A topical article illustrating my point.

Ontario is about to decide whether to overhaul Canada’s oldest nuclear power plant. Does it deserve a second life?

A closely related problem is what to do with the station’s 2,500 employees. Mr. Attieh said keeping so many people on payroll at an idle plant for a decade or longer could be difficult to justify. But, he added, “They need to keep the staff to maintain the station in operating conditions, and they do not want to lose expertise in running the station.”

Fits my definition of a jobs program.