Deskilling ourselves job cut by job cut

Yesterday saw the loss of 600 jobs in the West Midlands as GKN, present in the region for over 100 years, announced the closure of two of its factories in the region, the latest in a string of automotive companies to send skilled Midland engineers to the dole office.

Contrasting sharply with the fortunes of the industrial sector, the fast food industry has had a bumper week - with Domino's Pizza announcing full-year profits up almost a quarter and outlining its "aggressive expansion plan" to open a further 50 stores, creating 1,500 jobs.

Earlier this week Kentucky Fried Chicken announced it was creating 9,000 new jobs as part of plans to open between 200 and 300 restaurants in the next three to five years as people lose the ability, or will, to cook for themselves.

The other big job creation stories of recent weeks have been the supermarkets, with Sainsburys, Aldi, Tesco et al combining to add around 30,000 jobs this year.

Obviously any story of job creation is welcome in these depressing times and I have no doubt if you have been made redundant and have a mortgage to pay, a job behind the counter at KFC is better than nothing.

But one glaring fact stands out about the kind of jobs we are losing and the kind of jobs we are creating which does not bode well for our future recovery when we come out of this downturn.

Every job that goes in manufacturing is effectively deskilling the whole country, while every job created in a fast food chain does not exactly enhance the skills base of UK plc.

If we are gradually losing the skills needed to make our own dinners - how are we going to make anything of any value to the rest of the world?