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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Job market is awful

356 replies

Flowerpowerz · 03/08/2026 19:34

I work in pharma (general field) and the job market is horrendous. I’m seeing a huge trend towards AI which is not surprising. Perhaps more concerning is the massive uptick of offshore partners aka shipping work out to India because they are cheaper than people in the uk and USA. I have several friends in several related companies (technology, IT, coding) that have lost jobs due to this. They are being expected to share knowledge with their Indian colleagues before their redundancy kicks in.

I have honestly never known it so bad. My linked in is a sea of “open to work”

is it just me or has anyone else noticed these trends? It’s worse than ever

OP posts:
inamarina · 04/08/2026 09:04

buymeaboaanddrivemetoreno · 04/08/2026 07:53

Well they definitely do as my husband worked at tesco for a while when between jobs.

Maybe it depends on the area. Where I live even teenagers/ people in their early twenties struggle to find jobs like in Tesco.

Kitte321 · 04/08/2026 09:09

Palomiino · 04/08/2026 08:30

Oh, convenient. Nothing whatsoever to do with how the Conservatives ran the UK into the ground during their time in office, decimating every good thing we had and getting us to leave the EU. No bad consequences from that, no.

I think the majority of people would agree that Brexit and the AI boom has caused a huge impact on the employment market.
BUT making it expensive (increase to ENI and NMW) and risky (the Employment Rights Bill) to hire was really stupid.
The government needs to be looking at ways to support employers to hire junior people. I would be a huge supporter for removing ENI for workers hired in new opportunities aged 18-24. We must get this demographic into work.

Bathroomphilosopher · 04/08/2026 09:12

PoliteSquid · 04/08/2026 08:17

I’m in the SE. My DS has applied for labouring jobs, cleaning, warehousing…. ghosted every time! No point applying for care work as a young male because people assume all men are wrong ‘uns. My DS is brilliant either way my elderly relatives but care homes always specify females.

Care homes can't specify females under the law unless they get a special exemption. My mum was in a care home and I had some dealings with care homes in a previous role and I can assure you that they do have male care workers. Its common to see male care staff in care homes I have visited.

Flowerpowerz · 04/08/2026 09:16

as well as outsourcing to India. My company is also recruiting from Serbia. At one point they even said they were freezing USA recruitment. IT was first to be affected. Now it’s the “easier jobs” for people like me.

they just keep saying “ai and offshore partners are great as it takes the boring tasks and free you up to do more interesting tasks”

it’s all a bloody lie. Won’t our clients want cheaper costs eventually? I mean if you are getting AI to do a task that they are paying for? I’d expect that cost reduction to be passed back to me as a client.

also… if AI can do it, I’ll figure it out eventually and take it back in house as a client (avoiding a costly middle man)

OP posts:
Alittlefrustrated · 04/08/2026 09:18

I really feel for young people, and also the older people,who have to leave careers which they feel physically and mentally unable to do anymore after 40 years or so. Some careers/jobs really take their toll on the mind and body. It's really not as easy as people think to find alternative work afterwards. The government needs to think about that as they raise state pension ages.

inamarina · 04/08/2026 09:19

Bathroomphilosopher · 04/08/2026 08:52

My H was out of work for over a year after the company he worked for went bust. He's in his 50s. He eventually started being a self employed delivery delivery ( shit pay, well below minimum wage despite working hard) and did that for a while before applying for a delivery driver job in a major supermarket. This was the second time he applied for this - didn't even get an interview before being a self employed delivery driver. Got an interview this time but not the job. He is very fit and healthy and has a completely clean driving licence. I looked at the T&Cs for the supermarket delivery job and they are excellent. Including discounts of your shop with that supermarket. Supermarket delivery jobs must be the gold plated delivery job and I imagine they are inundated with applications including from gig economy self employed delivery drivers like my H.

I think women on MN who think ' supermarket' and similar jobs are easy to get and anyone can walk into them have not moved on from the 90s. The economy and the world is a very different place. These are critical jobs for the employers ( see who were core workers in Covid). Those employers want people who are likely to stay in the jobs for many years, and with unemployment as it is, they can find those people. They don' have to take on middled aged managers who have been made redundant, are depressed and will leave if they can.

Those employers want people who are likely to stay in the jobs for many years, and with unemployment as it is, they can find those people. They don' have to take on middled aged managers who have been made redundant, are depressed and will leave if they can.

Exactly.

Maomee · 04/08/2026 09:25

inamarina · 04/08/2026 09:04

Maybe it depends on the area. Where I live even teenagers/ people in their early twenties struggle to find jobs like in Tesco.

Supermarkets aren't really a good example of an 'easy to get' job anymore as a lot of the workers have been replaced, largely with self service tills.

ForWiseRoseCat · 04/08/2026 09:25

Bathroomphilosopher · 04/08/2026 08:52

My H was out of work for over a year after the company he worked for went bust. He's in his 50s. He eventually started being a self employed delivery delivery ( shit pay, well below minimum wage despite working hard) and did that for a while before applying for a delivery driver job in a major supermarket. This was the second time he applied for this - didn't even get an interview before being a self employed delivery driver. Got an interview this time but not the job. He is very fit and healthy and has a completely clean driving licence. I looked at the T&Cs for the supermarket delivery job and they are excellent. Including discounts of your shop with that supermarket. Supermarket delivery jobs must be the gold plated delivery job and I imagine they are inundated with applications including from gig economy self employed delivery drivers like my H.

I think women on MN who think ' supermarket' and similar jobs are easy to get and anyone can walk into them have not moved on from the 90s. The economy and the world is a very different place. These are critical jobs for the employers ( see who were core workers in Covid). Those employers want people who are likely to stay in the jobs for many years, and with unemployment as it is, they can find those people. They don' have to take on middled aged managers who have been made redundant, are depressed and will leave if they can.

It seems to be a standard response along with "move somewhere cheaper" whenever the housing market gets brought up. These people think it's so easy just to up sticks and move up north or walk into any old job.

30 years ago maybe but not anymore.

PoliteSquid · 04/08/2026 09:25

Bathroomphilosopher · 04/08/2026 09:12

Care homes can't specify females under the law unless they get a special exemption. My mum was in a care home and I had some dealings with care homes in a previous role and I can assure you that they do have male care workers. Its common to see male care staff in care homes I have visited.

This is good to hear. All we’ve seen near here is “female care assistant” and “female home care assistant” He’s so very kind and sensitive with the older people in our family he’d be fabulous at it.

Endgames · 04/08/2026 09:40

@Flowerpowerz completely agree with everything you wrote. I’m uk tech sector and it’s carnage atm where I am.

Flowerpowerz · 04/08/2026 09:47

But when we are all unemployed and our teens can’t get a job at all and are still at home after uni, we won’t be spending in Waitrose or getting an electrician to do jobs or quite honestly buying anything… because we won’t have any money! No holidays, no treats, no spa days, no nails or brows being done, no new phones, no new clothes…

that will then have a knock on to industries that think “well robots and AI can’t cut hair/do nails” etc

OP posts:
Traveltart · 04/08/2026 09:49

@Endgames In what way is it carnage in the tech sector? Apart from for coders that is… Am contemplating a job precisely because it may lead to a role in the tech sector! (Am not on the IT side). Should I avoid it?

Stayinganontoday · 04/08/2026 09:54

Traveltart · 04/08/2026 09:49

@Endgames In what way is it carnage in the tech sector? Apart from for coders that is… Am contemplating a job precisely because it may lead to a role in the tech sector! (Am not on the IT side). Should I avoid it?

I know you didn’t ask me, but I’ve been working in tech for the past 15 years. I find that client facing roles are for the most part safe.

HerbertPootle · 04/08/2026 09:54

Forgot to add, in terms of construction ‘still being a viable sector’, a lot of construction is heavily impacted by the new IHT rules as many medium+ sized companies are family owned. Companies I’ve spoken to (plus ours) are already cutting investment to stay below thresholds. Not sure what this will do long term to the sector as a whole.

Savvysix1984 · 04/08/2026 09:55

I’m in NI and though I’m not personally looking for a job, my dh changed jobs last year and gets calls from recruiters a few times a week trying to get him to apply for different roles (tech/ manufacturing). My friend works in commercial law and they can’t get solicitors/ para legal. We’re lucky here that big uk companies have moved their back offices here as they’re highly regulated and can’t be done outside UK. Plus labour is cheaper here.
My niece and nephew are both students and have pt jobs. One is studying a job that when we researched looked like it was AI proofish (actuarial science). The other is doing a more washy degree but hopes to go into research.
I am worried about the jobs market for the future due to AI.

CandiedPrincess · 04/08/2026 09:56

Traveltart · 04/08/2026 09:49

@Endgames In what way is it carnage in the tech sector? Apart from for coders that is… Am contemplating a job precisely because it may lead to a role in the tech sector! (Am not on the IT side). Should I avoid it?

You'll be fine, especially if not on the developer side.

Endgames · 04/08/2026 09:59

I’m on logistics side and ai versions and robots are cheaper/need fewer IT staff to test/support/configure so not just coders. 70 percent of my uk network is job hunting…I got a 10 percent pay cut last week because market is weak basically.

i wouldn’t avoid a role in prospect @Traveltart im not sure how many dead certs there are in the next five years.

GingerBeverage · 04/08/2026 10:08

Haven't rtft but Modi has been touring the world for some time making trade deals with leaders. The deals always include accepting Indian workers, and with a 1.48 billion population, with about 1 billion working age, that is able to undercut virtually every other worker you can see the results.

To put 1 billion into context add all these populations:

United States: ~349,035,000
Japan: ~123,000,000
Germany: ~84,400,000
United Kingdom: ~69,100,000
France: ~64,800,000
Italy: ~58,900,000
South Korea: ~51,700,000
Spain: ~48,000,000
Canada: ~39,700,000
Australia: ~26,600,000
Taiwan: ~23,400,000
Netherlands: ~18,200,000
Belgium: ~11,700,000
Greece: ~10,300,000
Czech Republic (Czechia): ~10,900,000
Sweden: ~10,600,000
Portugal: ~10,400,000
Israel: ~9,300,000
Austria: ~9,100,000
Switzerland: ~8,900,000
Hong Kong SAR: ~7,500,000
Denmark: ~5,900,000
Finland: ~5,600,000
Slovakia: ~5,400,000
Norway: ~5,500,000
Ireland: ~5,300,000
New Zealand: ~5,300,000
Singapore: ~6,000,000
Lithuania: ~2,800,000
Slovenia: ~2,100,000
Latvia: ~1,800,000
Estonia: ~1,300,000
Cyprus: ~1,200,000
Luxembourg: ~670,000
Malta: ~530,000
Iceland: ~380,000
San Marino: ~33,000
Macao SAR: ~700,000

= approx 1.096 billion people.

Which would still leave 404 million Indians of non-working age.

Companies will always choose the cheapest workers.

danishyellow · 04/08/2026 10:09

place marking to come back in a bit

SwirlyGates · 04/08/2026 10:15

EstoyRobandoSuCasa · 04/08/2026 02:48

Planned obsolescence? Some products will deliberately be made not to last and some will just fall out of fashion. And people will keep buying more stuff, as they have been taught to. This year’s car, this season’s clothes, a bigger house to fill with stuff…

Alternatively, make things to last and then we all don't need to spend so much, including the owners of the companies that make things.

SwirlyGates · 04/08/2026 10:18

BlueRedCat · 04/08/2026 04:12

Sadly it is becuase of the Ni raise and business rates. We have just had to make 3 people redundant at my office very reluctantly but we just need to cut costs. If the government cut business rates in half and reduced NI by 2% we’d be hiring right now. Margins are just so very tight right now. If I was in government I’d be slashing employer taxes in a heartbeat- things will not improve until they do that.

Yes. Why don't they? There are so many complaints about this but no action.

SwirlyGates · 04/08/2026 10:25

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahh · 04/08/2026 07:11

My mum's currently having interviews for nursing roles, being told 'we'll phone you tomorrow' and then never hearing a word again until she chases it up, it's wrong. People taking the time to prep for and attend an interview and they can't even send a second-long rejection email, in a so-called 'caring' industry.

Bastards. This boils my piss!

Digerydont · 04/08/2026 10:30

We can all open a vape shop on the high street or become Turkish barbers

Auburngal · 04/08/2026 10:31

Maomee · 04/08/2026 09:25

Supermarkets aren't really a good example of an 'easy to get' job anymore as a lot of the workers have been replaced, largely with self service tills.

But how does stuff go on the shelves, reduce stock (yellow stickers), add new lines to shelves????

Coreiscore · 04/08/2026 10:31

SwirlyGates · 04/08/2026 10:18

Yes. Why don't they? There are so many complaints about this but no action.

Because it is seen as helping “the rich”. If it was up to me, I’d slash business rates, reduce NI and massively cut corp tax. Make the UK an attractive proposition for employers, facilitate growth and employment and as a country, net more tax.