Redundancies in Chelmsford are unfortunately becoming part and parcel of everyday life with job losses being announced on a regular basis. In these difficult financial times, organisations such as local councils have had their budgets slashed and the quickest way to make savings is to reduce the number of staff they employ.

The most recent figures show that the total number of employee jobs in Chelmsford was 79,100, with over 85% of these positions being found in the services sector, which includes such industries as hotels & restaurants, financial services, IT, public sector administration, health, education, and tourism. These areas of business are some of the hardest hit during the cost saving measures and consequently the number of people claiming job seekers allowance (JSA) in Chelmsford has more than doubled since its low point in Spring of 2008.

The latest figures for Chelmsford, issued for January 2011, showed that the number of JSA claimants was 2,733, a rise of 5.4% on December 2010. This relates to an unemployment rate for Chelmsford of 2.5% against a national average of 3.7%. However, these figures are much lower than the period between February 2009 and April 2010, which showed a monthly average figure of around 3,000 claimants, or an unemployment rate of approximately 4.0%.

Despite the latest rise in Chelmsford's unemployment figures, there are still plenty of jobs available at Job Centre Plus. A total of 767 unfulfilled positions were shown to be on offer at the end of January 2011, this being part of the 23,414 available in the East of England, and 226,388 nationwide. These figures do not include those jobs being advertised with recruitment agencies or by individual businesses in the Chelmsford area so there are jobs to be found for those looking for work.

Over the past couple of years there have been a number of high profile redundancies in Chelmsford. It seems that no sector has escaped from having to reduce their workforce from the aforementioned council, to schools, the police, and local businesses. Here are some of the more notable announcements...

Essex County Council Job Losses
Whilst not all the jobs being cut directly impact Chelmsford, Essex County Council recently announced a total of 1,200 jobs would be lost during 2011/12, of which 450 would be compulsory redundancies. The cost of these redundancy packages is expected top £20 million. Jobs being cut would come through natural waste, the non-renewal of fixed contracts, and voluntary redundancy.

Chelmsford Council in Strong Position to Deal With Cuts
Thanks to years of prudent savings, the deputy leader of Chelmsford Council claimed that they were in a strong position to deal with a 26% cut in their budget over the next four years. Having already made savings of £7.5 million over the past six years, John Galley said that the council was not planning any major redundancies in the next year and that only 100 jobs had been lost over the past 18 months, of which only 26 were compulsory.

Essex Police Job Losses
It is not widely known, that due to Police being sworn officers of the crown, it is against the law to make them redundant. As a result of this, and a need to make some £45 million savings over the next four years, vacancies which come up when officers retire, transfer or resign, which not be filled. It is estimated that by 2015, there will be 400 less police officers and 700 less support staff in the Essex Police force, and this will obviously have a knock on effect to the policing in Chelmsford.

Chelmsford Education Job Losses
Education in Chelmsford has not escaped the swingeing cuts either. Due to the falling numbers of students, St. Peter's College, based in Fox Crescent, Chelmsford will be closing in August 2011. All teaching staff and non-teaching staff have been advised that they are being made redundant and no pupils were admitted to the college for the current educational year.

Chelmsford Business Cuts Working Hours
In order to cut costs and minimise the amount of redundancies, companies in Chelmsford, and all over the UK, are seeking new ways of keeping their workforce intact. The cost of redundancy payouts can be high so businesses need to find a solution of retaining trained employees so when the economic situation becomes brighter, they are ready to exploit the opportunity.

One of Chelmsford's biggest employers, e2v, took the pre-emptive step 18 months ago to reduce their workers hours, and cut their working week to three days in order to cut costs and give the company future a chance. Having made several of its workforce redundant over the previous couple of years, it was seen by management as a logical step to cement the science company's future. It is pleasing to report, that e2v, formerly part of world famous Marconi, has since gone from strength to strength.

School Sport in Chelmsford to Suffer after Cut-Backs Announced
Despite the Government performing a partial backtrack on cuts to the school sports programmes, headteachers are still facing a huge shortfall in sporting budgets for the foreseeable future. This has led to a restructuring of Physical Education (PE) Departments across Chelmsford and the whole county with a number of redundancies having been made. The main casualties of these cuts are the sports development managers who have been replaced with part-time school games organisers. With the ever increasing problem of childhood obesity it is a difficult balance between saving money and the future health of the UK population.

Chelmsford Redundancies - It's Not All Doom & Gloom!
As part of a new development called ‘The Hub', there will a number of new shops opening in Chelmsford in the next couple of years. Based alongside the River Chelmer, it will see a barren car park wasteland turned into a state of the art modern shopping facility with restaurants and additional car parking spaces. This will have the effect of creating hundreds of new jobs in Chelmsford and making the town a regional shopping centre.

Amongst the new shops scheduled to opening in 2013 will be John Lewis and with it, two hundred new jobs are to be created. Not having a store in Essex, this will be a huge boost to the kudos of Chelmsford and very much put the town on the shopping map. It is often stated in retail circles that any town with a John Lewis is deemed to have "made it". With such a prestigious name trading in the town it will only serve to attract more stores, and consequently more jobs.

Chelmsford Cathedral Prays for the Unemployed
Wishing to bring the plight of the unemployed to the attention of the politicians and show that those without a job are not on their own, Chelmsford Cathedral held a day of prayer for the unemployed on 8th March 2011. Over 20 community and religious leaders gathered for the day long vigil, which was led by The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell.

The unemployment adviser to the Bishop, Rev Raymond Draper, said it was not sympathy that was needed for the unemployed, but practical help and advice and went on to say that he hoped that those affected would seek the support of the church.

Looking for a Job in Chelmsford - Help is at Hand
If you are looking for a job or need support or advice, then there are several places you can turn to for guidance. Our Jobs in Chelmsford - Help & Advice article will point you in the right direction if you are looking for information and our article about Jobs in Chelmsford is crammed full of jobs and employment ideas and, most important of all, where to find them.

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