Black, Asian and minority-ethnic (BAME) workers have suffered the brunt of job cuts during the pandemic, according to analysis that shows the number in employment has dropped by 26 times more than the drop in white workers over the same period. The employment rate for people from BAME backgrounds slumped 5.3% in the year to September 2020, compared with a 0.2% decrease in the number of employed white workers. The TUC called on the government to act quickly to protect vulnerable BAME workers, many of whom faced redundancies in the accommodation and food sectors, where about a quarter of BME workers have lost their jobs. The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said she blamed systemic racism that pushed a disproportionate number of such workers into low-income and part-time jobs. BAME workers have borne the brunt of the economic impact of this pandemic, she said. “In every industry where jobs have gone, BME people have been more likely to be made unemployed.” “The time for excuses and delays is over. Ministers must challenge the systemic racism and inequality that holds back BME people at work,” she added. Last month, the Office for National Statistics said its research into the wellbeing of different ethnic groups showed that 27% of people from black backgrounds reported finding it difficult to make financial ends meet, compared with fewer than 10% among most white groups. More people from BAME worked in precarious and poorly paid jobs, leading them to be among the most worried about their household finances going into the pandemic in March. A rise in unemployment among BAME workers was likely to have played a part, the report found. More than 800,000 workers have been made redundant during the pandemic and the unemployment rate is expected to peak at about 7.5% sometime between April and June, according to data from the Office for Budget Responsibility. But the unemployment rate for BAME people has already reached 8.5%, much higher than the overall average of 4.9% and the 4.5% average for white workers, the TUC report said. Job losses have been concentrated in a handful of industries, with three industries accounting for 70% of job losses: 297,000 in accommodation and food, 160,000 in wholesale and retail and 115,000 in manufacturing. O’Grady said that in sectors such as hospitality, retail and the arts, BAME employment had “literally plummeted”. The number of black, Asian and minority-ethnic workers in the accommodation and food sector fell by 23%, compared with 13% among white workers, while the number of black women working in arts and entertainment dropped by two-fifths. The TUC called on the government to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting, ban zero-hours contracts which disproportionately affect BAME workers, and publish all equality impact assessments on government responses to Covid-19. Patrick Roach, who chairs the TUC‘s anti-racism taskforce, said: “During previous economic downturns, [BAME] workers have been ‘first out and last in’. “The government needs to address the causes and effects of structural racism and set out a national recovery plan that works for everyone.”