Only one in forty new British jobs created since the recession is on a full-time contract: a shocking piece of data reported on November 12 by the TUC trade union confederation. This comes face to face with record employment growth data reported on the same day by the British Government. According to data from the ONS (Office for National Statistics) as of the end of September the number of Britons in work stands at a record 30.79 million. The unemployment rate however is unmoved from August at 6%. Nonetheless this data, presented as a strong sign that the government's long term economic plan is working, according to the Chancellor George Osborne, does not reassure the unions who are not blinded by the glaring brightness of the numbers to the reality behind them.
669,000 shortfall in full-time employees. According to the TUC report the share of full-time employee jobs was only 62% of all contracts versus 64% in 2008, which is an equivalent shortfall of 669,000 full-time contracts. “While more people are in work, there are still far too few full-time employee jobs for everyone who wants one. It means many working families are on substantially lower incomes as they can only find reduced hours jobs or low-paid self-employment” criticized TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady.
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