Following the recession, unemployment levels soared from around 5% to 8.5% in 2011. This caused concern for many people and put a massive strain on public resources and funding with many people having to reply on benefits.
During the recession many companies had to cut down on the number of staff they employed and the number of freelancers they used, which meant many people find themselves out of work.
After the UK came of out the recession, it took a long time for the economy to start to recover and bosses were dubious about taking on extra staff. The government have since introduced many incentives for companies to expand and take on new members of staff. These incentives are often financially linked, giving them funding to train staff and take on apprentices.
Only recently have we seen the unemployment levels drop again to that of what they were prior to the recession.