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

A lot of staff moved out of London in my old office because WFH allowed them to finally be able to afford a home, or to move somewhere bigger for their family. People who had started in the late 90s or early 00s didn't realise how lifechanging that was for those who were in the same roles they were when they bought their first homes but didn't see themselves even able to rent a place to themselves in 2020, never mind buy.

Also, commuting in from Kent etc is bloody expensive. I had two colleagues who came in from Brighton and it cost thousands.

You must have different algorthims to me, I'm always getting stories about 50 year olds being out of work.

He should sign on for New JSA which would at least pay his NI whilst he looks for work.

But you clearly haven’t read it properly……

They did a huge restructure at my work, many people lost their jobs. The ones of us that remain are expected to just get on with it. My LinkedIn is full of stories of redundancy and a tough job market.

Because they’re not technically unemployed

It’s not quite that simple. They can apply to sponsor a visa, but the worker still has to meet the minimum salary level etc. unless it’s money laundering ( TBF, lots probably are) they aren’t paying enough for that.

The government is also investigating it and looking to crack down.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj639rx147eo

and I honestly never thought that I would live through a time where The Revolution might happen
@thestudio

What form will this revolution take?

Yep, pretty sure that’s more to do with AI/ cheap offshore labour/ companies over recruited in that sector for years.

Because in the ‘old days’ they likely would have had a good enough company pension that they could retire early, especially if they had a good payout.

Yes and I others have already made that point in previous pages.

the reason is under 20 isn’t reported is because it doesn’t indicate “crisis”

you would take any job?

what job is it, as a highly skilled professional, you think you can walk into?

I am philosophically (though not practically) very far left, much much farther than Greens/Corbyn for eg - and I honestly never thought that I would live through a time where The Revolution might happen. I always believed that capitalism's unassailable strength was its ability to co-opt literally everything 'liberal/progressive' into an opportunity, and thence to continually expand.

But I'm now wondering whether AI, capitalism's best and favourite child, might actually be the thing which destroys it.

Who will be buying the This Girl Can T-shirts when everyone is destitute?

How can democracy survive widespread destitution?

Agreed.
Having a drivers license rules out at least a third of us , sadly - it's the only reason I regret not learning to drive - my bike can only get me so far.
Even care work is only practical in an actual care home or a hospital , without your own transport.

Delivery driving isn't for the weak.

No - not all redundancies have to be reported to the government, only employers planning to make 20 or more employees redundant at one establishment need to report

Agreed this is a factor 100% but AI and outsourcing abroad also give money saving options too.

My current contract I am covering a woman who is off on long term sickness as she is incapacitated by stress and anxiety. She was nice enough to phone in to say that I could contact her anytime for work support and advice. Then she started sending me pics of her DIY and remodelling of her house. 8 months later, I've heard from colleagues that said house is now on the market and that she is looking for a bungalow to downsize to. She did a very impressive job putting up decking outside and is quite the carpenter.

However, I did feel that she might be taking the piss. One of my younger colleagues corrected me by saying that 'just because she was sick didn't mean that she couldn't do other stuff - besides it's probably good for her mental health.'

I am not complaining as I think she's going for a forced early retirement which for me means that I'll be in this contract for many more months - probably up to Christmas.

Her employer might be of another opinion.

'Rotation'?!

I work in a job centre and recently there was discussion of AI taking 7/10 jobs by 2030 thought there was no way that would happen.
that same day my company shared its new cooperate plan… they need to save over 50m all going digital… times are about to get extremely hard. We are preparing and retraining as fast as possible for what’s coming

We do interview people in person at second and third stage, we only use Teams/Zoom for first stage interviews.

My DP was made redundant 5 months ago and is getting pretty discouraged not being able to get another job. Having worked in IT that was never a problem, but despite a few promising interviews, so far nothing. Not on UC as we have savings. Several in his company got made redundant at the same time.

But there was a thread on here the other day about how the latest cohort of nurses who just qualified can’t find work as nurses because the nhs can’t afford to hire them, it just doesn’t make sense.

All the jobs are in care homes and hospitals doing work people simply don’t want to do, my DS cooks in a care home part time and does pot wash. There are jobs landscaping is crazy busy and £150 a day cash, jobs driving for the likes of Evri.

Is it anything to do with the WFH culture?

I've had a steady stream of temp work since Covid (when I was made redundant) and have worked in offices like graveyards. Sometimes I've not seen my managers for weeks on end because they are working from home.

I remember another manager explaining to me that she liked to WFH 3 days a week but felt it fair to allow her staff the same perk so they needed someone to be in the office...

On another contract the head of the dept had relocated to Rome during Covid and other staff were still getting London weighting despite having moved to places like Kent (public sector). One woman occasionally commuted in from Edinburgh.

Maybe companies are realising it is not a cost effective way to have to bring in temps to cover these people WFH - who are naturally ever so busy.

According to the OECD, our stats significantly UNDER report unemployment - ie because rate measures those who are officially seeking work but unable to find employment. The official unemployment rate does not include those who are not working and are classed as economically inactive. Add those in an unemployment stats rise by a (low) multiple