AIBU to think redundancy crisis is not getting enough media coverage?

A lot of them are employers getting rid of troublesome employees via sham redundancies too 😔

Where did you hear that? My work place made 350 redundancies by roles redundant including a whole department of 70.

Is there a current crisis though? Or just anecdotal reports. Are there any stats on this?

Because it's nowhere near how bad as it's going to be 😳 and because there are still people in work who believe that there are jobs out there, you just need to lower your expectations. There are also people still in work who believe when it comes to them losing their jobs, they will just get any job in Asda etc.

It hasn't hit people yet because it has affected them yet or their particular industry. When it affects all industries across the board, and you get 90,000 applicants for 5 care work positions then it will be taken seriously.

I have never heard of so many redundancies.

And I am not surprised.

I just did an annual job which takes me about 2 days. Done in 2 hours with chatgpt

If they’re troublesome, what’s the issue?

And when I say two days I mean a real headache two days - form waking to staying up til 1/2am.

Vs two hours with various coffee breaks and doodling around proclaiming how amazing it is.

LI, tribunal case updates, EL firm updates, Financial Times articles and such like.

Companies increasingly using them because it is becoming harder to deal with troublesome employees thanks to the rise in them using AI etc. and as a way to clear out higher earners to re-recruit at a later date.

So obvs widespread higher volume redundancies very concerning but there are so many employers also using them as mechanisms for a general clear out without the fuss of long processes and/or settlements.

They're not following the right processes for dealing with conduct/capability etc which is supposed to give people chance to improve.

(Im neutral on this, it is ridiculous some of the hoops employers have to jump through to dismiss, but a sham redundancy isnt the lawful way is all im saying)

My DH’s entire software development dept was laid off in February. They made such a complete hash if it that he’s pursuing them for unfair dismissal. Add to that there’s a very difficult job market atm. He’s applied for numerous jobs in his field of the sort that a couple of years ago he'd have walking into (it’s not an issue of tech moving on either, he’s completely up to date including AI use for coding), but now despite being 98% perfect for the role they’re niggling on minor points only for him to see that they’re still advertising the same bloody role months later. We’ve even given this a name now, ‘unicorn hunting’.

It's a problem partly caused by automated work and partly because of firms being charged more N.I. to employ people.

I faced my first recession/redundancy at 19 , in 1990, but since there was still plenty of pubs/clubs and bars (pre smoking ban) , high Streets full of shops (pre online shopping) , it took me about 10 seconds to find another job. At 19.

Where are all these jobs for 19 year old now? Amazon warehouses can't employ all of them.

I haven't even included the AI of it all.

We're due a war soon. Things cant carry on like this.

All the staff in tesco and sainsburys are people who should be retired! Theres a huge problem.

There is a higher volume of redundancies full stop due to AI, I would think the troublesome ones make up a small number of these.

I wonder if he works where I did. Huge restructure in feb that laid off the whole of software engineering.

It is very industry specific.

I work in recruitment and the engineering sector I work in is crying out for more staff, there is a huge huge staff shortage.

Still impactful on the individual and still part of the overall redundancy issue as per the op.

Was only a few years ago that it was a big issue that too many 50+ had left the workplace - now trying to get a job as a 50+ is almost impossible. It’d be staying in my job if I worked there.

@Doingtheboxerbeat The any job bit such as Asda etc is a fallacy these jobs are hard to land and also get hundreds of applicants and are nearly always 30hrs and way under.

I know, I was using that as an example of what people advise on here when a poster says My DH was made redundant 6 months ago and can't find work in his industry .
The find any job brigade forget that being over qualified is also a thing.

it' only part of the story, but I am amazed no-one was waiting for the consequences from Brexit. Companies have steadily relocated, business have moved, people have rushed to get European passports and use them, many businesses have simply refused to keep trading with the uk. It's just too complicated and not worth it they just stopped,, often it doesn't go any further than that. So overseas businesses may have lost clients here, obviously, but they have also closed markets.

What did people think was going to happen?

And that's only ONE of the reasons things come crashing.

Unemployment fell in the most recent 3m reported (ONS) to 4.9%.

It peaked at 5.3% during Covid.

Prior to that the last big spike was 2011 8.5%.

1992 spike 10.7%.

There are well-documented problems with the Labour Market Survey, which generates this data. Nevertheless, the evidence is that unemployment isn't at a level that would mean it is in the news every day.

One of the issues with it is it doesn’t capture the large amount of unofficial employment in hidden economic activity

it's not just engineering, but the UK is a desert, and universities don't attract enough people either.

It's only going to get worst