The number of people from the Jewish community looking for work has increased sharply, the heads of employment charities said this week.

Resource in Finchley has seen a jump of around 60 per cent in the number of individuals registering compared to the same period last year. In 2022, the charity worked with 400 clients.

Its chief executive Victoria Sterman said: “We have never been so busy. We aren’t just seeing more people, but they are coming in for more varied reasons.”

She cited a lack of salary increases, “toxic” working environments and increased mortgage rates. “We are also finding that women are coming in who are on maternity leave but can’t afford to take time off.”

Before the pandemic, “people saw us as a last resort”, but now people were visiting Resource much sooner since there was now “less shame” connected to redundancy, she said.

“Everyone knows someone who was made redundant or put on furlough. It no longer carries quite the same associations as it once did.”

Yael Shainfeld, head of employment at Work Avenue, also in Finchley, said they were experiencing “a pressing ongoing demand for help.” The charity works with around 250 active jobseekers at any given time.

Shainfeld said that the cost-of-living crisis meant people who needed to increase their earnings were taking on a second job or freelancing.

A 47-year-old lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, was made redundant last month. Prior to that, it had taken him six months to find a job.

He said: “People sometimes falsely believe the Jewish community is less susceptible to falling through the cracks, but it’s not true. People from all walks of life with high skill sets are struggling.”