Adventures of The Unemployed Man

Since the start of lockdown back in March 2020 many businesses have been struggling and have been forced to let go staff in order to balance their books which has left many people unemployed. However, someone known as ‘The Unemployed Man’ has been working hard to try and get support for people like this. 

Tom Macrae, who has identified himself as ‘The Unemployed Man’, was made unemployed in April 2020, after 40 years working in drilling, due to Covid-19 and has since ‘picked up the baton’ to try and help reduce the amount of people getting made unemployed and also help with the economic recovery involved in the United Kingdom. 

‘The Unemployed Man’ has set up a petition which is asking for a rescue package from the United Kingdom government for the Oil and Gas industry. 

The petition explains: “Covid-19 and the ongoing decline in oil price have led to thousands of job losses – meaning that families are losing their source of livelihood. This is a crisis that needs government intervention.”

In order for the petition, which would be similar to the one set up by the United Kingdom government for bankers in 2008, to get a government response it needs 10,000 signatures by the 27th of January 2021 - it currently sits at just over 3,000 signatures. 

The process of signing the petition is very simple and quick - all you need in order to contribute to the petition is to be a UK resident with a postcode and an email address to verify your signature. 

The sector that has been highlighted with problems is the Oil and Gas sector which has been providing jobs up and down the country for many years now but with Covid-19 creating a declining oil price many people have been losing their jobs from within the sector this year. 

In the past there has been ‘price collapses’ in the Oil and Gas industry and there was another example of this during Covid-19. The difference this time is people feel it will take longer for the price to go back to normal, having a bigger effect on the sector.

Oil Prices fell dramatically during the early months of Covid-19 and despite the price beginning to slowly rise again experts expect lower demands to continue into 2021, and with the furlough scheme ending next year there could be many jobs at risk – which is why many people feel more needs to be done.

The 2020 survey from the ‘Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce (AGCC)’ highlighted the lack of positivity and confidence from companies in the Oil and Gas sector. Only 13% felt they were working at, or above, their optimum levels in the UK continental shelves (UKCS) compared with 47% last year – along with 82% predicting a decrease in revenue this year. 

There were also many companies who said that they were either forced to cancel projects or put plans on hold this year as a result of Covid-19. Overall, 78% of companies were less confident about activities going forward.  

Despite the problems in the Oil and Gas sector it is not the only area which is struggling. The unemployment rate all over the United Kingdom has been falling over the past year.

The unemployment rate in the United Kingdom in November 2019 was 3.8% and now in at that stage in 2020 it is at 4.8% and has been steadily rising since April. Most economists expect this figure to keep rising – with the Bank of England predicting the unemployment rate to peak at around 7.7% in April to June next year as Furlough ends. 

There has also been record figures for the amount of people that have been made redundant – with the figures at 314,000 workers made redundant from July – September this year. 

A particular problem that has been highlighted during this time has been the amount of younger people that are currently unemployed – with 14.6% of 16-to-24-year-olds in the United Kingdom currently without work. There was 174,000 less people in this age bracket working in the months from July – September than there was from April – June. 

Something that can be a positive of lowering the unemployment across the country is the knock-on effect is has on other sectors - with more people having jobs it means they are more likely to go out and spend money in places like shops, bars, restaurants, travel etc. Therefore, helping all kinds of businesses and also the economy. 

Overall, people may have known that jobs were being lost all over the country due to the pandemic but the petition has been made as Tom Macrae (‘The Unemployed Man’) has asked whether the UK government can do any more to stop this. This petition aims to try and get the government to look into this. However, this has become a race against time as it is only possible if it reaches 10,000 signatures by the end of January 2021. 

The link to the petition can be found at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/320865

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE.