Surrey has recovered 29,000 jobs it had lost to the pandemic, a Surrey Board of Trade study indicates. That’s more than 78 per cent of the jobs that were lost between March and July.
According to its fifth Surrey Labour Market Intelligence Report on COVID-19 — Workforce Reset – the city is now in a net deficit of roughly 8,000 jobs, well below a peak of more than 37,000 that were lost since the pandemic hit.
“While other surveys and statistics show dire business futures, Surrey shows good economic progression and a positive economic future,” Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, noted in a press release issued Monday. “However, we can’t lose sight of those businesses that are the hardest hit by the pandemic – and needing continued support by business organizations and government.”
The study reveals that 4,500 of the recovered jobs were recovered in December and during the last half of 2020 this has been on a “steady incline.”
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Moreover, the utilities industry is the only one in Surrey that trended in the opposite direction with significant gains in the first half of 2020 – over 1,000 jobs gained – followed by consistent losses in the second half, with more than 750 jobs lost. Industries that saw the strongest recovery since July are accommodation and food services (nearly 7,000 jobs), business, building and other support services (more than 4,100 jobs) and transportation and warehousing (over 3,300 jobs).
The study also revealed that December saw about 690 jobs lost in manufacturing and utilities occupations, roughly 400 in health occupations and 187 jobs in the art, culture, recreation and sport occupations in Surrey. Although sales and services experienced a steady climb in jobs since July, with more than 1,000 jobs added in December, this sector saw the biggest overall loss in Surrey since the pandemic began with more than 10,000 jobs lost.
The industries that saw the greatest overall job losses since February 2020 were wholesale and retail, with over 5,700 or 11.3 per cent of Surrey jobs lost followed by construction with over 5,500 or 17.3 per cent of all jobs lost, the 22-page labour market report reveals.
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