I don't think that covers it. When people are forced down a path, they find ways to rationalize why it's better than the alternatives. That is, you can't just ask someone to ignore job availability and expect that their view of the job actually does ignore job availability. Their view of the job probably has it already baked in. Self-evaluating a cognitive bias is hard.
If you're unlucky enough to end up among the whole 3% of us that really can't find a job, you aren't going to starve. At any rate it's hardly reasonable to expect you should be able to refuse to comply with your terms of employment and not suffer any negative consequences.
(NB: posting this purely for the benefit of anyone else reading Ekaros's posts and thinking they have any sort point at all).
the employer in these situations feels that the person will be unhappy at a position so obviously beneath them. the employer can also assume that the person will be leaving as soon as they do find a job they're qualified for.
unhappy employee who could leave any time. doesn't sound good to me.
That person doesn't have a better job available to them though, so without that job, you're sentencing them to destitution, which seems like a worse outcome for them. Fortunately you don't have to see it though.
Or, a person is being unfairly passed over for opportunities for any number of reasons outside their control. Bad companies do exist, and not everyone has their pick of jobs.
I don't see any valid reasons for him to end up in a supermarket job.
Generalize much? You know based on the fact that he "worked in software" that that he had no valid reason to need a "supermarket job"?
I hope no awful life event happens to you, but when things are going great, it's easy to say others shouldn't be struggling. Then something happens. Maybe you get sick. Or a close relative needs financial assistance. Or you get laid off. I'm fortunate enough to enjoy a comfortable living, but I've been in some really shitty situations in the past, and let me tell you- anything can happen to anybody. If you're doing well, be grateful, but don't assume everybody is in the same situation you are.
Losing one's job is not just an "inconvenience". It is an inconvenience in a country with a social safety net. In a country like the US where job loss often enough means direct loss of health insurance and a place to live, losing a job can (and will) lead to homelessness and eventual death.
Low job supply in your area and inability to move due to family and other responsibilities tying you down or too busy taking care of your kids to have time to interview and study leetcode or too little time spent on a gig getting you labeled as a job hopper or as a problematic employee by other companies if you don't have enough experience backing you up.
I feel you have no idea how complex people's lives can be.
> So nobody forced them to accept those jobs, yet their only other option is unemployment
Also, not sure about Germany but it's not uncommon for employment offices to start withholding benefits if you refuse jobs "you're fit for". That would likely include warehouse grunt.
In theory I agree, but for people who are in a situation where jobs are not plentiful, saying "no" is not a realistic option. Unless, of course, one is willing to back-up that "no" with arbitrarily expensive legal wrangling (which also happens to blacklist the individual with other employers).
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