Jobs figures may look good from the boardroom, but day-to-day reality of work tells a different story

THE obscenity of claims that we have secured full employment (Business, April 18) has to be challenged, and the pretence that the local economy is improving rapidly has to be exposed.

Recent statements by a leading local banker that we are “effectively at full employment” have been unquestioningly reported and repeated. The reality of local life tells a very different story.

Let’s dismantle these offensive and contrived myths with some stark realities.

Recent research reveals that 370,000 people in Northern Ireland are living in poverty. The percentage of people in work in Northern Ireland remains well below the UK average and is the lowest of all 12 UK regions.

The number of people here not looking for a job remains the highest in the UK.

There are thought to be 16,000 people here on zero-hours contracts. Zero-hours contract workers earn significantly less than regular employees, pay less tax and National Insurance and are more reliant on tax credits. These jobs offer no security, no career path and no personal development.

As the trade unions’ Better Work, Better Lives campaign points out, Northern Ireland has been the subject of greater cuts than the majority of the other UK regions.

As the quality of jobs here continues to decline and as Invest NI and others continue to promote Northern Ireland as a low-wage economy, the view from the boardroom of a bank might look healthy and optimistic.

However, for the vast majority of working people and for those in search of a job, the reality is very different and the outlook very grim.

CHRIS BAILIE AND GEMMA WEIR Workers Party