706,300 Manufacturing Jobs Lost
Thursday 26th January 2012
THE RECESSION HAS COST 706,300
MANUFACTURING JOBS IN THE UK WITH AN AVERAGE 3,398 JOBS LOST PER
WEEK
Staffordshire with loss of 21,100
manufacturing jobs during the recession and stalled recovery tops
the UK league for manufacturing job losses
In the UK as a whole the recession has cost
706,300 manufacturing jobs. That is an average of 3,398 jobs lost
per week. In 2006/7 there were 3,546,100 employed in
manufacturing industry in the UK. The latest figure shows
employment of 2,839,800 in 2010/11. This fall is on top of the
1.25m fall between 1994/5 and 2006/7.
The number of workers employed in
manufacturing in Staffordshire has fallen by 21,100 from 74,200
employed in 2006/7 to 53,100 employed in 2010/11. This puts
Staffordshire top of the UK league for the area with the highest
number of manufacturing job losses during the recession and the
stalled recovery.
Next in the league for the fall in the number
of manufacturing workers are: Worcestershire, 20,100; Kent, 19,800;
Hampshire, 18, 600; Cheshire East, 17,700; Leeds, 16,100;
Warwickshire, 16,100; Northamptonshire, 16,100; Birmingham, 15,900;
and Hertfordshire 12,900. Set out in the table below are the
details for the top 20 areas in the UK for the fall in
manufacturing employment. Set out in a PDF below is the change in
the numbers employed in manufacturing in 204 areas in the UK in the
year to July 2006 to June 2007 compared with the year to July 2010
to June 2011.
In the West Midlands region the number of
manufacturing workers has fallen by 119,000 from 426,000 workers
employed in manufacturing in July 2006 to June 2007 to 307,000 in
July 2010 to June 2011. This is the largest fall for any region in
the UK. In the same period the fall was South East, 100,800;
North West, 97,000; London, 73,200; Yorkshire and The Humber,
57,000; East Midlands, 55,600; East, 47,400; Scotland,
46,500; Wales, 40,300, North east , 38,500; South West,
24,600; Northern Ireland , 6,200. See Notes 2 to
editors for the full details for all twelve regions.
All these figures come from a new GMB study of
official data released by the ONS. See note 1 below for sources.
Set out as a PDF at the foot of this release on the GMB website
http://www.gmb.org.uk/
is the data for 204 areas in Great Britain. Also on the GMB website
as PDFs at the foot of this release are 11 regional press released
on this subject.
Table 1 Top 20 areas in UK for the loss of
manufacturing jobs since 2006/7
| |
Local council areas
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Jul 2006-Jun
2007
|
Jul 2010-Jun
2011
|
change
|
|
1
|
Staffordshire
|
74,200
|
53,100
|
-21,100
|
|
2
|
Worcestershire
|
57,700
|
37,600
|
-20,100
|
|
3
|
Kent
|
61,100
|
41,300
|
-19,800
|
|
4
|
Hampshire
|
83,400
|
64,800
|
-18,600
|
|
5
|
Cheshire East
|
36,500
|
18,800
|
-17,700
|
|
6
|
Leeds
|
49,300
|
33,200
|
-16,100
|
|
7
|
Warwickshire
|
47,400
|
31,300
|
-16,100
|
|
8
|
Northamptonshire
|
65,100
|
49,200
|
-15,900
|
|
9
|
Birmingham
|
56,200
|
43,300
|
-12,900
|
|
10
|
Hertfordshire
|
62,400
|
50,400
|
-12,000
|
|
11
|
Essex
|
70,800
|
59,100
|
-11,700
|
|
12
|
Sandwell
|
24,900
|
13,600
|
-11,300
|
|
13
|
Cumbria
|
38,800
|
27,800
|
-11,000
|
|
14
|
Somerset
|
41,400
|
30,500
|
-10,900
|
|
15
|
Oxfordshire
|
35,800
|
25,200
|
-10,600
|
|
16
|
County Durham
|
42,000
|
31,600
|
-10,400
|
|
17
|
Surrey
|
47,900
|
37,500
|
-10,400
|
|
18
|
Derbyshire
|
67,700
|
57,600
|
-10,100
|
|
19
|
Barnet
|
15,200
|
5,300
|
-9,900
|
|
20
|
Lancashire
|
80,900
|
71,200
|
-9,700
|
Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary, said
“The Downing Street led recession accelerated the
haemorrhaging of jobs from UK manufacturing. In the UK as a whole
the first four years of this recession has cost 706,300
manufacturing jobs. That is an average of 3,398 job losses a
week.
This fall is on top of the 1.25m fall
between 1994/5 and 2006/7 an average of 2005 job losses a
week.
Governments since Thatcher, from both
parties, have ignored warnings from GMB and others that this
migration of manufacturing jobs is not sustainable. This “march of
the makers” – two million of them in sixteen years- is the most
tragic economic story from Britain in the last two
decades.
Unless action is taken to support and
develop manufacturing the economic future for this nation is bleak.
Only the British state has enough strength and power to halt and
reverse the decline. This strength and power must be mobilised
without delay to support a GMB programme as follows:
The creation of a strategic investment
bank that could raise large sums of money in the commercial markets
backed by a smaller capital base provided by the
government.
Increased support for medium-sized
companies in the UK, and new ways to encourage small firms to grow
so they can employ more people and supply big
industry.
A smarter approach to procurement -
other countries make a much better use of public money to boost
their own industries - where every pound of public money in the UK
is spent encouraging the development of a modern, highly skilled
economy.”
Urgent action on skills to deal with
the skills shortages plague the UK. Germany has many more
apprentices and a long-established dual vocational system which
puts the country in a much better place than the UK.
The creation of a fairer economic
model - a UK version of the social market, with a stronger role for
unions and employer organisations, to include the introduction of
employee representatives on works councils or supervisory boards,
as exists in Germany.
There should be a concentration of
effort on high skill, high value manufacturing sectors - for
example in the field of environmental technology - on those British
companies most likely to succeed in the face of global
competition.
UK manufacturing should be used as the
supply chain in the multibillion pound capital investment programme
needed to up-grade and modernise the UK’s
infrastructure.”
Ends
Contact: Keith Hazelwood, GMB National
Secretary on 07730 434768 or 0208 947 3131 Phil Davies 07850 966
465 Steve Pryle, GMB Press Officer on 07821 289880 or Rose Conroy,
GMB Press Officer on 07974 251823
Full Table of
Figures
Related release
for the East of England
Related
release for the East Midlands
Related release
for London
Related release for
the North East
Related release
for the North West
Related
release for Scotland
Related release for
the South East
Related release
for the South West
Related release
for Wales
Related
release for the West Midlands
Related
release for Yorkshire & The Humber
Notes to editors:
1. Source
Annual Population Survey from the ONS. Crown Copyright Reserved
[from Nomis on 24 January 2012]. Set out in a PDF above on the GMB
website is the change in the numbers employed in manufacturing in
204 areas in GB in the year to July 2006 to June 2007 compared with
the year to July 2010 to June 2011.
2. Number of
workers employed in the manufacturing industry by region
| |
|
change between 1994/5 and
2006/7
|
Jul 2006-Jun
2007
|
Jul 2010-Jun
2011
|
change
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
United Kingdom
|
-1,251,300
|
3,546,100
|
2,839,800
|
-706,300
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
West Midlands
|
-203,000
|
426,000
|
307,000
|
-119,000
|
|
2
|
South East
|
-143,600
|
438,400
|
337,600
|
-100,800
|
|
3
|
North West
|
-184,000
|
444,000
|
347,000
|
-97,000
|
|
4
|
London
|
-84,700
|
213,300
|
140,100
|
-73,200
|
|
5
|
Yorkshire and The Humber
|
-113,500
|
349,500
|
292,500
|
-57,000
|
|
6
|
East Midlands
|
-123,700
|
361,300
|
305,700
|
-55,600
|
|
7
|
East
|
-113,800
|
329,200
|
281,800
|
-47,400
|
|
8
|
Scotland
|
-125,300
|
250,700
|
204,200
|
-46,500
|
|
9
|
Wales
|
-59,000
|
177,000
|
136,700
|
-40,300
|
|
10
|
North East
|
-32,700
|
163,300
|
124,800
|
-38,500
|
|
11
|
South West
|
-70,100
|
294,900
|
270,300
|
-24,600
|
|
12
|
Northern Ireland
|
+1,060
|
98,500
|
92,300
|
-6,200
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|