r/jobmarket

The figures are bad. The reality behind them is worse.

UK companies cut 13,000 jobs in June — then cut another 13,000 in July.

That isn’t “a few businesses restructuring”. It means 26,000 pay packets disappeared while politicians continued pointing at economic growth.

Vacancies have fallen to around 707,000. Youth unemployment has hit 16.1%. Nearly 1 million people aged 16–24 are now neither working nor studying.

Young people are being told to get experience while entry-level jobs vanish. Graduates are leaving university and entering a labour market where suitable jobs have fallen by 33%.

At the same time, employers are being squeezed by:

- Higher employer National Insurance

- A higher minimum wage

- Rising energy and operating costs

- Borrowing costs near 5.45%

So businesses are doing what businesses do: freezing recruitment, leaving vacancies empty and refusing to replace workers who leave.

The result is a silent jobs massacre:

Fewer interviews.

Fewer first chances.

More people stuck on benefits.

More graduates moving back home.

Less tax revenue.

More government borrowing.

Higher interest costs.

The UK can keep claiming GDP is growing.

But if the number of people earning, spending and building careers is shrinking, this isn’t prosperity.

It’s economic decline being hidden behind a single headline number.

I was reading a post in another sub from someone venting about how they couldn’t find a job and were really struggling. I genuinely felt bad for them at first.

But the way they were writing was incredibly hard to follow poor grammar, barely any punctuation, slang everywhere, sentences running together, the whole nine yards. So I asked, pretty simply, why they didn’t try using more conventional grammar when communicating, especially if they were applying for jobs.

Their response? “Proper grammar is crazy.”!!

And I’m sitting there thinkingmaybe we just discovered at least part of the problem.

I don’t care if you’re 18, 28, 48, or 68. You don’t have to write like you’re submitting a doctoral dissertation, but being able to communicate clearly and professionally still matters. Hiring managers care. Customers care. Coworkers care. If your application, email, or interview sounds like a TikTok comment section, there are employers who are absolutely going to judge you for it.

And before someone says, “Well, employers need to adapt to the new generation” sure, workplaces change. Language changes. Culture changes. I get that.

But there’s also a point where you have to adapt to the environment you’re trying to enter.

I also see this attitude sometimes where people talk about employment as though the employer should be grateful they showed up. Meanwhile, plenty of us have full-time jobs where sometimes 40 hours becomes 45 or 50 because something has to get finished. Do I enjoy working extra hours without magically getting a bigger paycheck? Of course not. But I also understand that reliability, communication, professionalism, and occasionally doing more than the absolute minimum are part of why I remain employable.

That doesn’t mean employees should tolerate abuse. It doesn’t mean companies should exploit people. And it definitely doesn’t mean every employer deserves loyalty.

But there seems to be an increasingly bizarre disconnect where some people want the paycheck, flexibility, benefits, promotions, respect, and career opportunities while simultaneously rejecting half the basic expectations that come with having a professional job.

And then they wonder why nobody is calling them back. Maybe the system isn’t always the only problem. Sometimes “proper grammar is crazy” is the clue.

Why am I so passionate about this..

I have four kids, and this is exactly why I feel so strongly about this. In this day and age, it is getting harder for young people, not easier. The world no longer runs on hopes and dreams, and simply wanting a good job does not mean one is going to be handed to you. The job market is increasingly competitive, employers have more applicants to choose from, and sometimes something as basic as how well you communicate is what separates you from the person who gets the interview. I am not teaching my kids that the world owes them something; I am teaching them to give themselves every possible advantage. Proper grammar, professionalism, reliability, and knowing how to communicate with people are advantages that cost absolutely nothing. They can complain that those standards are outdated, or they can understand the world they are actually entering and learn how to compete in it. I would much rather prepare my kids for reality than reassure them with something that sounds nice but does nothing to help them succeed.

So Good I'm not unemployed right now. I would have to beg and grovel for the worst jobs that treat you like scum.