Anyone else old enough to remember when News at Ten used to end its reports with a run down of company closures and job losses at the end of the forecast? Sandy Gall or Anna Ford would gravely inform the assembled nation of the closure of a steel-works or mass redundancies at a regional manufacturer, with a tally of total job losses for the day.
Occasionally there'd be a thin ray of good news - a service-based company, such as a contract cleaning company, a caterer or a security firm would make a few hirings - but the overall impression was apparent; the recession was well and truly happening. On a longer-term note, it also revealed that the nature and structure of the UK's employment base was shifting away from industry and toward services.
But what would it look like today if News at Ten's current anchors Mark Austin or Julia Etchingham introduced a similar strand? With Virgin Media axing 2000 jobs one day and BT 10,000 the next, the numbers look worse than back in the early 80s. And what's more, there doesn't seem to be any good news of any company or sector hiring anyone.
In another throwback, perhaps Mayor Boris should resurrect the giant unemployed totaliser so beloved by Ken (when he was still Red) and display it pointing toward the Houses of Parliament from where, once again, this whole sorry mess seems to have emanated.
