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Government job retraining recommendations website offers little hope for musicians

By | Published on Thursday 8 October 2020

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UK Chancellor Of The Exchequer Rishi Sunak continues to insist that he was absolutely, definitely, certainly and undeniably misquoted when ITV News reported that he had told musicians everywhere to re-train and get a new job if they are unable to work as a result of the COVID shutdown. Nevertheless, his government has still put live a new website telling people what profession they should move into if COVID has put an end to their current career path.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is not proving the most helpful service. The site asks a series of pretty generic multiple choice questions about your personality and working style, before offering up a selection of professions you might want to move into.

From there, it drills down further to suggest specific jobs that would suit you. However, even though this service has seemingly been set up to help people who have lost work because of the pandemic, it frequently seems to suggest jobs equally unstable – or even more so – in current circumstances.

Among the musicians testing out the new service was Mary Epworth, who revealed on Twitter: “I got those famously solid professions ‘circus performer’ and ‘entertainer'”.

“Sadly it just gave me ‘creative’, whatever that is”, added Dan Le Sac.

If you’re wondering – and I’m sure you are – my top new job suggestion was ‘actor’. Although I think I might take one from further down the list – ‘stunt performer’.

It did also offer various iterations of the job I already do too, which either means I’m in the perfect role already or the government doubts my ability to do it.

Either way, I think I faired better than fellow music journalist Chris Salmon, who – when the jobs identified by this site are made mandatory by ‘Boris’ Johnson and his gang – is going to have to become a bingo caller.

Discover what the most innapropriate job you could take up in these times would be here.



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