Labour have ruined the job market

[Needajobforspouse]

My spouse was made redundant in November, has done some bid work since then (e.g zero contract parcel delivery) but not enough to make up his old salary. He has job alerts and this week there was ZERO jobs advertised that meet his qualifications.

Nobody is hiring.

I work for an SME, and I am also at risk and in bad health. Not enough for PIP etc but enough to make me unreliable (recently diagnosed as immunocompromised).

Not even the local supermarket is hiring, and they won’t touch my DH anyway as he is massively over qualified (I know a supermarket manager and they don’t take on over qualified people as they are “hard to manage” and don’t stay long term.).

yesterday our car broke and we used the last of our savings for a new one, my roof is leaking. My bay window is leaking and I just feel like giving up.

just dreading this year of shitty government policies that pick on the middle income earners and penalise us, is this life? Because if so I hate it.

also where are all the jobs?! Literally zero here in northern England.

The main reason I am at risk or and my DH has been made redundant is because of the NI increases; small to medium firms can’t just absorb that cost without making changes to staffing

Sorry OP, but I've literally just Googled jobs in the North of England and 3,656 jobs came up in the North East alone, and that was just on one site. Could he do a driving job as there are still lots of vacancies for truck drivers, etc.

Not our experience, my husband has recently moved job and I am moving next month
My Current work has so many vacancies we can’t fill them

Sorry you’re having such a shit time though. But if businesses can’t shoulder a relatively modest NI increase, they probably weren’t that viable anyway

There are jobs. Aldi mainly .

You have to get HG qualifications to drive a lorry.

So many of those jobs will be on NMW for a carer.

Well he isn't a class Hgv driver he works in marketing mainly 😂 and to the pp who said well these businesses aren’t that profitable, that is true.

But I have different perception, I work for a scale up IT firm so still an SME. With out being able to employ local talent and pay them competitive rates, how do you expect these companies to grow and nurture that talent? Our company is having to stop the amount of (paid!) interns it gets and apprentices due to these changes in NI and other unexpected business costs.

And I am living in a damp leaky house and my partner can’t get a job as even a typist or a person who fills the shelves in aldi! Its so crazy that I spent most of my life fighting against the establishment (grew poor etc) and here I am living the worst I ever have.

I don’t think this has anything to do with the Labour government. It has to do with the state of the world and the economy, which didn’t just appear on the scene a few months ago. I work in a very well paid and prestigious scientific field. Our work tends to be funded by research grants that take years to set up. In past years, I could search for jobs (very niche database) and find 20-30 in my field in a given region. Today, maybe 5, in some areas absolutely nothing. This didn’t happen because of Labour. It happened because there has been a long period of cutting funding by the government over years and also a redirection of university resources in such a way that makes these jobs hard to fund. None of it happened overnight. It’s all part of cost of living (employees cost money) and that didn’t start with Labour.

It is objectively a very difficult time to be job hunting at the moment - the change in business outlook and hiring plans has been widely reported in the press. There will always be vacancies on some level as some skill sets / qualifications will be in short supply, but the number of driving jobs recruiting makes no difference if you don’t have the right license.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/feb/10/britons-hunting-for-a-job-uk-jobseekers-pay

I don’t think you can blame the Labour government for this. Though admittedly they are not doing enough about it.

it does sound shit though, I’m sorry

I don't think it's labour? The world is shit right now, every WFH/hybrid job has a million applications due to people wanting to leave companies that are forcing people back to the office full time. My old company just pulled 800 jobs out of Germany because it was more profitable to invest more in the UK, - it's not just us who are struggling!

My point about HGV drivers is that you CAN train for a different type of work. The OP didn't state what sort of job her partner normally does, but did say he'd done parcel delivery, and indicated that he would accept a job in Tesco if only he could get one. She also didn't state that NMW wasn't acceptable. So please people don't start nit picking with me, I just made a suggestion. What's the matter with you miserable sods on here, can you not just be nice, or are people seriously such miserable fucks that they have to put someone down, just to make themselves feel better when it comes to MN?

I agree @Needajobforspouse . Labour have certainly killed the market for many entry level roles as the increases in minimum wage/NI mean that someone like an apprentice / entry level will cost a business the same as someone with 5 years’ experience. So of course they will choose the person with 5 years’ experience.

One of my friends is the co-owner of a big name multi-award winning hair salon and he said that all the salons are cutting apprentice schemes. People may not see the difference now but they will in 3 years time when there are no apprentices coming through the pipeline. He expects hair salon prices to rise significantly then (so long term actually good for his business as there’ll be a shortage of hair stylists but terrible for employment).

It could be chatgpt if you're not getting to interview stages. People are using it for applications so ones that would have been thrown away on first sift are now getting to interview so there's a lot more competition. It's a bit of a problem for hr until they design new assessments.

@mindutopia and @Clearinguptheclutter many companies cutting jobs directly attribute it to impact of Labour’s NI and NMW policies, though? It doesn’t mean there are no other factors, but these policies are hitting businesses hard with predictable impact on employment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvged0x5ykxo

Don't you know that's the only reason some people come on here ;)

HGV training is definitely a good move if he doesn't think he'll find something else quickly. It does take a chunk of cash to train though!

Oh this too! Though it's kind of catch 22 as using chat gpt is a lifesaver for applying for roles when you now have to submit on average over 100 tailored CVs/Cover Letters/Application questions before finding a role 🫠

So as a job hunter it's great! (As long as you're not an idiot and don't just copy/paste) ~ as a current manager who's recruiting it sucks 😂

I think some employers are using the NI increase as an excuse. Blame someone else so they don't look bad. Won't apply to all but will for some.

I recently got made redundant. Applied for 4 jobs. Got interviews for all 4. Didn't get the first, got the 2nd within a month so didn't go for interviews for the last two.

I have a friend who lives 2 hours away who has been looking for months.

So it's not a blanket 'there are no jobs'. I found mine really quickly. It seems to vary. Lots of redundancy around but equally there are jobs out there.

Not Labours fault that so many busineses put absolute profiteering above good customer service and keeping staff to ensure that.

I am sorry your DH is struggling to find work.

Not sure you can blame Labour - they have only been in power 8 months. I suspect Brexit, The Tories and the pandemic are more likely suspects.

PS - I am not a labour supporter.

Well I don’t think we can solely blame Labour no. But things are awful out there. Heard many comments recently this is the quietest in 20 years and that’s saying something considering we just came through Brexit, Covid and then cost of living recession.

I think the national insurance was a mistake! All the extra billions for nhs has been spent on wages apparently. So no extra really.

Labour blaming bingo. 🖍️

So nothing to do with 14 years of Tory rule huh?

Problem is for every job you're competing against the millions Labour and Tories insist on importing every year.