Falling Vacancies In Uk Economy

[Untitled]

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

in the three months to december 2024 there were 812,000 vacancies in the UK economy and about 1.5 million people estimated to be looking for work

the above article described several highly qualified people. some of them have years of experience in their industry and some have obtained advanced degrees in science and medicine, yet cannot find work. 
 

among the reasons they provide are 

- costs faced by employers after NI contribution increases 

- unrealistically high employer expectations

- unwillingness to fund training 

- use of AI to reduce labour costs

 

surely there is something very wrong with our economy when so many people with good qualifications and experience cannot find work?

[New Judge]

"surely there is something very wrong with our economy when so many people with good qualifications and experience cannot find work?"

Yes there is, as I have been suggesting for some time.

But a question that needs answering (if it should ever be asked) is: if there are 1.5m people already here looking for work, why is it deemed necessary by many (you among them IIRC) to import many more, thus worsening the very problem you have highlighted here?

I would add one more factor to your list:

- unrealistically high employee expectations

[Untitled]

employees can't take jobs that don't pay them enough to live on and they also can't take jobs that they couldn't afford to travel to... that's not an expectation it is a basic fact. 
 

i don't have an answer to your question about immigration except to say that hiring someone is or should be conducive to generating more jobs either through the work they do or the money they spend. it seems to me that many employers want absolutely enormous output for as little pay as they can get away with. 

[New Judge]

“…employees can't take jobs that don't pay them enough to live on and they also can't take jobs that they couldn't afford to travel to... that's not an expectation it is a basic fact.”

So what is the point of importing more people who similarly won’t be able to live on the pay offered? Or is the expectation that those people will be prepared to work for lower pay, live in poorer conditions and accept support from the State to do so (thus depressing standards for everybody else)?

There are large numbers of jobs in the UK where the pay is unrealistically low. People undertaking them have to receive support in the form of in-work benefits. That is just one of the problems of the UK’s economic model but probably the one which needs addressing most urgently. Effectively, taxpayers are subsidising those employers and enabling them to pay low wages.

But that’s not really what your article is about. It’s about well educated and highly skilled individuals being unable to find well paid posts in their particular specialisms. The article concludes that there are simply not enough such posts to go round. So with that in mind, the individuals must set their sights somewhat lower, or simply change direction. It’s no good them simply bemoaning their lot. You can be the most highly skilled micro-biologist in the world. But if nobody is prepared to employ you in that field, you must consider a job emptying the bins so that you can pay your bills.

But I do agree, the UK’s economic model is a complete mess. It should be a high-skill, high pay economy for those willing to work hard and who have th enecessary skills. But it isn’t. The government (and I talk generally, not necessarily of the latest version) has no vision for achieving this. It talks of “job creation” as if any jobs created will do.  They won’t. Many jobs are poorly paid because the people who buy the goods the employees produce or use the services they provide see price as the main, if not the only criterion. Many jobs in the public sector (particularly in health and social care) are similarly poorly paid. People prepared to provide assistance for others  to wash and dress because they cannot manage it themselves are paid minimum wage. Meanwhile train drivers get £70k per annum for a four day week (Sundays optional overtime). That's simply not right.

[Old_Geezer]

Many employers have unrealistically high expectations. One only has to look at the job requirements to put off all but the most self deluded/over confident.  At lesst it often seemed that way to me.

 

And many expect someone else to train folk while they just expect the trained to be available on demand. Probably why so many look abroad for skilled staff instead of employing locally.

[johnk]

1.5 is better than the 3 million during Maggies reign of terror, I remember it well, I was one of them twice!

[newmodarmy]

That was over 40 years ago johnk. It doesn't  address the current situation. Got any suggestions?