Covid-19 Manufacturing Monitor provides an accurate and timely barometer of the impact Covid-19 has had on the UK’s manufacturing sector.
The latest survey of manufacturers, found that the number of companies now operating in some capacity continues to grow, standing at just under 95%. However, despite this a quarter of companies plan to make redundancies in the next six months with a further 45% possibly planning to do so. At this stage, just under a third of companies do not plan to make redundancies.
The rate of decline in orders has increased compared to the last survey two weeks ago with the number of companies reporting order declines of more than half up from just under a quarter to just under a third (31.8%).
Furthermore, the number of companies who believe it will take more than a year to return to normal trading conditions has risen to 38%. The extent to which pessimism amongst companies has grown is highlighted by the fact the figure for the same question stood at just 17% of companies a month ago.
There is no disguising the fact these figures make for awful reading with the impact on jobs and livelihoods across the UK. Industry and Government must now leave no stone unturned to retain as many key skills as possible within the sector to ensure it is in a position to effectively recover when growth eventually returns, which at some point it will.
