Almost 30,000 hospitality jobs at risk
Almost 30,000 hospitality jobs in Edinburgh are at risk despite a major UK government employment retention scheme, a union has warned.
With many businesses forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has put in place multi-billion-pound measures to aim to safeguard jobs. Latest figures suggest there are 28,500 jobs in Edinburgh tied to the hospitality sector – the third highest total in the UK.
The city’s business sector is already reeling after it was announced on Wednesday its International and Fringe festivals will not take place for the first time in 70 years. Unite the union has warned some firms are already choosing to pay people off across the country instead of putting them on furlough. An estimated two million people are employed in the UK’S hospitality trade, according to official figures.
Unite’s national officer for hospitality, Dave Turnbull, said: “These figures show just how many people rely on the hospitality industry for employment, and the severity of the dangers the coronavirus crisis poses to their livelihoods and the health of local economies in general.”
He warned many workers in the sector are “never more than a pay cheque away from the breadline”.
Mr Turnbull said the union was already coming across examples of businesses which had decided to lay staff off rather than place them on furlough under the UK govoverdraft ernment’s scheme. And he said there was “no excuse for companies not to join the scheme and so protect their workforces”.
“For bosses that don’t rehire fired staff or refuse to sign up to the job retention scheme, Unite’s message is clear – we will expose you, we challenge your behaviour and we will take legal action for unfair dismissals,” he said.
Hospitality trade association Ukhospitality also urged employers to sign up to the wage-support scheme. Its chief executive, Kate Nicholls, said “it will also put the sector in a much stronger position to help rebuild the economy.”