Worklessness is costing manufacturers £6bn in lost output as tens of thousands of factory jobs go unfilled.

Make UK, the trade body representing the manufacturing sector, warned that a shortage of workers was becoming a critical issue for companies and their ability to maintain daily operations and fulfil contracts.  

Manufacturers across the country currently have 64,000 open vacancies that they are struggling to fill, Make UK said. It estimated this was leading to £6bn in lost output.

Struggles to hire come after a jump in economic inactivity post-Covid. There are now 9.4m people of working age who are neither in a job nor looking for one - the highest number in 13 years.

Factory bosses are struggling with a lack of vocational skills amid a plunge in engineering apprenticeships equivalent to GCSEs and A levels.

James Brougham, senior economist at Make UK, said it was crucial for whichever party that wins the election to deliver a “modern, long term industrial strategy which goes beyond the 2030s and has cross Government support.”

Mr Brougham said: “This must now be a national endeavour and begin with a fundamental review of the Apprentice Levy and wider vocational training system.”

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