Employers of last resort are employers in an economy which workers go to for jobs when no other jobs are available; the term is by analogy with "lender of last resort". The phrase is used in two sense:
The sense of a job guarantee program is used and advocated by some schools of Post-Keynesian economists, notably Neo-Chartalists in the Kansas City School of Economics and the Australian Centre of Full Employment and Equity, who advocate it as a solution for unemployment.
Colloquially, this may refer to work which is undesirable to most people or pays poorly - for instance, in the United States economy, many fast-food industry jobs represent last-resort employment for many workers.
In economics, the phrase often refers to employers which can hire workers when no other employers are hiring. Their presence may soften the negative impact on employment of downturns in the business cycle. One example of such a program would be the Civilian Conservation Corps, a government agency intended to provide work to young, unemployed men. Military Keynesianism argues that the military can act as an employer of last resort.