To feel shit scared about the state of the jobs market.

[holymolyy]

DH and me will be losing our jobs next month. I've actually been looking since before Xmas and had 2 interviews which I didn't get. I've continued applying for positions even in the lockdown and had no luck with interviews. These jobs are basic entry level literally pennies above the minimum wage. I just don't have a chance. I worry is it my age. Is it because my experience is too broad and not more deeper in one area.

Honestly I'm really scared. I'll do anything to keep a roof over my head and the kids but obviously long term I need to get back into work and it's just looking so shit. We've both been with our employees less than 2 years and won't even get statutory redundancy pay.

DS got made redundant in may. At the time it was so frustrating as they did it 2 weeks before he would have been entitled to redundancy pay.

In all honesty though, it turned out to be a blessing as he was ahead of large numbers of people who are now facing redundancy and managed to get another job within the month.

It must be terrible to be facing unemployment now with such high numbers competing for the same few jobs. Fingers crossed the downturn doesn't last long.

Quite likely to be in the same position by the end of the year. At 58 I don't rate my chances highly. Unfortunately job forms seem to want to dig down to 1981 and even if they don't, qualification types and dates are a dead giveaway. I have never seen a job in my sector which accepts a cv.

The Tesco psychometric tests are stupid, if they are the same ones from 15 years ago. The answers are obvious to some (like me) because I'm good at understanding people. Psychometric tests are easy to pass once you know what you're looking for, but not everyone has the aptitude for them and the tests are pointless. They tell you nothing. I'm not qualified to be a manager yet I could score higher than one on those stupid things.

It's a crap situation to be in right now and so many are going to struggle. Unemployment will be the real killer this year and the next, not covid.

@Hingeandbracket that sucks, but you must have transferable skills etc to be capable of that, so keeping fingers crossed for you.
Thanks - I know I have transferable skills and I am happy to do anything to keep the wolf from the door - it's just convincing an employer.
OTH I know I am not as badly off as many.
Also, whilst I have bills to pay and a 12 year old to support, I know I am not as badly off as many. I don't begrudge the help for young people at all - I know it's tough for them too.

Completely agree @PlanDeRaccordement story of my life , I've always worked but discrimination has always been rife for working mothers .

Current news from Boots and John Lewis isn't encouraging either is it?

Have read whole thread - what about job centre staff? I think I read that they are going to be hiring...

Job centres will be hiring a lot more staff soon yeah.

Can I quietly suggest that people sign up with agencies? You can’t be fussy about what you do ... but a lot of jobs are heading this way as it’s easier for firms to have flexibility in their staffing and probably avoids the needs for wages and HR departments.
That aside - yes many are minimum wage or just above, but quite possibly better than being on universal credit?

I have a disability and was offered a job in October last year. In May that offer was withdrawn due to my disability so I am screwed.

I am visually impaired and 85% of those with a visual impairment are out of work so I have little to no chance. And companies just aren’t recruiting at the moment, and those that are are receiving hundreds of applicants.

My DS went for an interview yesterday for a job in a pub and the woman said she was inundated with applications, to the point where they had to close the applications early and still she interviewed over a hundred people. .

To the poster who said that it’s all about young people, tbh I don’t agree. I may be flamed for this but I think that too much emphasis is placed on home ownership and the need to own your own home. Yes that would be ideal, but fact is that it’s only in the UK where this is seen as an essential. Earning a living is the most crucial, to the point where you can afford to rent somewhere. Home ownership can come in the future.

I'm being made redundant end of this month. I'm looking for jobs but there is hardly anything out there. Hopefully I'm going to get a video interview for one (passed the telephone interview) and I sincerely hope I get that otherwise I could be unemployed for months

I hear you. I spent the last few months on furlough using my usual working hours searching for and applying for jobs. No interest for months, even rejections from places who still advertise the role. Before that I had been applying a lot as well because I knew my contract was ending this summer. No luck for ages.

Then in the last ten days I was offered 4 interviews in the exact sector I wanted to move into. All for yesterday and today. The first one was the one I really wanted and I was offered the role and accepted. It's like waiting a long time for a bus and then two come along.

I say this to give you hope. No one wanted to hire me for a long long time, but if they had I wouldn't be about to start the exact job I should be doing.

I remember all the unemployment in the 80s , it sucked for all ages then just as much as it does now . Pitting young and old against each other is manna from heaven for the government .

I agree Done a Business Studies course at college from 82 to 83. All jobs wanted experience so I took to temping for a while . Enjoyed that but was living at home so didn't matter if no work for a week or so . I then got full time jobs as had gained said experience
I agree also this pitting Old and Young falls into certain plans

It is generally recognised that women start to confront discrimination based on age from 40; for men it is 50. Discrimination based on being a mother starts as soon as you have a baby unless you are lucky enough to work somewhere that thinks you still have value despite having children. I think oppportunities for the younger generation are critical; I agree that they will be hit incredibly hard but I also think that there needs to be support and recognition for those over 40 who still have a hell of a lot to contribute. I know from the hospice I work for that the last job advertised attracted over 300 applicants but of course it went internally. The situation is absolutely dire, unless you want a care job; plenty of them around if you fancy below minimum wage by the time you've factored in unpaid travelling time.

I have been out the job market for close to 7 years now, due to a disability, I was just starting to get on top of it when COVID hit, I have taken a massive dent in my mental health, but I want to work. However, I am not sure whether I am even going to have my CV looked at, once they see a 7 year gap.

I used to be a PA in the City. The agencies I used had say 50 vacancies at any one time. I’ve looked now and it’s maybe a dozen or half a dozen jobs.

The secsinthecity website used to have around 2300 on any day. It’s 303 today.

The only full time jobs near me with permanent contracts paying around the average salary are NHS jobs for healthcare professionals or a few qualified teaching jobs.

Everything else is minimum wage and either part time or zero hours contract - cleaning, care work or retail. And not many of those.

I think the Civil Service is about to have a recruitment freeze too. So very few external jobs going.

@Hingeandbracket

Current news from Boots and John Lewis isn't encouraging either is it?

I've seen that this morning. Boots are planning to cut 4,000 jobs and close something like 48 stores due to the impact of Covid 19.

Not sure what John Lewis have said yet, but I will check it out. I assume it is along similar lines.

I have been signing up with some agencies. I have a profile with Reed which I completed this morning. I regularly used the Indeed website too. It can be useful, but comes up with a lot of questionable stuff as well - for instance, I may request to see jobs from within a 25 mile radius of where I live and it still throws in stuff which is ten times as far away as that.

Sorry, just read more closely. Boots is shutting 48 Optician Stores and will be cutting 4,000 jobs.

John Lewis is planning to cut 1,300 jobs.

No, older people don’t have it worse. In your 50s you have worked for possibly 30-35 years. Well done!

Yeah, and I plan to work for a whole lot longer. Who do you suppose is going to take care of me if I don't?

I'll look after me and let the young do likewise

I’m truly sorry that this has happened. Is there any possibility that you might be able to retrain? I wouldn’t be surprised if the government decided to fund a load of retraining schemes, which is what happened in the 1980s.

Do you have any thoughts about what you would like to do, or what field you would like to be in?

Gosh. There's so many of us. all my friends and family are in fairly secure sectors like healthcare professionals / teachers etc so don't know anyone directly that's been hit but might be in the coming months. I should have chosen my career path more wisely!

I work in admin in a college so nothing specially skilled which makes it harder as the jobs I apply for are low paid anyway. I would love to retrain but realistically I don't know how I could afford it. Iamthewombat I'd be happy to join a training programme in a heartbeat if the government introduced something like this even an apprenticeship but I think companies would employ younger people. I actually did go for a data analyst apprenticeship which I was rejected for after an interview. It went to someone in their teens.

I applied for a health records clerk at my local hospital. It was advertised on Monday. By Tuesday afternoon it was taken off website.

If you were looking for an area where there is a skills shortage, and if you had the opportunity to retrain, and if it was your thing (I realise that there are many ifs in this sentence), the IT and tech industries are crying out for decent testers and coders. Some of those businesses will be impacted by the virus, but it’s a definite growth area. I wish I had more concrete advice to give.

As part of your redundancy are HR giving you access to a careers advisor? I assume you've looked on jobs.ac.uk for jobs? The civil service seem to have quite a few vacancies at the moment so you could have a look on their site too. As I mentioned before I think I read that job centres will be hiring so maybe look on their website too.
What skills do you have? If you need to remind yourself of the skills you have, have a look on LinkedIn at some colleagues profiles and see how they describe themselves.
I think that there is meant to investment in FE so do you have any FE colleges locally? they might be looking to expand?
Don't think that you don't have anything to offer OP, and don't aim too low either. It is a scary time, but people will always go on maternity leave, relocate, or retire, so there will be some jobs coming up. One other thought, lots of people will work remotely from now on, so maybe you can look a bit further afield if you don't physically need to be there.
good luck!

Iamthewombat I would absolutely love to get into the tech industry and do something like testing or something but realistically how would a 30 something year old woman who has zero experience or knowledge get into that with stiff competition from amazingly talented techy kids. I wish I had thought wisely career wise instead of drifting from one job to another. But it is what it is.

Lots of degree courses are online now, so you could do a degree and work at the same time. It seems like a good time to invest in the future you want OP, you have 35 years of work left, you might as well enjoy it and get paid well.