Get Britain Working is totally missing the current employment crisis economy

My ds appplied for about 50 summer jobs last year before actually getting one (uni student)

lots of places are laying people off

the govt has totally disincentivised work and disincentivised employing people

what’s the point in working anyway - this govt just want everything off you anyway

There isn’t any money for support. Years of profligacy on the wrong things means most of the money is spent repaying the interest on debt for money they’ve already spent.

YANBU.

In the three months to September 2025, there were approximately 717,000 unfilled vacancies in the UK, which is a decrease of 9,000 from the previous quarter. This continues a downward trend, with the number of vacancies falling below pre-pandemic levels and reaching the lowest point since April 2021.

The number of unemployed people per vacancy was 2.4 in June to August 2025, up from 2.3 in the previous quarter.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/october2025

It's not going to get better in any meaningful sense - and it's not just the UK. The 'work for your living' model has to change. The writing's been on the wall for 50 years. Can't say I blame any government for not wanting to tackle it, but the pace of automation's increasing so fast now.

You also need to factor in our wages and taxation system failing to incentivise the outcomes the government wants.

Minimum wage at mid 20k a year for working in Tesco Vs the lab supervisor with huge responsibility and multiple degrees on 30k a year. Not that I'm saying Tesco is easy, but we need an honest look in this country about what responsibilities pay because it's no wonder many people are now saying fuck this. I have loads of examples of people in my social network reviewing what they're doing.. the jobs that used to be a chunk of remuneration a above minimum wage just aren't attractive enough. All sorts of roles. I have one family member who's had her temp job shop manager turn into a permie job offer but she's mulling other options because for about 20p an hour more is it worth the abuse , early opens, late lock ups, being on call for security alarms. Hell nope. Maybe if it paid enough to own a small flat or living life like an independent worker adult yes.. but that's just not true any more.

Then you have the 100k tax cliff where people just go down to 4 days a week rather than be hit by the slams of childcare no longer funded, loss of personal allowance, student loan repayments, etc plus the higher taxes we pay on income in Scotland.. there's absolutely no point pushing to get more stress and responsibility if you barely see any reward for missing even more sports days, having no work life balance, being run ragged by your employer. I can speak with more authority on this one because for the first time in my life, having been a go go go go full on careerist all my life, I'm looking at what I have for it and starting to think about how attractive that 3 or 4 day work week looks for barely any loss in net income Vs being able to see the kids more and just.. I don't know. I strongly believe in the welfare state and paying taxes. But. We're in trouble when people like me are seriously considering stepping back.

Yes, and add to that the current cohort of graduates are finding entry level roles have been cut hugely too. So thats two groups finding it hard to get work.

There is work in hospitality and carework locally, but not enough for everyone looking for work. Plus the hospitality sector is nuts. They just cancel your shift an hour into it which is fine as a student, but shit if you organised childcare..
.

Agree with you! I saw an article about this yesterday and my thought was, it's not that people don't want to work, it's that there are no jobs! At my place, a number of people were made redundant last summer. The rest of us are hanging on by a thread. The reality is that in IT, jobs are being outsourced to cheaper countries. The redundancies have made me pay attention more to the job market - and it's dire! I heard from one guy who was let go, that he couldn't even get a job as a shelf-stacker this Christmas! Ageism is also a huge problem.

AI was always going to cause this, same is happening in the USA, Australia and in the Eurozone.

Even when there is no AI solution, employers are worried there might be, so are scrapping job openings.

Completely agree. The most employable people are unable to get a job. It took a close relative 18 months and an insane number of applications. She has excellent experience and a stellar record in the exact area she was applying for jobs in. No gaps in CV (was abroad for a couple of years (working in same area) hence looking for a new job when she returned). Eventually got one through a contact.

We are a nation of failing businesses / businesses wanting the government to tip up wages with benefits, businesses wanting the government to support the disabled and sick

ny suspicion is its globalisation / we can’t compete with the poverty level wages and abusive working conditions around the world but we are happy to buy the cheap products so created

but it’s easier to blame the government than ourselves

Just another example of the government being totally out of touch with reality.

And not only that, but people on benefits who don't work due to disabilities etc, are expected to be able to go back to work - but where is the support? And I don't mean temporary support. I mean ongoing support. Support from the government initially, and then support from workplaces that is regulated, and sufficient training for employers regarding mental health issues, neurodiversity and obviously other disabilities too.

The current state of understanding disabilities is abysmal, and as much as people/employers spout out about support, they don't actually support people to the best of their ability.