UK unemployment in the run up to lockdown was at its lowest it has ever been – far lower than the average in the European union.

Europe is one of the worst effected areas according to reports by the World Health Organisation. The eurozone economy is forecast to contract by 22% in the second quarter and the UK economy is expected to contract by 30%. The outbreak of the coronavirus has temporarily brought global economies to a standstill. 

The protracted outbreak of Covid 19 will lead to an extremely large increase in unemployment in the UK – reversing out the gains in employment seen in the last three years – projections of 5.3% would still see more employed than the peak of the last crisis. This would suggest that the economy could recover quicker.

The above figures depend on how long the lockdown persists and may not have taken into account the large amount of jobs created – particularly by retail giants Amazon (+100,000 jobs followed by +75,000) and supermarkets like Tesco, Aldi and Lidl (>30,000 jobs).

There is opportunity being created across the UK with people pivoting their businesses to adapt to the new ways of working.

The question remains, however, how will business look after the lockdown restrictions have been removed. In Wuhan, China, the conditions still have not returned back to ‘normal‘ – whatever that now means, despite the lockdown being lifted. How do businesses – particular in the leisure and tourism industry recover if people have to now operate under social distancing rules? How does the high street stop the rot?

My prediction is that without a vaccine it will be impossible for those industries to return back to revenues resembling those before the crisis – how can they change to adapt to the new climate and bring back the workforce they employed previously?]

This is the first in the series of blogs on this – like and share below to follow!