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Devon towns under pressure

  • by JW

East Devon is facing an uncertain future job-wise, whatever the promises for our ‘business parks’ are made:

Futures Forum: Automation and the future of work > How secure are East Devon’s new warehousing jobs?

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Otherwise, certainly in Sidmouth where unemployment is practically non-existent, the job-offer is nevertheless predominently in the low-paid hospitality and care industries:

Low wage seaside

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Plus, the high street faces increasing pressure:

Sidmouth loses yet another high street bank

More shops to close on Sidmouth’s high street

Cash machines disappearing from our high streets

Raising car parking charges: “Given the current state of the high street, this is not the time to put up prices.”

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The Sunday Times today takes us to Devon:

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The towns that aren’t working

Storm clouds are gathering over the economy, made more threatening by Brexit uncertainty, says Robert Watts

The Sunday Times, 

It was raining in Newton Abbot last Tuesday, but there was something more menacing in the air than the icy drizzle blowing up the River Teign. The grim climate of the local labour market is plain to see from a trawl of vacancies in the town’s job centre, which recently moved to the local council offices to provide “better value” for taxpayers. Of 381 local positions on offer, only 15 pay more than £30,000 — well below the average full-time salary in the UK of £35,423.

The towns that aren’t working | The Times

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Sidmouth lost its jobcentre some years ago, much to the annoyance of the Chamber of Commerce:

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