Amicus calls for action to save UK manufacturing

The manufacturing workforce isn’t just shrinking – it’s also ageing. Research by manufacturing union Amicus has found that 40% of workers in manufacturing are aged between 45 and 59, while only 10% are aged 16 to 24.

Derek Simpson, Amicus general secretary, said: “Despite being the most important sector of the UK economy, the government is allowing manufacturing to die.”

Amicus is campaigning for the introduction of stronger employment protection and greater investment in research and development, skills and training to boost the UK’s manufacturing productivity.

On the issue of public procurement, the union claims that the government’s strict adherence to “value for money” needs to be balanced against the impact of such an approach on high-value UK employment and on local communities.

It also wants the government to make redundancies a more difficult and expensive option for employers.

The manufacturing workforce has fallen below 3.4 million, meaning that three million manufacturing jobs have been lost since Labour came into power in 1997.