Be sad to see me out of work (4)
I believe the answer is:
mope
'be' is the definition.
(moping is a kind of being)
'me out of work' is the wordplay.
'out of' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters on the outside of others).
'work' becomes 'op' (short for opus).
'me' enclosing 'op' is 'MOPE'.
'sad to see' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mope that I've seen before include "Feel dejected and listless" , "Languish" , "Move around slowly and aimlessly" , "Poem (anag.)" , "Yield to low spirits with an odd poem" .)