I completely disagree, I don’t mean to sound funny but with Network Rail paying people £26,000 to retrain at Network Rail’s cost so you can then move on to much higher paying salaries, some £50k plus enhancements, I think that is a great deal. If you were to earn that money elsewhere you may need 3 years at Uni, at your own cost, unpaid with no guarantee of work... Do you honestly expect NR to just hand over £30k, £40k or more while they upskill you or others to a new career?? If I was changing career to something that I really fancied doing, and I had to retrain, I’d factor in a period of low pay until such a time as I was productive, which I would have thought would be obvious IMO.