MORE work worries for Newtown: Since 2005, I’ve been almost continuously working on protecting jobs in Montgomeryshire.
Our unemployment rate is low, but when jobs go it causes great distress to our community. So the threatened closure of the Shop Direct call centre in the Pryce Jones building is exactly in this category.
This firm has been an institution in Newtown for decades. Everyone knows it, and it feels as if everyone has – at some point – worked there. 180 people still do – they’re the ones in the front line if the premises shut.
The culprit isn’t the Government, the economy or even the firm. It’s us. We, as a population, have shifted from phone shopping to internet shopping.
The business, which used to require spoken communication, now passes in ever larger quantities from one computer screen to another. That means fewer phone calls, and less work for call centres. It’s a consequence of the Information Technology Revolution.
And that’s what the potential redundancies are about – though it must be said there’s a three-month consultation period before any plan is implemented. It means worry for 180 people and their families.
Can the closure be stopped? I don’t know yet. But I’m going to find out on Thursday, February 4. I’ve organised to meet Shop Direct chief executive Mark Newton-Jones at their headquarters in Speke to discuss the options.
In my dealings with Mr Newton-Jones I’ve found him honest and open, and amenable to considering alternatives – but it doesn’t mean we’ll necessarily get the result we hope for.
If things don’t look rosy, there are still alternatives.
One is support from the Welsh Assembly Government to protect these jobs. After all, it saves public money to keep people in work and off benefits. Or perhaps another company could take over. There may be other ideas – such as new jobs in the same firm.
In the last resort, I feel the company must help find new employment and organise good packages for this loyal workforce. Such arrangements are always a negotiation, and anyway we’re not there yet. But if we do end up in that eventuality, it must be a fair settlement.
Is there a lesson in all this? Yes. The internet is having a measurable effect on jobs. Who knows where it will end. We can’t imagine the changes which await us.
But for now my goal is simple. To try to save these jobs, and make the best of the situation for those affected. That’s what I’m trying to do. I – and the County Times – will keep you informed.