HS2 to create 27,000 jobs by 2020

Rail leaders have said that 27,000 jobs will have been created by HS2 by 2020 in what they are calling a “jobs bonanza”.

By analyzing the contracts already issued by HS2 Ltd and the programme for the coming years, and considering both direct roles at HS2 Ltd and throughout the supply chain, the independent report reveals that:

· By 2020, 26,650 people will have worked on the HS2 project throughout the supply chain. Two-thirds of these roles will be in construction, with the remaining one-third made up of designers and management roles. By 2020, HS2 will employ more people than any other infrastructure project in the UK.

· Of these jobs, more than half (some 14,400) will be created by the contracts already out to tender from HS2

· A “substantial” proportion of these roles will take the form of apprenticeships. Overall in Phase 1, if apprenticeship levels are achieved at the levels suggested by the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy, then we would expect HS2 Phase 1 to support between 5,000 and 9,000 apprenticeships. This will make one of the biggest apprenticeship schemes ever created in the UK. The National High Speed Rail College, based in Birmingham and Doncaster, has a key role to play in developing and training young people for these opportunities.

Speaking on behalf of High Speed Rail Industry Leaders, Henrik Anderberg, director of HSRIL, commented: “The HS2 jobs bonanza is not something for the dim and distant future. It is starting now and by the end of the decade the project will have employed some 27,000 people, making it by far-and-away the biggest single source of new jobs in the UK infrastructure sector.

“The jobs bonanza from HS2 will be a nationwide one too, with around 70% of the new employment being created outside London.

“Both HS2 Ltd and the Government are making cracking progress at pushing this project forward. Today’s jobs report shows just how big the benefits will be as long as they are able to continue to do so.”

Another report published recently by HS2 East highlighted the economic importance to the East Midlands of pressing ahead with the Eastern leg of HS2 – in “full and to the fastest possible timescales”.

The report showed how the proposed Eastern leg, which runs from Birmingham through the East Midlands and Sheffield to Leeds, could also boost economic growth in the North East of England and Scotland.

‘HS2 East: connecting potential, driving growth’ assessed the economic benefits that would result by using the eastern leg of HS2 as the basis for a high speed route to Scotland – connecting 15 million people, six major UK cities and an economy worth £320bn.

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