Recession Watch

The rate of job losses in the public sector appears to have accelerated sharply in recent months.

We reported in our September issue that the British Council was shedding 500 jobs, but other recent announcements in the public sector include:

Nottingham City Council cutting 450 jobs; Gloucestershire County Council where 200 jobs are going in the next year with a possible further 300 disappearing after that; Oxfordshire County Council reducing its workforce by 500; Derby City Council cutting 465 jobs; South Lanarkshire Council using outsourcing to remove 150 jobs; the Metropolitan Police which has cut 400 jobs; East Lindsey and South Holland district councils merging departments with the loss of up to 90 jobs; Merseyside Fire Service where 80 jobs will go; Brent Council in north west London reducing its workforce by 300; and Aberdeen City Council getting rid of 600 jobs.

In the health service, Heatherwood & Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust is cutting 157 jobs at hospitals in Ascot and Slough.

Meanwhile, job losses continued in the private sector. Among the larger announcements in the last month were:

Energy: National Grid announced the closure of its Newcastle site with the loss of 189 jobs, and a further 137 job losses at Warwick and Northampton.

Engineering: BAe Systems is closing its Woodford aerospace factory near Manchester, with the loss of 630 jobs.

Motor: Harman International is shedding 216 jobs at its car speakers factory in Bridgend.