10,928 jobs go in just a day
Almost 11,000 jobs were wiped out in a few hours yesterday as the true cost of Labour’s failed economic policies was felt by families across the country.
BT announced it was slashing 10,000 posts, while construction equipment company JCB, truck maker Leyland and financial services group Friends Provident also wielded the axe.
The losses come just a day after unemployment reached an 11-year high of 1.82million. Fears are now mounting that more than two million will be out of work by Christmas, with the figure likely to rise as high as three million next year.
Communications giant BT said it had already shed 4,000 posts, with the remaining 6,000 to be gone by March. Stunned union leaders last night expressed shock at the scale of the cutbacks.
JCB announced 398 redundancies, despite its workforce recently agreeing to work a shorter week in a bid to avoid cuts. Sadly, their efforts were in vain. The company blamed a lack of orders.
Rising unemployment shows that Britain is paying the price for Gordon Brown’s failure to prepare for this economic downturn
Leyland, which has been operating from its Lancashire base for 116 years, also buckled in the faltering market, announcing plans to cut 250 jobs and extend its Christmas shutdown from one week to two. The company, which is Britain’s only remaining truck maker, blamed the cuts on a severe decline in demand. It has begun a 90-day consultation with staff.
Philip Hammond, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: “Rising unemployment shows that Britain is paying the price for Gordon Brown’s failure to prepare for this economic downturn.
“Years of his excessive borrowing have seriously damaged our economy.”
Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of the Unite union, said: “This is a dreadful blow for these workers and their families. It is yet another worrying sign that recession has UK manufacturing in its grip.
“The Government, as a stakeholder in the banks, must now move without delay to provide £13billion of industrial loans to this sector before we lose more of the jobs and skills so vital to our economy and our communities.”
Friends Provident is expected to slash 280 jobs from its Manchester base in the coming weeks. Unite claimed the cuts will lead to the centre closing.
A spokesman for the firm insisted last night that details were yet to be finalised.
BT bosses claimed their cuts were part of an efficiency drive and will mainly target agency workers, contractors and offshore staff, including those based in Indian call centres. Andy Kerr, deputy general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said: “It looks like most of the jobs will be going from the UK. We will be meeting BT as a matter of urgency to discuss the job cuts and we will insist on no compulsory redundancies.”
BT said it hoped to achieve the reduction through natural turnover and voluntary schemes.
Chief executive Ian Livingstone said the company was facing extremely difficult trading conditions and needed to cut costs.
The company has just announced an 11 per cent fall in second-quarter pre-tax profits to £590million.
BT had issued a profits warning, with the Global Services division, which provides IT networks to multi-national businesses, blamed for failing to deliver anticipated efficiency savings.
There was anger among many of the 160,000 staff, who said they learned of the job losses through the media, rather than from the company.
One disgruntled employee said: “I think if the company is going to shed this many UK jobs then it should have informed the staff before we found out on the news. It’s a real blow, especially at this time of year.”
The loss of 10,928 jobs adds to a week of gloom on the employment front, with thousands of redundancies announced in recent days, including 2,200 from IT firm Virgin Media. The Lib Dem work and pensions spokeswoman Jenny Willott said: “What is most worrying now is the speed at which unemployment is rising.
“The Government’s provision for people losing their jobs was meant for boom times, not the situation we face now.
“We’re concerned that too many job centres have been closed and too many staff have been cut to deal with the numbers facing job losses.”
Mr Brown’s spokesman insisted the Government was doing everything in its power to help those facing Christmas on the dole. “Clearly the Prime Minister has great sympathy with the people who are facing redundancy,” he said.
“It is a traumatic thing for people to be faced with.
“However, as we made clear yesterday when the unemployment figures came out, there are still considerable opportunities in the economy for people who find themselves redundant. For example, in the last quarter 260,000 signed on to benefits and 230,000 signed off.
“There are strong indications that employers are still looking to fill around 580,000 vacancies across the country in a range of sectors.
“We are doing everything we can to help those who become unemployed to get back to work as quickly as possible.”
Employment Minister Tony McNulty said: “Every job centre is taking steps to make sure that there is real help and support for people who sadly lose their jobs.
“We will work with employers in every area of the country so that the response to people’s needs is as flexible as possible.”
