by, while on the other, older men who have toiled their entire lives. This contrast underscores the stark reality that while the younger men may remain in such roles indefinitely, the older men have little hope of advancement.

Most warehouses in the UK are maintained in conditions similar to the ones described above, almost as if health and safety regulators are intentionally kept in the dark. I've never quite comprehended how some of these places manage to remain operational—perhaps it's a financial issue or an economic deception. The state of many warehouses is abysmal; frequently, the toilets and bathrooms are in horrendous conditions. Life within a warehouse is deeply entrenched in traditionalism, with gender roles playing a significant role. Typically, only female cleaners are employed, and they are often tasked with unpleasant cleaning duties, especially when it comes to the toilets. Unfortunately, the majority of temporary staff disregard cleanliness altogether. Despite reporting these issues to team leaders on numerous occasions, they seem indifferent. There's an atmosphere of victimization permeating through everyone, as we all comprehend the weight of the so-called democratic nation of the UK and the hypocrisy of the government.

Warehouses represent the most isolating and tragic experiences I've encountered in a working environment. They are both lonely and sadistic, devoid of politics, values, or morals—a desolate, dark place. The humor within is rooted in the belief that life is suffering, and one must simply endure it, which can feel liberating to some, but not to all. There's nothing inspiring about the people who work there. These insights have fuelled my discontent with the UK and how the government treats the working class.

Warehouses, in essence, are strange places.