(Economy After COVID-19 – Economy Should Bounce Back ??) COVID-19’S impact on the Thames Valley economy has been “patchy” – but Wokingham is set to bounce back quickly.
This is according to Alison Webster, CEO of Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), who says that Wokingham and Reading are both projected to recover swiftly from the pandemic.
“There are reasons to be optimistic within Berkshire because we entered the pandemic with a very strong economy, and because of that we will emerge sooner than other parts of the UK,” Ms Webster explained.
“Historically, we’ve had a very strong jobs market in the Thames Valley.”
Since September, the LEP has been working on its Recovery and Renewal plan for Berkshire, and has been planning how to build economic resilience while supporting people and businesses over the next five years.
But according to the CEO, this does not mean that everything will be rosy right away and the local economy is still weathering the storm of Covid.
There are currently 29,000 people employed in retail, hospitality and catering in Wokingham borough alone – and they have all been impacted by the pandemic.
“It’s not been great for those tens of thousands of people, of course, because they all have lives and livelihoods,” Ms Webster said.
“For every one of those people, it’s a personal tragedy which makes you feel deskilled and undervalued, but there are reasons to stay optimistic.”
According to the CEO, despite the pandemic there are more job vacancies throughout Wokingham borough than there were this time last year.
“There’s been a huge number of employment opportunities in the NHS, health and social care sectors, and even in the public sector,” Ms Webster explained.
“When you take a step back, you can see that there are hundreds of vacancies across a diverse range of sectors.
“Last week, there were over 2,000 unique live job vacancies alone, which is more than there were in November of last year,” she added.
And there are a number of secrets to Wokingham’s success, including its close proximity to Heathrow Airport and its high number of communications, scientific and technical jobs.
“We’re blessed with a number of things really,” Ms Webster explained.
“We’ve got good geography, we’re close to London, and it’s a nice place to live.”
Now, the CEO is working hard to try and connect people with employment opportunities to get the local economy booming again.
“We don’t want people to be disheartened if they’ve lost their job because there are opportunities there,” she said.
“While some people will regrettably have to leave or lose jobs that they love, this is a chance to reskill.”
Thames Valley Berkshire LEP is currently working with local authorities across the Thames Valley region for its Berkshire Opportunities Portal.
The online platform which offers information on job opportunities, career pathways, and advice on how to succeed in a job search launched earlier this year.
“What we’ve attempted to do is really try and support people looking for a job with a ‘one stop shop’,” Ms Webster explained.
“This should be your first port of call to find employment, training information, opportunities and support,” she said.
“And we want to encourage people to think about how their skills will present opportunities too, alongside advice on how to switch sectors.”
Looking to the future, Ms Webster believes that there are a number of lessons that both businesses and employees can take away from the pandemic and economy after COVID-19.
“I think the biggest lesson is to be resilient,” she said, “and that’s not just a lesson for companies but for people too.
“If you’re furloughed at the moment, think about your own strength.”
And this is the main advice Ms Webster has for anybody on their job search – to take charge.
“Rather than just sitting there worrying, I’d encourage people to take a bit of control and access any support available to them,” she said.
To find out more about economy after COVID-19, visit: www.thamesvalleyberkshire.co.uk and www.berkshireopportunities.co.uk
