labour exchange

English

Noun

labour exchange (plural labour exchanges)

1. (dated, UK) An employment agency, a job centre.
   • 1963 February, “Nobody runs this railway, mate”, in Modern Railways, page 75:

     Isn't it taking candour unwisely far to anticipate clueless responses from some station staff and excuse them on the grounds that "some of the chaps you see in uniform have just arrived from the labour exchange"?

   • September 8 2022, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Against her father’s wishes, at the age of 18 Elizabeth registered at a labour exchange and undertook a vehicle maintenance course at Aldershot, Hampshire, learning how to strip an engine.

   • 2023 March 22, Mike Esbester, “Staff, the public and industry will suffer”, in RAIL, number 979, page 38:

     Wadebridge area railwaymen were reported in the local press as "worried", while National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) Wadebridge branch secretary W J Hambly believed "the rail closures will mean dole queues at the Labour Exchange for many".

References

• “labour exchange”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.