Arran Cameron:

Will Covid be a wake up call for the government to adopt economic measures to diversify the economy in the future?

That's an easy one to answer: No.

Arran Cameron:

Has Covid highlighted that the UK is excessively reliant on the hospitality sector as a component of its economy? I read that hospitality employs approx 3 million people but it's only 8% of GDP. I have also read that Germany and some other countries were less affected economically by Covid than Britain was due to having a smaller percentage of the workforce employed in hospitality.


Hospitality in Britain has become a major part of the so called new working class since 1980ish due to a high proportion of jobs being low skill and low paid with limited career prospects. A sizeable fraction of people who work in hospitality work there through lack of choice rather than through choice.


Is there any data about the number of engineers who were working in hospitality in 2019 / early 2020?


Will Covid be a wake up call for the government to adopt economic measures to diversify the economy in the future?

I live in North Norfolk. Employment here is mainly low paid in the care sectors, hotel work and holiday accommodation, plus some retail. The lock down has devastated the hospitality industries. The population here is mainly aged retired people. There are holiday chalets to rent, some hotels and B&Bs and private holiday homes for rent. This creates a demand for cleaners and other associated support employees.


There is high demand normally in season but out of season demand is very low. The main period for visitors is April until October. Many holiday chalet parks are close by law over the winter. This is to prevent permanent residency.


Let's hope that things improve soon.


Z.