DUNDEE HAS ENDURED one of the highest percentage losses of manufacturing jobs of all Scottish local authority areas since 1995, with more than half the workforce disappearing.

Figures released today by the GMB trade union show Dundee lost 8900 jobs over the period. Fife has also suffered, with 10,500 manufacturing jobs going—the third highest in terms of numbers in the country.

From a lower starting number, Perth and Kinross has also seen around half the workforce go—4800 from the 1995 starting figure of 9000—and Angus is not far behind, with 3400 going from the starting point of 10,000.

In numbers alone the two areas showing the greatest decline are Glasgow, with a loss of 13,800 jobs, and Edinburgh with 11,400.

There are no areas where there has been an increase since 1995 or where additional jobs have been created. The areas that have lost least are Highland with 500, Aberdeenshire with 600 and Dumfries and Galloway with 800.

In Scotland as a whole, 257,000 are currently employed in manufacturing industries—a drop of 118,000 since 1994/95.

The statistics have been drawn from the Labour Force Survey and the period used was chosen because it coincides with the end of the recession in the early 1990s until the most recently available data.

Since 1995 the number in manufacturing in Great Britain as a whole has declined from 4.7 million to 3.6 million.

Dundee City Council economic development convener Joe Morrow said, “There is no doubt that the Dundee economy has undergone dramatic changes in the last 12 years, as have the wider Scottish, British and global economies.

“Over the last decade and a half Dundee has transformed for the better, with record levels of employment and investment being maintained.

Shona Cormack, chief executive for Scottish Enterprise Tayside, said, “The global manufacturing industry is experiencing continuing change.

“The Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service, created jointly by Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Executive, exists to help Scottish manufacturers make the most of the opportunities that change brings.

“By helping to narrow the productivity gap between the UK and other industrialised countries through assisting companies to move up the value-chain to more knowledge-intensive, high-skilled manufacturing, Scotland can compete on a global level in manufacturing.”

Harry Donaldson, GMB regional secretary, said, “The Government needs to bring contracts forward to retain the skills of manufacturing workers who are moving to other industries. The Government must take positive action with responsible decisions.”