Is there work out there....

[Marvel]

My name is Becky and along with my partner Jay we are moving to the Dordogne area in the next few months. We are looking for work looking after holiday property ie, cleaning before and after guests, maintenance, pool cleaning, gardening, painting (interior and exterior) etc. 

Is there this sort of work available? 

Kind Regards

Becky and Jay.

Post edited by the moderators.

[steve]

We have plenty of work  - but are fully registered, insured and are fully kitted out with some good top quality  machinery. Looking after pools isnt as easy as it first appears - do you have any experience? Where abouts in the Dordogne are you planning to move to? its taken us 7 years of hard slog, great expense, stress and heartache to get to the position we are in now, but it was worth it! I dont want to put you off, but there are an awful lot of people doing this - some legally, some illegally. Try and get customers lined up or have a year or two cash behind you so you can survive - dont forget winter income is almost zero.

Steve

[Tony F Dordogne]

Hi Becky

Thre are a lot of people, both French and Brits, looking for work in the Dordogne right now.  I was talking to our builder yesterday, a Brit, who has been fully registered for over 20 years, has a very good name and is well established and he's struggling.

And many of the people that are doing what you're looking to do, general handywork, are finding themselves without work, especially if they're not registered - and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence from builders, plumbers etc from both French and Brits that unregistered workers are being dobbed in by the registered workers because they're having their legit work taken off them.

Life in the Dordogne is good but atm, if you're young and looking for work, it's not easy even for the French and if you're not near retirement age, remember the health care trap if you're not in one of the workers gateway schemes.

[carmelle]

It's very hard to find work in Dordogne, very harsh  : Jobless rate is particularly high . Be conscious of that . ( And the situation will get  worst ).

[Martin963]

I can only second/third etc what's been written.   We've had a house in 24 for ten years,   and work for local artisans (both French and Brit) fell off a cliff last autumn.   Round us an electrician (French),  general builder (Brit),  and larger developer/builder (French) have all ceased trading.    Anecdotally it's simply a case of do-it-yourself or do without.

And with our current government trashing our poor currency I can't see it getting any better.....