
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Big money, glamorous work trips abroad, and becoming your own boss - the world of door-to-door selling and chugging on the high street has been rebooted for the social media age.
The industry has been around for decades, but revenues have seen a boost over the last few years and it is now worth £2.6bn a year in the UK.
Some direct selling firms in the UK are jumping on the popularity of trends such as hustle culture to recruit young, ambitious people into entry-level jobs in ‘marketing’ or ‘management’ and to work with big, well-known, clients.
But as Lora Jones finds out, the reality is very different. She finds keen young people who have been sold the dream, only to find themselves working 80-hour weeks - for low rates of pay.
So how exactly is that possible - and what's the set-up that can reel in so many hungry young recruits? And what protection do they really have from exploitation?
Reporter: Lora Jones
By BBC Radio 44.3
257257 ratings
Big money, glamorous work trips abroad, and becoming your own boss - the world of door-to-door selling and chugging on the high street has been rebooted for the social media age.
The industry has been around for decades, but revenues have seen a boost over the last few years and it is now worth £2.6bn a year in the UK.
Some direct selling firms in the UK are jumping on the popularity of trends such as hustle culture to recruit young, ambitious people into entry-level jobs in ‘marketing’ or ‘management’ and to work with big, well-known, clients.
But as Lora Jones finds out, the reality is very different. She finds keen young people who have been sold the dream, only to find themselves working 80-hour weeks - for low rates of pay.
So how exactly is that possible - and what's the set-up that can reel in so many hungry young recruits? And what protection do they really have from exploitation?
Reporter: Lora Jones

7,924 Listeners

1,063 Listeners

5,577 Listeners

1,801 Listeners

1,903 Listeners

1,748 Listeners

1,024 Listeners

2,108 Listeners

1,951 Listeners

478 Listeners

2,002 Listeners

488 Listeners

582 Listeners

112 Listeners

48 Listeners

305 Listeners

839 Listeners

61 Listeners

52 Listeners

3,236 Listeners

1,006 Listeners

67 Listeners

103 Listeners

50 Listeners

48 Listeners