People previously working in the lowest paid job groups have made up nearly half of the rise in dole queues since 2008, according to a TUC analysis published today ahead of the latest official unemployment figures on Wednesday.
The TUC analysis shows that the lowest paid workers have borne the brunt of job losses over the last three years.
Sales and elementary service and admin jobs are responsible for 41 per cent of the claimant count rise since 2008, even though they represent less than 20 per cent of the workforce.
The two job categories have the lowest pay rates of all occupations at just £6.55 an hour.
The number of dole claimants who have previously worked in sales jobs has almost trebled since the start of the recession in April 2008 to reach 324,625 in August 2011 (the most recent available figures). The number of sales vacancies has also fallen by six per cent over the same period.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “While millions of people have suffered since the financial crash, those in low-paid work have paid a particularly heavy price in terms of job losses.
Elementary service and admin occupations – such as labourers, bar and catering staff and cleaners – have had the second sharpest rise in claimant count unemployment, almost doubling from 86,250 in April 2008 to reach 168,015 in August 2011.
More than one in ten women work in sales jobs – where they outnumber men by two to one, so further losses in this sector will hit women’s job prospects in the private sector hard, at the same time as public sector job losses are disproportionately hitting women, according to the TUC.
Brendan Barber said: “There are over three million people across the UK in sales, admin and service jobs so this sharp rise in unemployment is a major concern.”
The latest labour market figures published by the Office for National Statistics this week are expected to confirm that unemployment is now at its highest level since the mid-nineties and higher than any point during or after the recent recession.
Unemployment currently stands at 2.510 million, and reached a post-2008 peak in November 2010-January 2011 at 2.518 million.
“People are desperate to see where new jobs are going to come from. But the government’s rigid austerity plan is killing off their job prospects and stifling business growth. The Bank of England has started its plan B, it’s time for the Chancellor to catch up and change course,” Brendan Barber added.
Think this has always been the case. Sure. Senior managers are released from time to time, but during large layoffs, larger numbers of lower paid folks are typically shown the door. Although over the last few years I’ve seen VP level managers getting laid off more.