I don’t know much of the history, but they may not have had such options. A servant in search of another job was absolutely dependent on a good reference from their employer, and if it didn’t work out, there was no public safety net. The government cut out such difficulties by organising their assignment and relocation. Jobs were there due to the war effort, not just production for the war, but women replacing men who had gone off to fight.
This seems surprising. Did servants not know that they had better-for-them options before WWI? What caused that ignorance and how was it stable?
I don’t know much of the history, but they may not have had such options. A servant in search of another job was absolutely dependent on a good reference from their employer, and if it didn’t work out, there was no public safety net. The government cut out such difficulties by organising their assignment and relocation. Jobs were there due to the war effort, not just production for the war, but women replacing men who had gone off to fight.