Left with no job as virus decimates the economy
WHEN coronavirus arrived in the UK it brought fear and endless uncertainty.
As well as the threat to people’s health, it was also the impact the spread of the virus had on their employment, wellbeing and way of life.
As companies and businesses were forced to shut their doors, people were told to work from home and public services were restricted, the threat to people’s jobs increased as the UK went into lockdown.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that Wales saw a 71.2% increase in people claiming Universal Credit in early July compared to March this year.
During April to June this year there were 41,000 unemployed people in Wales. Between the same months, 432,000 people in Wales were economically inactive (not working or not available to work), which is 15,000 more than the same period last year.
During one working week in June, Citizens Advice said frontline advisers helped one person every two minutes with a redundancy issue in Wales and England.
Ron Blythe, from Canton in Cardiff, was one of around 2,500 people across the country who were this week told they would lose their jobs at Debenhams, which is currently in administration.
Mr Blythe claimed he was told he was being made redundant from his job of 17 years when his name was read out on a roll call during a conference call.
The 56-year-old said he received a text message telling him to log in to a conference call the next morning.
“We all logged in to this number and a rota was read and the store manager read a prepared statement then basically terminated our contracts for Friday. Then the call was ended, just like that.”
After 17 years working in the stock movement department in the Cardiff store, Mr Blythe said the “impersonal” way his redundancy had been handled had left him and his colleagues “discarded with no due process”.
Now in his late fifties, Mr Blythe fears his prospects are “not great” and his only option would be to sign up for Job Seekers Allowance and Universal Credit.
“It’s left a bad taste in the mouth. It’s left a lot of people feeling very upset and very unhappy.”
Debenhams fell into administration for the second time in a year in April and the firm has said the current trading environment for retailers was still “a long way from returning to normal”.
The job losses announced at the start of the week are on top of the 4,000 announced since May, meaning the retailer will have cut a third of its workforce during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Blythe, who had been on furlough since March, now plans to apply for redundancy through the government scheme.
He added: “We do understand why the redundancies have been announced, because the company is on its knees, struggling to keep jobs and premises.
“But the way it’s been done, it makes people think ‘what are you?’. The staff that have worked for the company, some of them for decades, deserve to be treated better.”
The joint administrators acting for Debenhams, FRP, said consultation had not been possible as the retailer was insolvent and had “limited” options.
A spokesman said: “In normal circumstances an employer proposing to make redundancies would embark on a period of consultation with its employees. But this is rarely possible in insolvency where the options available are limited and the administrators must consider their own duty to creditors.
“Those affected by redundancy will take no particular comfort from this, but the steps taken are in response to an unpredictable and challenging trading environment and aim to ensure the future viability of the business, while also meeting wider statutory obligations.”
Debenhams joins a number of retailers forced to close stores and cut jobs due to the pandemic.
The travel industry has been another sector badly hit when the country went into lockdown in March, with airlines forced to ground their planes.
British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic announced job cuts as a result of the downturn in travel caused by the global pandemic.
For Laura Andrews, the threat of redundancy twice in less than six months meant she had to look outside her love of flying for financial stability.
Miss Andrews, 34, spent her whole career as a member of cabin crew on airlines, including bmibaby, Jet2 and Flybe.
But as the pandemic grounded planes around the world, so too came the collapse of airlines and the loss of jobs.
Miss Andrews had to swap her senior job for night shifts at Amazon, work she is grateful to get.
“I feel really lucky that I’ve found work and it suits me with the hours,” she said.
She moved to Cardiff from the West Midlands in 2016 to further her career as she took on a more senior position with Flybe at its base in Wales.
But she was made redundant by Flybe when it closed its base in Cardiff in October last year ahead of the airline’s collapse on March 5.
She got another job in the flying industry with SAS Ireland just before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
After two weeks of training, Miss Andrews had spent her first day flying with the company when flights stopped around the world as coronavirus spread.
She has since spent the last five months on furlough and her job is at risk of redundancy again.
After spending 12 years working as cabin crew, she is now considering a change of career as her job with SAS Ireland is at risk of redundancy.
Looking for a change, she has now set up her own dog-walking and dog-sitting business, Wonderful Welsh Walkies.
Miss Andrews has also started working at Amazon in Swansea while she builds up her business.
Citizens Advice said that since lockdown the number of people it
has helped with redundancy issues has almost tripled compared to the same time last year.
Its web pages relating to redundancy have also been viewed more than half a million times during lockdown alone.
Dame Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “In a heartbreaking sign of our times, our frontline advisers are helping one person every two minutes with a redundancy issue.”
The theatre industry has also been massively affected by coronavirus, with theatres across the UK being forced to close their doors and cancel or reschedule shows.
Garry Lake, from Bridgend, has been living in London for the past 20 years and had been starring as Scar in The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Production was halted on March 16 and since then he has not been able to work.
Due to the high living costs in London he found himself unable to afford rent so he decided to move back home with partner Hayley, who is expecting their first child.
They are now living in a cottage while Mr Lake waits for theatres to reopen.
The 43-year-old said: “It’s a sad situation and it has been difficult financially but I am loving being back in Wales. When we do get the green light to head back into rehearsals I’ll be going back to rejoin the company but who knows when that will be.
“I have been lucky enough to work for Disney so if any of the shows survive it would be something like The Lion King.
“I am still contracted there but everyone is evaluating their own lives, and it has been interesting to step out of London and be able to sit back and enjoy the coast.
“There was a self-employment scheme but anyone who started working after a certain date is not able to apply so I fell through the cracks.
“I had some money from the Equity Benevolent Fund and I have been applying for different things like that.”
The global pandemic has caused a rise in the number of people applying for financial support as a result of job insecurity.
Staff at Swansea’s Jobcentre Plus had no choice but to switch to offering support over the phone and online during one of their busiest times.
At the beginning of lockdown, they received “eight to ten times” more claims for financial support than they would normally receive in that time.
Staff at the Jobcentre Plus said they had anticipated “floods of people” coming through the doors but so far that hasn’t happened.
Nicola Blackmore, who is part of the management team for the performance league, said: “Certainly since May we’ve been getting people back to work.
“There are jobs out there, it’s just about making sure that they have got the skills and are ready.”