I remember reading this when I was in middle school so late 1990's. Dystopian society. Jobs have been given to robots. Young adults can no longer get jobs so they have this trial program going on. Groups are teleported to what they believe is a virtual world and have to learn to survive there, they go three times; each time the ability and severity of an accident can become greater before being brought back.
I dont remember the author, name, any any character names either. I believe the groups were groups of five, and it seems they were actually teleported to another world, not virtually.