Sponsored by
Dole queues are getting longer as the slowdown bites
Unemployment in Hampshire is gathering momentum at a worrying pace, the latest JobCentre numbers show.
The number of dole claimants in Portsmouth broke through the 3,000 mark in August and now stands at 3,162, up by almost a tenth on the start of the year.
Hampshire itself has seen an increase of exactly one third since the beginning of 2008 to over 10,000, but for some towns the picture is especially harrowing.
When broken down, the job figures show the number of jobseekers in Fareham has risen by 50 per cent since January.
Gosport is also suffering disproportionately, with a 35 per cent rise in benefit claimants over the same period.
Jobs culls at two major employers in Gosport – Covidien, formerly known as Tyco, and Huhtamaki – have contributed to the rise.
Finnish plastics manufacturer Huhtamaki announced in April it was scaling down production at its Rowner Road facilities by 90 staff, and earlier this year medical equipment manufacturer Covidien, in Fareham Road, also announced it was axing around 310 jobs.
Added to a raft of High Street closures, including shops such as Woolwich and Currys, and the overall trend is not positive.
Caroline Collings, deputy chairwoman of Portsmouth City Growth and chairwoman of the south east Hampshire FSB, said: 'We're going to see swings and roundabouts. More jobs will be lost, but there are also areas clearly in growth – VT is an obvious example with the carriers, but plainly retail is affected in the city.
'One of the main reasons for Gosport is because around 50 per cent of the workers work outside of the town, and anytime anywhere outside Gosport sheds jobs, it registers in Gosport, because people sign on in their local centre.
'There are developments on MoD land in the west of Gosport, and that will open employment opportunities. But whether this is the economic climate or a long-term thing, I don't know.
'We tend to use the immediate economic circumstances as a reason. But with someone like Tyco, I think it was going to happen because their manufacturing process was quite out-dated.'
The higher number of people in Fareham claiming Jobseekers' Allowance may more directly attributable to the turmoil in the Square Mile and beyond, due to the relatively high concentration of financial service sector industries in the region.
In the last several months the region has seen the number of employees in Zurich's 1,300-strong UK headquarters, based at Parkway, Whiteley, cut by 170, and the disastrous collapse of Solent Mortgage Services, a sub-prime lender based at Cams Hall Estate, which had slimmed down its staff from 180 nationwide from the start of the year to a rump of around 40 by summer, before imploding altogether last month.
Captain Jimmy Chestnutt, director general of the Southampton and Fareham Chamber of Commerce, said: 'The Fareham region is home to many of these services and some have recently announced a significant reduction in staffing levels, so it is not surprising that there has been an increase in those claiming the Jobseeker Allowance.
'The chamber has every sympathy for those who now find themselves claiming, but those coming from the financial services sector are usually well-qualified and highly-skilled, and so better placed than many to seek and find new opportunities.'
As for retail, which is set for the Christmas rush to begin in the coming weeks, even sector bosses are pessimistic about any meaningful improvement in staff levels until deep into next year.
'Retailers have started their Christmas sales promotions in Cascades, so I know they are looking for sales staff,' said Rhoda Joseph, manager of Commercial Road complex Cascades Shopping Centre.
'It's whether they're looking for the same number of hours. A lot are going to be quite tight with the number of hours they have been allocated, and that's different from previous years. Instead, some are going to have fewer staff on peak hours, in order to be able to put some on the later shifts.
'Christmas will be okay, because as a nation we like it, but it won't be wonderful by any means. After Christmas, January, February, March are going to be tight.
'That'll pass, but in the meantime maybe some smaller businesses will have to shed staff.'
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 15 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 14 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
