Job outlook worsens
Feb 15 2010
Unemployment is expected to rise
Employers from all sectors intend to reduce their workforce by 6.2 per cent this quarter, compared to a reduction of 3.8 per cent in the last three months of 2009, according to research from employment body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the CIPD, says: ‘Unfortunately, there are more testing [times] ahead. Alongside the spectre of deep public spending cuts, the private sector will be dealing with ongoing concerns about productivity, wage costs and inflation, with many private sector companies looking to move jobs abroad. '
According to the research, one-third of employers in the public sector expect to make staff cuts this quarter.
Alan Downey, head of public sector at professional services firm KPMG, says: ‘These figures clearly show that the starting gun for a public sector recession has been fired. It is now only a matter of time before we are faced with the deepest and most prolonged cuts in public expenditure that anyone can remember.’
Of all 700 employers questioned, the net balance of those expecting to recruit compared to those intending to make staff cuts is still negative at minus 5 per cent.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, unemployment currently stands at 2.46 million.
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