From Industrial Metals to Pharmaceuticals How Covid-19 Impacted Business and Employment

• comexplores the winners and losers of the Covid-19 crisis
• Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sector experienced the greatest loss of 2020, while the industrial metals sector grew by 167%
• Real estate experienced the greatest uplift in employment during the last 12 months, while employment in the accommodation and food services experienced the greatest contraction

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be few people who will look back on 2020 with any degree of satisfaction. But there will always be both winners and losers in any financial period. UK trading and investment website, AskTraders.com,  has been analysing the successes and failures of the last 12 months, and the impact that this has had on employment.

By a long stretch, the greatest winner in terms of growth is the Industrial Metals sector, with a 167% increase. While mining is next in line with an 84% increase. Wilson Browne Solicitors Together, employment in these sectors grew by 0.08%. Making them among the few sectors not to decrease during the pandemic.

But that’s not to say that they are the only sectors to experience financial growth. From Telecomms (48.45% growth), to Household Goods (1.42%), the FTSE 100 has reported development in a wide range of sectors.

The top 10 winners of the last 12 months by sector:

Somewhat surprisingly, although growth has significantly slowed in many areas, there are only two real losers, with both Tobacco (-2.74) and Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology (-12.71) coming in at a loss for the year – although Pharmaceuticals did perform well on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The fall in employment in these sectors correlates with that decline. But employment has been relatively stable, with no major losses or gain in any areas.

The only sector to have reported any notable increase in employment is real estate, with 0.12%. And this primarily relates to digital estate agencies, as the pandemic drove house hunters online. Testament to this is the fact that the Purplebricks share price has risen 250% in the last year. Making this an interesting area to watch in 2021-2022.

Feeding the demand for real estate, the construction sector is also booming, having reached a six-year high in March 2021. Overall, the average increase in this area is a very healthy 57.84%. In spite of this, employment in the sector fell by 0.07% in 2020. But it’s definitely a growth area that investors will be watching keenly.

Asktraders Lead Analyst, Nigel Frith, comments: ‘With a widespread change in working practices and the overall contraction of the global economy for at least part of 2020, few sectors could have hoped to come out on a high. But with production reducing availability and increasing demand of certain commodities – the price of gold hit a record high earlier this year – many industries have experienced unexpected growth throughout the pandemic.

‘While this hasn’t necessarily carried through to employment, with only a 0.02% total decrease, it has to be said that things could be worse as we move forward and hopefully away from Covid-19 and the disruptions of the last year. And it will be really interesting to see how things develop during the course of the next twelve months and whether the sectors expected to be hit the hardest by the pandemic – Retail, Construction, and Real Estate – will continue to perform so impressively.’