The Statistics
In August 2020, the unemployment rate in the Forest of Dean grew from a pre-covid rate of 2.3% to 5.1% with the gloomy reality of more impending redundancy across the District and the furlough scheme ending in October 2020. In June 2020 the Government confirmed 11,500 Forest of Dean residents were furloughed due to the pandemic.
However, statistics are showing that whilst currently there are over 2600 people claiming universal credits, in August there were 776 unique job postings in the District alone and over 18,000 within the county.
The most common skills for many of these jobs include Communications, Management, Customer service, Sales and Enthusiasm.
So how are the government and local organisations helping people get back to work?
On the 11 September 2020, Gloucestershire Jobs held a Skill and Apprenticeships Lift Off 2020 event at Kingsholm Stadium where many organisations of all shapes and sizes offered insight to their interesting and challenging opportunities.
The events main attraction was their broad scope of seminars which are available online from assistance with CV’s to advise on running a business.
The National Careers Service also offers an abundance of assistance when it comes to getting back to work, from webinars to tailored advice.
What Jobs are out there?
There are many job listings within the Forest of Dean on the larger platforms like Indeed and Gov.uk but why not check the smaller local sites and news papers like The Forester and Forest Hub or even widen your search for Jobs with remote working.
In addition to this, the Local Enterprise Partnership, GFirst LEP have formed a partnership with glosjobs.co.uk to help advertise the jobs vacancies within the county in a singular location.