Up to 27,000 jobs could be lost in Stoke-on-Trent as a result of the coronavirus crisis, a new report has found.
Research carried out by Staffordshire University Business School – on behalf of the Stoke-on-Trent Hardship Commission – highlights the potential future impact of the pandemic on the local economy.
The report found that the city’s high proportion of retail and low-skilled service jobs – coupled with low pay and high poverty rates – mean it is even more vulnerable than it was prior to the pandemic.
Report authors are now calling for a more generous benefit system and a ‘proactive approach’ to boosting employment to save the city falling into complete destitution.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a further £30bn bail-out package last week, but Professor David Etherington – who is the lead author of the report – believes more help is needed to ‘kickstart’ the economy after lockdown.
He said: “Government rescue packages are insufficient to guarantee a safety net for those who will have to rely on benefits and other forms of social protection.
“As well as raising the level of benefits, cancelling out benefit delays and stopping the implementation of benefit sanctions is also important.”
In the report, Prof Etherington outlines how many jobs could be lost in each sector in Stoke-on-Trent.
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He estimates that 9,900 jobs could be lost in the wholesale/retail/motor sector and a further 9,240 roles could go in the transport and storage industry.
In addition, 6,008 workers in the accommodation and food sector – or three-quarters – could be lost.
However, an increased demand in health and social care could see the creation of around 7,400 new jobs in the sectors.
Prof Etherington says, to tackle unemployment, the Government’s job retention scheme could be replaced with a ‘job rotation and guarantee scheme’ which would see the unemployed matched with organisations where existing workers need time away for training and upskilling.
Steve Wyn Williams, chairman of the Hardship Commission, said: “This report is a vital addition and update to the Hardship Commission Report we produced last year and, in particular, underlines the threats of the current Covid crisis on poverty and destitution in the city.
"We welcome the proposals in the report for more proactive and comprehensive policies to tackle unemployment.”
The report comes as new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that the coronavirus crisis has claimed 650,000 jobs since the 海角视频 went into lockdown.