The North West lost almost 22,000 manufacturing jobs during the pandemic, GMB analysis shows.
The damning statistics are revealed alongside GMB’s Annual Congress, which takes place in Harrogate today [June 13, 2022].
They show 21,800 jobs in the sector disappeared between 2019 and 2021, a fall of 6.3 per cent in just two years.
In 2019, the North West supported 346,800 permanent and temporary manufacturing jobs
By the start of this year, the had fallen to 325,000.
Charlotte Childs, GMB National Officer, said:
“Almost 22,000 manufacturing jobs lost during the pandemic is devastating for communities in the North West.
“Unless Ministers address this urgently there could be worse to come.
“The race to net zero could revolutionise UK manufacturing; tens of thousands of new, green jobs in wind, solar, nuclear, and more.
“Instead, this Government seems determined to let them all disappear overseas.”
