Figures expose manufacturing employment slump
The number of jobs in the UK manufacturing sector plummeted by 16 per cent over the past five years, new figures reveal.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the number of jobs available in manufacturing has fallen from 4.2 million to 3.5 million since 1998.
Manufacturing, which accounted for 17 per cent of all UK jobs in the spring of 1998, fell to just 14 per cent this year, with the biggest job losses in the textile and leather products industries, where employment fell by around half, the ONS said.
Other sectors that have faced job cuts include transport equipment, electrical and optical equipment, metals, chemicals, paper and printing.
Unions have been issuing warnings that the sector is in crisis.
Derek Simpson, general secretary of the Amicus trade union, said: ‘Not only are 10-12,000 manufacturing jobs being lost every week in the UK but they are being replaced by low-skilled, low-paid and insecure jobs.
‘These statistics are devastating, not only for the individuals and families affected, but for the entire UK economy in the longer term.’
Manufacturing firms employ around 2.6 million men and just under one million women in Britain.
Gillette, the razors, batteries and toiletries producer, has announced today that it is carrying out a review of its European blade and razor operations. The group employs 450 staff at its factory at Isleworth, Middlesex.
In February bagless vacuum cleaner company Dyson caused an outcry by switching manufacturing operations to Asia, with the loss of 800 jobs, citing cheaper production costs.
