Dispatches: Season 2020, Episode 14

2020 - 14: Britain's Covid Job Crisis

As the furlough scheme comes to an end, the programme follows the response to a job advert for a minimum-wage server role at a Manchester restaurant. Almost 1,000 people apply, including Katie, a cabin services attendant; Faye, a cruise ship dancer; Jake, a hotel manager; and John, a ticket inspector. We get to know them, as well as Abi, the recruitment consultant in charge of narrowing down the field; and Kerry, a mum-of-two who lost her job at Bentley and is desperate to find a new position to avoid the family losing their home. Through the lens of this one position, Dispatches explores the jobs crisis brought on by Covid that is threatening to push unemployment over three million by Christmas.