I'd like to pose a question. If you could magically give a job to all the unemployed (or underemployed) what would they do?

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that the effective unemployment rate is 20%. We put these people to work and, presumably, they have more money to spend. Let's assume that demand also goes up by 20% (not realistic since the unemployed aren't spending zero, but just as a talking point).

If they spend the money on typical consumer items then manufacturing will go up. But, most manufacturing is already highly efficient and has spare capacity, so adding an extra 20% might need hardly any new employees (and outsourcing means that many would be elsewhere anyway).

With more employment services might increase which could add to the number of workers needed. If the poor have one haircut per month and now go to one per week, then the need for barbers goes up (slightly).

So, it is not clear that there is anything for the unemployed to do that is economically viable. One approach is to provide government employment as was done in the US during the depression. If a country chooses this path then what projects would be undertaken? The WPA produced some nice art work, but this was a marginal achievement. The CCC did some good forestry work, but mechanization means that a similar project these days would need far fewer workers.

My guess is that the amount of undone work in advanced societies is fairly small (although the US has lots of neglected infrastructure that could absorb workers, but this is supposed to be a discussion about the EU). Perhaps in highly advanced societies the solution is to cut down the amount of work each person does, in other words a variation of job sharing.

If the goal of eliminating unemployment is to reduce poverty than this should be treated separately. My 2 cents on how to eliminate poverty (in a US example) is here:

Eliminate Poverty


Policies not Politics
---- Daily Landscape