Spike in jobless figures show impact of Covid-19 on Ross-shire and looming Brexit uncertainty
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THE devastating impact of the Covid pandemic on Ross-shire has been laid bare in shocking statistics showing mushrooming joblessness caused by closures, business uncertainty and the looming spectre of Brexit.
According to Job Centre figures, those out of work in Dingwall have almost doubled since March.
The 94 per cent rise is a sobering snapshot of how the county has been affected with hotel and business closures and the impact of the wiped-out cruise liner trade on visitor spend starkly apparent.
The situation in the Easter Ross port town of Invergordon, hit by scores of cruise liner cancellations and the fallout from lockdown, is equally challenging. Despite a lower rise in joblessness – 64 per cent – the number of people out of work stands at 839, up from 511.
Highland-wide there was an increase of more than 97 per cent.
The figures have prompted Highland Council to launch a multi-agency initiative aimed at bouncing back.
But the outlook for next year is bleak, current projections suggesting that by next spring unemployment across the region could top 10,000 – with 2200 of those being young people, both figures more than three times the pre-Covid jobless levels.
The reasons behind the sharp rise are primarily the pandemic and the risk of a no deal Brexit. But a lack of opportunities for the young and long-term unemployed are also a concern.
Highland Council admits Covid has triggered a “crisis” in the labour market and has been spurred into action with plans for an economic task force.
Dingwall and Seaforth councillor Graham Mackenzie said a localised approach might alleviate some problems. He said: “There is no doubt the effects of the pandemic have been awful for job prospects in the Highlands and in particular Dingwall has suffered through that.
“I think we need to have some kind of local summit with the appropriate people from across the agencies to see what we can do to try and have a local resilience policy.”
Councillor Maxine Smith (Cromarty Firth) said: “I think Invergordon has suffered from the decline of the cruise ship sector and that will account for quite a lot of the unemployment – it just shows you how important the base and the port are to this area, that it can have such an effect.
“We shouldn’t just restrict this to Invergordon because these figures will include people from the outlying areas and that includes Alness, Evanton, Dornoch, Tain and so on.
“Certainly this needs to be addressed by Highland Council and the Scottish Government because Invergordon and Alness already feature quite strongly on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.I would welcome any new job initiative from the Scottish Government in light of these developments.”
Deputy leader of the Highland Council, Alasdair Christie, insisted: “We will get through this together.We all know what unemployment can do to communities, can do to the city, can do to the villages and towns."
He added: “The council’s range of jobs is phenomenal and we will be doing all we can to make sure we are able to offer job opportunities in the Highlands for people to make sure they can get jobs but on top of that they will make sure they get employment.”
Highland Council plots response to unemployment shock – Page 9.
