There could be more employment pain for Crawley according to a local jobs expert.

Andrew Ayres from Rewards Training runs apprenticeship schemes in the area and says with Gatwick particularly hard hit by the pandemic and the furlough scheme ending we could see more people lose their jobs.

“With 1,400 jobs already gone at the airport – there are going to be more when the furlough scheme unwinds – we’ve got to be particularly careful to protect young people in the community.”

He says that the best way of doing that is to offer training that can plug the skills gaps in the local economy – an issue he says predates the pandemic.
“At the moment, we’re seeing an initial demand in the hospitality sector as that comes out of hibernation – there’s a particular need for chefs – but other sectors will be slower to come back,”

“We really need to make young people aware of the schemes that are out there.”

It echoes the warnings from the World Bank who say not taking action could throw away the potential of 1.8 billion young people.

As the Bank launches its annual Youth Summit, Mamta Murthi, vice president for human development says:
“We know from long term studies that when it’s difficult in these early stages of entering the jobs market, this has a long term impact on employment prospects, on earning opportunities and on having a fulfilling and meaningful life,”

Elise Lemon and Emily Salmon, both 18, were on apprenticeships at Gatwick airport when the pandemic hit and spoke to the BBC about their experience.

“We were furloughed, but then pretty much kept in the dark – it just kept being extended,” says Emily. Facing redundancy and the loss of their training places, they both managed to pivot their careers into a new sector, and enrolled in new office-based apprenticeships.

“I feel really thankful I could find something straight away,” says Elise, who’s now considering where her career may take her.
“Crawley is quite a small town, so looking for things somewhere like London might be a good way to progress.”

Despite still facing an uncertain jobs market when their training ends, they are undeterred by any speculation over how the pandemic may have changed things.

“We’re being told our jobs will change, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have changed anyway,” says Emily. “Business is always changing. We’ve dealt with so much over past year, if things change again, we know that we can do it.”

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