Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee is Scotland’s capital of ‘hidden’ unemployment

Research suggests an alarming 16% of people in the city are "economically inactive".

Dundee has one of the highest rates of "hidden" unemployment in the UK.
Dundee has one of the highest rates of "hidden" unemployment in the UK.

Dundee has the highest rate of “hidden” unemployment in Scotland.

The term captures people with long-term sickness, people who have stopped looking, and those who just don’t think there are any good jobs available.

When you add them to the list of people seeking work, research suggests an alarming 16% of people in the city are “economically inactive”.

It’s a problem that divides politicians and leaves experts stumped.

So how do you fix the problem in the City of Discovery?

Are there no good jobs out there?

Alan Duncan, from the Grey Lodge Settlement, a community group supporting young people in the city, questioned whether some people find working attractive.

“People are looking for a job that pays for everything they want rather than everything they need, and there is a big difference there,” he said.

“We are finding a lot of people want to volunteer because it is more attractive – there is less pressure, and no insistence on being there 9-5.”

Alan Duncan from the Grey Lodge Settlement. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

He says some parents don’t want young people to do anything that would affect benefits.

“The question is, is that for the parents or the young people?” he said.

“There are jobs out there but maybe it is a case of people are not as keen to work as they used to be.”


What does the research show?

  • The official unemployment rate in Dundee is 4.8%, compared with 3.6% nationally.
  • The new research, by a group called the Centre for Cities, adds other economically inactive people to the list to reach the far higher 16.3%, compared with 14.9% nationally.
  • The total does not include students, retirees or people looking after their families.
  • It leaves Dundee worst in Scotland and 18th worst urban area in the UK.
  • Of those who are economically inactive in Dundee, 34% have long-term ill-health and 6.7% have low skills.

‘Unjust’

Dundee-based Ewan Gurr, of the anti-poverty charity Over, said he has seen people becoming disengaged because of “horrendous” experiences at the Job Centre.

Ewan Gurr. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

He said: “There is a high proportion of people who are accessing these services for the first time because of the cost of living, and these are people who have worked their entire life and are not used to working the social security system.

“They don’t know how to access council tax benefits, housing benefits, or the quirks around applying for Universal Credit.”

He said people had bad experiences in the system.

“Some people don’t want to engage because of a bad experience – it could be something as trivial as a 25-year-old telling them how to get a job, or the oppressive nature of the Department for Work and Pensions,” he added.

Many find navigating the jobcentre difficult. Image: Supplied by Jobcentre.

“And for those in their 50s or 60s who are still below retirement age, they are maybe not used to using a computer or a laptop to access things and then can be left penniless.”

Beyond any obstacles with the system, is there a skills gap among citizens?

Tracy McNally from Dundee Citizens’ Advice Bureau says: “There are quite a lot of jobs out there but there seems to be a shortage of experience.

“I am finding myself advertising for jobs and not getting people applying for them even though they are good jobs with a good salary.

“We are finding it really difficult to get people, and that is across the city – I don’t know what is going on at the moment.”

Is there are political fix?

Maurice Golden, Conservative MSP for the North East, said more businesses need to come and make Dundee their home.

He highlighted the legacy of redundancies linked to Timex, NCR and Michelin in the city.

“This is a worrying trend for Dundee because we don’t have the diversity of businesses to sustain employment,” he said.

Maurice Golden MSP. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.

He is campaigning to get a plastic recycling facility and businesses focusing on tackling climate change brought to the city to help boost the number of jobs available.

Stewart Hosie, SNP MP for Dundee East, said the figures “hide a multitude of sins”.

Stewart Hosie MP. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

“Clearly every city and every government needs to do more to create more jobs, and more highly-skilled jobs to ensure even the lowest wages are driven up,” he said.

“There is a great deal of work going on behind-the-scenes to encourage investment.

“I can see that happening in the innovation park at the old Michelin site, and Dundee is blessed with a lot of IT and gaming companies and the university infrastructure that provides that skilled labour force.”

Conversation