Honda Task Force
In response to the job losses at Honda, a temporary task force was set up by Forward Swindon and Jobcentre Plus, to manage a package of support which could be offered to Honda and their employees, and try to help those affected find new work opportunities.
The task force enabled all the various public sector agencies and other organisations to co-ordinate responses together and deliver effective support.
Those who accessed support included Honda’s direct employees and supply chain workers regardless of geography in the UK. The services provided were flexible, depending on the individual concerned, and included careers and money management advice; CV creation; review of skills and training, and even advice on setting up a business. This culminated in a Jobs Fair which enabled face to face discussions between candidates and prospective employers and recruitment specialists, mainly from the engineering sector.
Measuring impact:
The final meeting of the Honda task force was held on 5th June 2013. This was an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the Forward Swindon coordinated programme to mitigate the effect of the c1800 job losses at Honda and in their supply chain locally. At outset we determined that the key measure of success would be the number of ex-Honda Job Seekers Allowance claimants and the length of time they spent on the unemployment register.
By way of context the JSA claimant count in Swindon at this time was approximately 4,200. The aim was to resolve individual cases before they hit the unemployment register if at all possible.
The typical Job Seekers’ Allowance claimant rate for a major industrial redundancy would be c35% of affected employees. Of the Honda and supply chain workers affected, Job Centre Plus reported that number was just 15%.
In addition the time on the unemployment register for ex Honda claimants has to date been significantly shorter than average.
The proactive support coordinated via the task force appears therefore to have had a significant impact in mitigating the economic shock of the Honda announcement.
