Estimate for the number of pandemic job losses in York is halved

The number of job losses feared in York as a result of the pandemic has been halved.

About 17,500 job losses were expected in the city by business leaders.

But a council meeting heard that figure has since been revised – and the predicted job losses more than halved to about 8,500.

“It is almost certain that in the short term we know there are job losses coming, but there’s a wide range of official forecasts,” Tracey Carter, City of York Council’s assistant director for regeneration, told the executive meeting.

She said York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) initially predicted 17,500 job losses for the city but has halved that estimate.

She added: “That just shows that no one really knows what the true impact will be, but the reality is it’s going to be a quite challenging time.

“York is in a relatively good position compared to some other northern authorities.”

Skills strategy

Senior councillors are developing a skills strategy – to train residents and bring jobs to the city as part of efforts to recover from the pandemic.

Cllr Andrew Waller said work is taking place to address employment challenges.

Speaking about the future devolution deal for York and North Yorkshire he said: “The estimate for the funds needed for skills and training in the city is £15 million just for York over five years.

“That is something that has been factored into our asks to government.

“We recognise that will be the scale of funding that’s needed, so welcome the council’s commitment to establishing a city skills board to drive forward collaboration between business and education in the short and long term and developing a skill strategy to address the employment challenges we face as a city.”