This book examines the long-term impact of redundancy on a workforce who lost their jobs when a Sheffield steel company closed one of its plants. The authors set the key finding of a large number of detailed interviews in the context of the discussion of economic decline, deindustrialization, redundancy, unemployment and employment policy. They also analyse current debates about the impact of recession, the role of trade unions and possible solutions to structural unemployment.

After Redundancy provides valuable insights into the impact of recession on a workforce accustomed to relative ‘affluence’. It also records interesting shifts in attitudes towards trade unions and the Labour Party. It is an outstanding contemporary record enriched by astute sociological insight and it will appeal to a wide audience of students and scholars.

John Westergaard was a stock analyst and founder of the Westergaard Fund. He also as political advisor to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Alan Walker is the author of After Redundancy: The Experience of Economic Insecurity published by Wiley.