Employer of last resort

Short description: Least desirable employment option of workers in an economy

Employers of last resort (ELR) are employers in an economy to whom workers go for jobs when no other jobs are available; the term is by analogy with "lender of last resort". The phrase is used in two senses:

* undesirable jobs, often private sector, which are only taken as a last resort;
* a formal government job guarantee program, where the government promises to act as employer of last resort, employing all comers.

The sense of a job guarantee program is used and advocated by some schools of Post-Keynesian economists, notably by authors of Modern Monetary Theory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the Levy Economics Institute (both United States) and in the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (Australia), who advocate it as a solution for unemployment.

## Contents

* 1 Use
* 2 Government as employer of last resort
* 2.1 Proposals
* 2.2 Criticisms
* 2.3 Examples
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Use

Colloquially, this may refer to work which is undesirable to most people or pays poorly – for instance, in the United States economy, many fast-food and retail industry jobs represent last-resort employment for many workers.[1]

In economics, the phrase often refers to employers which can hire workers when no other employers are hiring. Their presence may soften the negative impact on employment of downturns in the business cycle. One example of such a program would be the Civilian Conservation Corps, a government agency intended to provide work to young, unemployed men. Military Keynesianism argues that the military can act as an employer of last resort, particularly when an underdeveloped geographic area experiences economic conscription.

## Government as employer of last resort

Main article: Finance:Job guarantee

### Proposals

A scheme was proposed by the Urban Coalition in the mid-1960s and received some support in the US Senate but was opposed by Lyndon B. Johnson.[2]

More recently L. Randall Wray suggested a proposal for the US where workers would be subject to federal work rules, jobs would be tailored to individuals' existing skills, and the US Labor Department would assess proposals for employment and keep a central register; he estimated a total cost of 1–2% of the US's GDP.[3] Marshall Auerback suggested the government hire all unemployed workers, paying close to the minimum wage.[4]

### Criticisms

Marshall Auerback mentioned a number of flaws which his proposal attempted to get around. Such a scheme might have an effect on wages for existing jobs. It would also potentially require a large and expensive state bureaucracy to administer.[4]

### Examples

On April 3, 2002 Argentina signed into law the social program Jefes y Jefas de Hogar Desempleados. It acts as an employer of last resort for heads of household who are unemployed and unable to find work.[5]

## See also

* Dead-end job
* Full Employment Abandoned
* Involuntary unemployment
* NAIBER
* National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
* Natural rate of unemployment

## References

1. ↑ Scott Sernau (2014). Social Inequality in a Global Age. SAGE Publications. p. 96.
2. ↑ "Nation: Employer of Last Resort". Time. Dec 29, 1967. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,844296,00.html.
3. ↑ Wray, L. Randall (June 8, 2011). "The Job Guarantee: A Government Plan for Full Employment". The Nation. http://www.thenation.com/article/161249/job-guarantee-government-plan-full-employment#. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Auerback, Marshall. "Time to Try Government as Employer of Last Resort". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marshall-auerback/time-to-try-government-as_b_360536.html. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
5. ↑ Kostzer, Daniel. "Argentina: A Case Study on the Plan Jefes y Jefas de Hogar Desocupados, or the Employment Road to Economic Recovery". The Levy Economics Institute. http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_534.pdf.

## External links

* An Introduction to the Employer of Last Resort Proposal (2008) from Dollars & Sense magazine
* The Employer of Last Resort Approach to Full Employment written L. Randall Wray (July 2000) from the US Centre of Full Employment and price stability.
* Employer of last resort website dedicated to reviewing information related to the employer of last resort philosophy.

* v
* t
* e

Employment

Classifications|

* Casual
* Contingent
* Full-time
* Part-time
* Self-employed
* Skilled
* Independent contractor
* Temporary
* Tenure
* Unskilled
* Wage labour

Hiring|

* Application
* Background check
* Business networking
* Contract
* Cover letter
* Curriculum Vitae (CV)
* Drug testing
* e-recruitment
* Employment counsellor
* Executive search (list)
* Induction programme
* Job fair
* Job fraud
* Job hunting
* Job interview
* Labour brokering
* Overqualification
* Onboarding
* Personality-job fit theory
* Person-environment fit
* Probation
* Reference
* Résumé
* Simultaneous recruiting of new graduates
* Underemployment
* Work-at-home scheme

Roles|

* Mentorship
* Co-op
* Employee
* Employer
* Internship
* Job
* Permanent
* Permatemp
* Supervisor
* Volunteer

Worker class|

* Blue-collar
* Green-collar
* Grey-collar
* Pink-collar
* White-collar

Career and training|

* Apprenticeship
* Avocation
* Career assessment
* Career counseling
* Career development
* Coaching
* Creative class
* Education
* Continuing education
* Continuing professional development
* E-learning
* Employability
* Further education
* Graduate school
* Induction training
* Initial Professional Development
* Knowledge worker
* Licensure
* Lifelong learning
* Practice-based professional learning
* Professional association
* Professional certification
* Professional development
* Professional school
* Reflective practice
* Retraining
* Vocational education
* Vocational school
* Vocational university
* Mentorship
* Occupational Outlook Handbook
* Practice firm
* Profession
* Tradesman
* Vocation

Attendance|

* Break
* Career break
* Furlough
* Gap year
* Leave of absence
* Long service leave
* No call, no show
* Sabbatical
* Sick leave
* Time clock

Schedules|

* Four-day week
* Eight-hour day
* 996
* Flextime
* Overtime
* Retroactive overtime
* Shift work
* Telecommuting
* Working time
* Workweek and weekend

Wages and salaries|

* Income bracket
* Income tax
* Living wage
* Maximum wage
* National average salary
* World
* Europe
* Minimum wage
* Canada
* Hong Kong
* Europe
* United States
* Progressive wage
* Singapore
* Overtime rate
* Paid time off
* Performance-related pay
* Salary
* Salary cap
* Working poor

Benefits|

* Annual leave
* Casual Friday
* Day care
* Disability insurance
* Health insurance
* Life insurance
* Marriage leave
* Parental leave
* Pension
* Sick leave
* Take-home vehicle

Safety and health|

* Epilepsy and employment
* Human factors and ergonomics
* Industrial noise
* Karōshi
* Protective clothing
* Occupational burnout
* Occupational disease
* Occupational exposure limit
* Occupational health psychology
* Occupational injury
* Occupational stress
* Repetitive strain injury
* Sick building syndrome
* Work accident
* Occupational fatality
* Workers' compensation
* Workplace phobia
* Workplace wellness

Equality|

* Affirmative action
* Equal pay for women
* Gender pay gap
* Glass ceiling

Infractions|

* Corporate abuse
* Accounting scandals
* Corporate behaviour
* Corporate crime
* Control fraud
* Corporate scandals
* Discrimination
* Dress code
* Employee handbook
* Employee monitoring
* Evaluation
* Labour law
* Sexual harassment
* Sleeping while on duty
* Wage theft
* Whistleblower
* Workplace bullying
* Workplace harassment
* Workplace incivility

Willingness|

* Boreout
* Civil conscription
* Conscription
* Dead-end job
* Extreme careerism
* Job satisfaction
* Organizational commitment
* McJob
* Refusal of work
* Slavery
* Bonded labour
* Human trafficking
* Labour camp
* Penal labour
* Peonage
* Truck system
* Unfree labour
* Wage slavery
* Workaholic
* Work aversion
* Work ethic
* Work–life balance
* Downshifting (lifestyle)
* Slow living

Termination|

* At-will employment
* Dismissal
* Banishment room
* Constructive dismissal
* Wrongful dismissal
* Employee exit management
* Exit interview
* Layoff
* Notice period
* Pink slip
* Resignation
* Letter of resignation
* Restructuring
* Retirement
* Mandatory retirement
* Retirement age
* Severance package
* Golden handshake
* Golden parachute
* Turnover

Unemployment|

* Barriers to Employment
* Depression
* Great Depression
* Long Depression
* Discouraged worker
* Frictional unemployment
* Full employment
* Graduate unemployment
* Involuntary unemployment
* Jobless recovery
* Phillips curve
* Recession
* Great Recession
* Great Recession job losses
* List of recessions
* Recession-proof job
* Reserve army of labour
* Types of unemployment
* Unemployment Convention
* Unemployment benefits
* Unemployment extension
* Unemployment insurance
* Unemployment rates
* Employment rates
* Employment-to-population ratio
* Structural unemployment
* Technological unemployment
* Wage curve
* Youth unemployment

See also templates

* Aspects of corporations
* Aspects of jobs
* Aspects of occupations
* Aspects of organizations
* Aspects of workplaces
* Corporate titles
* Organized labor

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