Fact Service September 2020

Issue 35

Manufacturing recovering, but cutting staff

Manufacturing production has risen at the fastest pace since May 2014 according to research by information provider IHS Markit – yet firms are continuing to lay off workers.

According to Markit, the main factors driving production and new orders higher have been the re-opening of manufacturers and their clients following lockdowns and a loosening of other restrictions. But, it cautions, this has not supported a similar recovery or stabilisation in demand for staff, with job losses recorded for the seventh successive month.

The research found that manufacturing employment declined at one of the steepest rates during the past 11 years, with reductions seen across the consumer, intermediate and investment goods industries. Small, medium and large-sized firms also implemented similarly marked cuts to staff numbers, it said.

https://www.markiteconomics.com/Public/Home/PressRelease/762f9315aac14ae68efb2f7b117e0533