13 June 2022

170,000 UK manufacturing jobs lost during pandemic says GMB

The UK lost 170,000 manufacturing jobs during the pandemic, GMB analysis suggests.

Car assembly
© Lenny Kuhne/Unsplash

The statistics are revealed alongside GMB’s Annual Congress, which takes place in Harrogate today. The stats show 170,400 jobs in the sector disappeared between 2019 and 2021, a fall of almost 6% in two years.

In 2019, the UK supported 2.9 million permanent and temporary manufacturing jobs, by the start of this year, the had fallen to 2.7 million. Every region and nation in the UK has experienced a decline in manufacturing employment, GMB says.

Commenting on the statistics, Charlotte Childs, GMB National Officer said, ‘The race to net zero could revolutionise UK manufacturing; tens of thousands of new, green jobs in wind, solar, nuclear, and more.’

She expressed concern that the UK is dropping jobs while other countries thrive in these areas.