The job market is the worst it's been in my memory?

[deeleyj]

Aibu to think the job market is the worst it's been in my memory?

It's brutal out there.

I feel completely stuck in a job I hate because a) there's not much out there b) companies I fancy are making constant cuts c) the jobs that are there pay half what I'm on now d) each job that's left has about 100 applicants e) hiring freezes in my industry

Will it ever get better? Or is this it? Is this a knock on from Covid? Or AI?

I'm feeling really awful about it and just feel completely stuck. People around me saying I should be grateful. All my mates in my company have been made redundant over the last year. I'm just keeping my head down.

It's not just my sector. My town had a huge employer and used to employ half the town. I just searched their website, not a single open role.

I read a story the other day about a lady applying for a dentistry degree, straight A student... didn't get a place as there just isn't the funding or places available.

I swear it's never been this bad and i just can't see it getting better

Not saying it was but many people are taking the piss looking after kids, housework etc. Which is why so many companies are now going back to work in office.
It's also not that great physically or mentally for many.

This is a very odd choice of hill you're dying on.

It wasn't rare. You don't get your own definitions of words, and nor have you provided any stats. Millions of employees were doing it or had done it in 2019, and this does not constitute rare. None of this is a matter of opinion. You're just wrong.

The rest is you moving the goalposts, and some of it doesn't even make sense. 'Average employee' doesn't tell us much here, because remote work is impossible in some roles. Not rare, but non-existent. Then, as now, remote work was concentrated in occupations where people work from a computer and/or a phone. So a waitress and an accountant would've had very different odds of finding wfh roles in their sectors.

Exactly this - I had a quick look at an accounts assistant role at a client as I knew they were a couple of people down in their finance department and I was looking for something part time to dovetail round my current job.

Entry level role and was full time so not good for me. But essential requirements included: educated to degree level in a numerate subject, and with strong A-levels in mathematical/ scientific based subjects. Really?

Yup. These don't seem to be outliers, either; I saw numerous examples all over when I was job-hunting. Entry-level wages, entry-level roles, but the employers wanted prior experience in a similar role or a relevant degree – if not both!

Fellow 2009 graduate here! I hear you 👋

In my area (IT) there is a long-running joke about organisations posting job ads demanding 10 years experience using software that was only released 5 years ago.
There is definitely a moon on a stick attitude. I have been contacted by loads of recruiters over the last 5 months about a job that I could easy do. For some reason though, it has remained unfilled for 5 months.
I suspect it's because they think they can find the next Richard Branson or Anita Roddick for £45k

I think there is a real mismatch with what employers are offering and employees' expectations right now.

Employers:

• high expectations of candidates (degree, previous experience, complete flexibility) that does not match the salaries they are offering
• A bizarre reluctance to accept that being stuck in an open plan office all day, all week, 9 to 5, is not the one and only way to work and often not the best
• often have impossible to achieve job descriptions (basically expect one individual to do the work of several employees...)
• inability to consider transferrable skills and unwilling to offer any training, so only willing to employ someone who has done an almost identical job with a similar organisation
• prejudices against older and disabled workers and those with caring responsibilities
• convoluted application forms and selection processes.

Employees:

• value and want flexible work options
• want a decent salary so they can have a decent standard of living.

I agree about the moon on the stick attitudes. I am looking to move job. Apparently it is really hard to recruit people to do my job. And some of the asks are absolutely insane.

Yep - a really bad market for office workers. Redundancies left right and centre. Anyone changing job right now is looking at a demotion + pay cut well below what the demoted level used to pay.