Life After Longbridge: Three Years On

Pathways to re-employment in a restructuring economy

Report

Published:  November 2008

Authors:  David Bailey, Caroline Chapain, Michelle Mahdon and Rebecca Fauth

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Abstract

This report from The Work Foundation and the Birmingham Business School reveals the latest findings on what has happened to the 6,300 workers who lost their jobs in the collapse of MG Rover in April 2005.Three years on, 90% of workers who lost their jobs have found new employment, but most have taken significant pay cuts. A study of a sample of the 6,300 workers ex-Rover workers who lost their jobs when the Longbridge plant closed, finds that two thirds have suffered wage falls - of an average of £5,640 per year in real terms. Some 31 per cent of workers have stayed within the manufacturing sector and are earning broadly similar amounts, but the 60 per cent who have moved into the service sector are mostly earning less.