Read to the end for why employers are complaining about getting too many applicants, a massive shake up to Australia's gig economy, and the Broadway musical about a lowly usher you just have to see. 

Morning team, 

Evie Breese here with the week’s employment news, on what may be one of the hottest days of the year. The Met Office yesterday announced an amber hot weather warning for the rest of the week, so make sure to know your rights while working in the heat. 

Surprisingly, Conservative Party think-tank UK Onward doesn’t seem to think an ever-warming planet that will be unlivable in places by 2050 is a factor in the “wellbeing crisis” afflicting the youth of today. Rather, young Brits are “unhappy, unskilled and unmoored” because they are alienated from society, writes director Sebastian Payne.

And the answer? To bring back National Service. The think-tank proposed a new Great British National Service for everybody aged 16 that could include a residential course, volunteering and an “optional year of service”. The proposition has received a wave of criticism online, with many highlighting that it feels archaic, nationalistic, and is being pushed for by the generation that had economic benefits that today's young people can only dream of.

To be generous, it is undeniable that many of the young people who spent their formative years in lockdown have struggled to find their footing at work, with employers reporting that young applicants simply aren’t ‘work ready’. This can mean anything from struggling to hold a conversation or ask questions with confidence. Volunteering is very likely to help.

But largely it seems that these “unhappy, unskilled and unmoored” would feel much better if they were simply able to attain stable housing, stable work and a stable income. A third of the young people who lost their jobs in the pandemic returned to insecure work, including in the gig economy or on zero-hours contracts, according to the Resolution Foundation. Research from the Royal Society of the Arts found that 47% of young people are financially precarious, and two thirds are unsure whether they can rely on the government for financial help.

If we want young people in Britain to feel happy, have their skills valued, and comfortably moored, how about focusing on stable work first? 

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What you need to know about work this week:

A wee week. Civil servants in Scotland (£) will be given the opportunity to pilot a four-day working week, in plans unveiled by first minister Humza Yousaf as he sets out the SNP’s  plans for the coming year. 

Timewasters. The DWP is forcing jobseekers to apply for roles they’re “entirely unsuitable for”, new research from think-tank IPPR has found. This is leaving employers “bombarded” with job applications, wasting theirs, and the candidates’, time. Mine for The Big Issue. 

Tweeting at work. X, formerly known as Twitter, will collect biometric data and employment history of users so the platform can “recommend potential jobs for you, to share with potential employers when you apply for a job". This has led to speculation the platform could offer recruitment services in the future, the BBC reports.  

200 rejections later. Job rejections can take a real toll on someone's self-esteem, particularly so if they've been out of work for two years. Here's how Big Issue Recruit helped one father find his feet.

Future fear. The TUC has set up a taskforce to examine the threat AI may pose to workers’ rights, such as hiring and firing by algorithm, hi-tech surveillance and the recent development of generative AI to create text and images. The Guardian’s Heather Stewart speaks to the women tasked with saving us all. 

Uncaring. Thousands of care workers have come to the UK to plug the shortages in adult social care, but tied visas leave them at the mercy of bosses, and racking up debt due to low pay. This is a compassionate long read from ​​Shanti Das and Charlie Moloney in The Observer. 

Support sick staff. Rising sickness rates are exacerbating what is already a tight labour market in which bosses are struggling to recruit the employees they need. Here’s how some bosses are helping staff through their long-term sickness, and why it’s paying off. 

An enlightened institution. Charity workers at The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) are voting on whether to stage the organisation’s first strike in its 270-year existence. Members of Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) union are angry at the below-inflation pay rise for workers, contrasted against a 170% increase in pay for executive staff.

Prison pain. Hundreds of prison officers are being put up in hotels (£) as the Prison Service shuffles them around the country in an attempt to plug acute staff shortages. News of Britain’s overcrowded and understaffed prisons is making its way abroad, with a German court refusing to extradite a man accused of drug trafficking to the UK because of concerns about prison conditions.

 A global solution 🇦🇺

Australians ordering a cheeky takeaway will have to pay a “tiny bit extra” from 1 July 2024, so that their delivery driver can do their job in safer conditions. New legislation will set minimum standards around pay, penalties and insurance for “employee-like workers” in the gig economy who work for digital platforms.

While there has been push back from employer groups who complained that the measures would raise prices, workplace relations minister Tony Burke quipped: “Slavery is probably cheaper too.” He argued that without minimum pay, gig workers are incentivised to “run red lights” that could put them “lying beneath the traffic”. Read more Paul Karp in The Guardian Australia.

Working culture

I was recently treated to a night at the theatre, and boy was I not prepared for the (sometimes deeply uncomfortable) brilliance of A Strange Loop, currently playing at the Barbican Theatre in London. This intimate play by Michael R Jackson deals primarily with how our sexuality, racial identity, upbringing and career shape how we understand ourselves. Our main character is named Usher, not after the noughties RnB icon, but to reflect his day-job as an usher at Broadway show The Lion King, at which he must answer annoying questions from the audience during intermission while using the show time to dream up his own musical. 

While in his spare time Usher is a composer and playwright writing “A Strange Loop” it is his day job that fights to define him. I can’t recommend A Strange Loop highly enough to anyone who’s ever questioned their identity, and for some hilarious black-comedy tracks that’ll leave you unsure of whether to gleefully clap to the beat or cry into the abyss.

In the diary

Sunday 10-13 September. The 155th annual TUC Congress will take place in Liverpool.

Tuesday 19 September. NHS consultants strike for another two-day period.

Wednesday 27 September. Creating a Good Jobs economy, lecture by professor Dani Rodrik, at The Resolution Foundation.

Enjoying this newsletter? Check out Survival Guide, our newsletter on the cost of living crisis from my colleague Isabella McRae. We also have a cost of living help Facebook group with money-saving tips and positive stories.

Animals with jobs 

Fed up of your line manager? Get a cat instead! 

Does your cat/dog/garden fox/animal you saw on holiday participate in the daily grind? Nominate them today by sending me a photo to: evie.breese@bigissue.com

This week's Big Issue magazine

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