Building resilience in the Blue Collar sector

Despite these strange and difficult times, the REC's latest Blue Collar webinar offered glimpses of hope from a sector which is leading the recovery of the jobs market. Polling of participants showed that the majority remain at least a little confident (65%) or very confident (21%) that the economy and their businesses will bounce back by the end of Q1 2021.

A look at the data

Our latest Report on Jobs shows that demand for short-term Blue Collar staff rose for the third consecutive month in August. The sector also registered the fastest upturn in short-term roles of all ten monitored job groupings. As for permanent hiring, the reduction in the number of permanent Blue Collar vacancies slowed in August.

Figures from our Jobs Recovery Tracker showed that:

• Job adverts in the construction and logistics sector have recovered much better than the hospitality and retail sectors
• Overall, Wales is leading the recovery for Blue Collar roles, while London, south-east England and the West Midlands are the furthest behind.

A mixed picture

The pandemic has, without a doubt, affected each sector in different ways. While hospitality and retail massively suffered due the effects of the prolonged lockdown, logistics saw an increase in demand and a higher appreciation for workers under the newly carved definition of "key workers".

To discuss the learnings and challenges faced by the industry, we heard from Mick Skerrett (Manpower and Chair of REC Drivers Group), Ciara Pryce (VGC Group and Chair of REC Construction Group) and John Guthrie, Employment Advisor of the trade body UKHospitality.

"The real upside is the key worker status for drivers and logistics, it has been a real appreciation, there has been so much good, unprecedented good press in terms of the logistics industry and what it delivers to us as a country.  The importance of drivers to the whole supply chain was massive."

Mick Skerrett

Mick also highlighted how agile the industry was in reaction to the challenges faced, with a significant spike in the food and parcel sector and van drivers. Key concerns are the inevitable elephants in the room - Brexit, plus a lack of new drivers coming into the sector due to COVID and IR35 changes next year. Somewhere around 20,000 to 30,000 new drivers have been unable to take their driving tests this year. The eventual increase in unemployment will widen this labour gap, which will become exacerbated without fast-track training and support. 

For the construction sector, Ciara's points matched REC's data, with London and the south-east being strongly affected. All large projects were put on hold and government support schemes were welcomed. Looking ahead, there is a recognition of the need to invest in soft skills and upskill managers to deal with a crisis. 

"Government support packages have been absolutely vital to the construction sector."

Ciara Pryce

As for the hospitality sector, there was a collapse in demand with the cut in international travel which is expected to hit a 73% decline in 2021 in comparison to 2019. 

On a more positive note, the hospitality industry has been recognised as a key employer in the UK, responsible for welcoming many young people into the jobs market, and employing almost 3 million people pre-COVID.

There will certainly be some challenging days ahead but with appropriate support from government, we hope the Blue Collar sector, as a whole, will come out of the pandemic stronger and more resilient than ever.

Beyond COVID-19

Looking at the future of recruitment following the pandemic, members underlined the issue of migrant workers lacking a Level 3 qualification. When polled during the webinar, 58% of respondents expect or already experience staff shortages caused by the absence of a "low-skilled" immigration route.

The REC research team have prepared a briefing on the Blue Collar sector labour market - please email policy@rec.uk.com to access it.