Theoconomics
Faith and Economics
Friday, 17 May 2013
"There is a need for financial reform along ethical lines that would produce in its turn an economic reform to benefit everyone"
An interesting contribution from Pope Francis here about the origins of our financial and economic crisis and the need for a change of heart.
Unemployment in April 2013
Introduction
Here is a round-up of the unemployment figures for Worcestershire drawn from the monthly County Economic Summary. The figures are claimant count (i.e. those claiming Jobseekers Allowance) rather than the more widely used Labour Market Statistics. In common with the national Jobseekers Allowance figures there was a fall in the number of claimants, though nationally and regionally the Labour Market figures showed a rise and seem to suggest an end to the period of falling unemployment. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on Worcestershire, which overall has been fairly resilient on job losses compared to some parts of the region and country.
A study by the TUC published the day before the unemployment figures came out showed people aged 18 to 24 are far less likely to be in work today than before the recent recession. The report looked at adults’ likelihood of being in work over the past five years.
But the news for older workers was more positive, according to the figures. The likelihood of a 50- to 64-year-old being in work was 2.2 per cent higher today than it was in 2008 – although this was partly attributable to a gradual rise in the state pension age for women.
Here is a round-up of the unemployment figures for Worcestershire drawn from the monthly County Economic Summary. The figures are claimant count (i.e. those claiming Jobseekers Allowance) rather than the more widely used Labour Market Statistics. In common with the national Jobseekers Allowance figures there was a fall in the number of claimants, though nationally and regionally the Labour Market figures showed a rise and seem to suggest an end to the period of falling unemployment. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on Worcestershire, which overall has been fairly resilient on job losses compared to some parts of the region and country.
Unemployment
The
claimant count in Worcestershire in April 2013 fell by 419 to 10,018, which is 748
lower than April
2012. At 2.9% of the 16-64 population
this remains below the regional and national levels. The districts with the highest proportion of
claimants were Redditch and Wyre forest at 3.7%, and the greatest decrease in
absolute terms (between April 2012 and April 2013) was in Wychavon with a fall
of 253 claimants.
The urban
centre with the highest proportion of claimants is Kidderminster with 4.3% and
the lowest is Wythall at 1.6%. In Worcestershire's urban areas the proportion
of claimants is 0.4 percentage
points higher than the county as a whole at 3.3%.
Long
Term Unemployment
The
proportion of claimants receiving Jobseekers Allowance between 6 and 12 months
has fallen by
1.3 percentage points to 19.2% since April 2012 whilst those on this benefit for
more than 12 months has increased by 2.1 percentage points over the same period
to 22.6% of all claimants. The number of people claiming for 6-12 months has
declined due to them either finding employment or falling into the category of
claiming for more than 12 months.
Unemployment
by Gender
At the
beginning of the recession the male claimant count rate increased at a faster
pace than the female rate. Since peaking
in 2009-2010 at around 5.5% the male rate began to fall, although not back to
pre-recession levels (at around 4%), whilst the female rate has remained at the
higher level (around 2%).
Youth
Unemployment – Claimants Aged 18-24
In April
2013 the number of claimants aged 18-24 was 2,765, which is a decrease of 200 compared
to March 2013 and 380 fewer compared to April 2012. The greatest decrease in absolute terms
(between April 2012 and April 2013) was in Redditch with a fall of 120 claimants.
The
proportion of claimants aged 18-24 is 6.7%, which is 0.1 percentage points
higher than the England average. The
district with the highest proportion of claimants aged 18-24 was Wyre Forest
(8.0%).
Comments
In a briefing from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development, Gerwyn Davies, the CIPD’s labour market adviser, said the [unemployment]
figures confirmed that the UK job market was still a “battleground”.
“Private sector firms are not taking on enough staff to
offset the contraction in the number of self-employed and public sector workers
and the continuing expansion of the UK workforce,” he explained.
“The labour market remains a battleground for
jobseekers,” he continued. “With five unemployed people for every vacancy
registered with JobCentre Plus, there are twice as many unemployed people
chasing vacancies than before the recession.
“Although youth unemployment has fallen slightly – the
one bright spot in yesterday’s numbers – CIPD figures still show more than 40
applicants typically chasing every low-skilled job.”A study by the TUC published the day before the unemployment figures came out showed people aged 18 to 24 are far less likely to be in work today than before the recent recession. The report looked at adults’ likelihood of being in work over the past five years.
It found that under-25s had seen the sharpest fall in job
prospects of all age groups, and were 10 per cent less likely to currently be
in work than they were on the eve of the recession in February 2008. Some
395,000 more jobs were needed before the youth unemployment rate returned to
its 2008 level, said the analysis.
There was also a job shortfall amongst “prime age”
workers aged 25 to 49, the data found. The employment rate among 25- to
34-year-olds had fallen by 2.4 per cent – creating a job shortfall of
164,000 – while 71,000 jobs had been lost in the 35 to 49 age category.But the news for older workers was more positive, according to the figures. The likelihood of a 50- to 64-year-old being in work was 2.2 per cent higher today than it was in 2008 – although this was partly attributable to a gradual rise in the state pension age for women.
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Archbishop's warning over economic 'depression'
You may have seen a report of this on the BBC 1 News. I think it underlines the need for a better banking (and economic) system in ethical as well as financial terms.
Archbishop's warning over economic 'depression' and Robert Peston's reflection on what was said: Should bishops run the banks?
Archbishop's warning over economic 'depression' and Robert Peston's reflection on what was said: Should bishops run the banks?
Friday, 19 April 2013
Unemployment Figures for March 2013
Introduction
Here
is this month’s round-up of unemployment data for Worcestershire (from the
April 2013 County Economic Summary).
Further information about national figures can be found here. As always, the county figures are for claimant
count, which is also in the national figures but is lower than the headline
figure based on availability for work.
Unemployment
The claimant count in Worcestershire in March 2013
decreased by 248 to 10,437, 927 lower than in March 2012. This is 3.0% of the 16-64 population,
which remains below the regional (4.7%) and national (UK also 4.7%) levels.
The district with the highest proportion of claimants was
Redditch (3.9%) whilst the greatest decrease in absolute terms (between March
2012 and March 2013) took place in Worcester with a fall of 258 claimants. The urban centre with the highest proportion
of claimants is Kidderminster with 4.4% and the lowest is Wythall at 1.8%. In Worcestershire's urban areas the
proportion of claimants is 3.5%, which is 0.5% higher than the county as a
whole.
Long Term Unemployment
Those claiming Jobseekers Allowance between 6 and 12
months have decreased by 3.5 to 17.1% since March 2012 whilst those claiming
for more than 12 months have increased by 4.1% over the same period to 22.2% of
all claimants. The
number of people claiming for 6-12 months has declined due to them either
finding employment or falling into the category of claiming for more than 12
months.
Unemployment by Occupation
The claimant count is not broken down by industry, but
using data by occupation does give an indirect indication of the industries
involved. The
greatest number of people are seeking employment within Elementary occupations,
with 3,100 people (29.7%) seeking this occupation in March 2013. This has shown no change in comparison
to February 2013 though it has decreased by 100 claimants when compared with
March 2012.
Claimants Leaving the Unemployment
Count
2,090 people left the claimant count in March 2013, of
those people 48.6% have found employment and a further 39.5% are either 'not
known' or have 'failed to sign'; it is possible that some of these people have
also found employment.
Youth Unemployment –
Claimants
Aged 18-24
In March 2013 the number of claimants aged 18-24 was
2,965, a decrease of 65 compared to February 2013 and 485 fewer than March
2012. The
proportion of claimants aged 18-24 is 7.2%, this is 0.3 percentage points
higher than the England average.
The
district with the highest proportion of claimants aged 18-24 was Wyre Forest
(8.7%)and the greatest decrease in absolute terms (between March 2012 and March
2013) took place in Redditch with a fall of 140 claimants.Business Confidence
The results of the Q1 2013 British Chamber of Commerce Economic Survey suggest welcome progress, however the improvements are modest. The national confidence balances are much stronger than in the 2008-09 recession, but are below their
pre-recession levels in 2007. Manufacturers' profitability confidence rose 3 points to 33% and turnover confidence increased by 3 points to 44%. The service sector turnover confidence rose 2 points to 40% whilst profitability confidence remained steady at 22%.
Comments
Some comments on the national picture from a Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development briefing:
Neil Carberry,
CBI director for employment and skills, commented: “The rise in unemployment is
disappointing and reflects a lacklustre economy over recent months.
“However, the
increase in the headline rate is due to more people looking for work, who
weren’t previously doing so, rather than simple job losses. Numbers claiming
unemployment benefits are still falling.
“The flat
employment growth is down to a fall in part-time jobs. Full-time posts
increased again this month, continuing the positive trend of recent months.”
Mark Beatson,
chief economist at the CIPD, said: “This month’s figures have seen the recent
period of sustained employment growth come to an end. The number of people in
employment is very marginally down on the previous three month period, with
full-time employment increasing but part-time employment falling. At the same
time, with the population increasing and economic inactivity continuing to fall
– which in itself is not a bad thing – this has led to a quite substantial
increase in unemployment, up by 70,000 on the previous three month period.
“The question is
whether this is a short term blip or whether a lack of demand means that the
economy will struggle to create more jobs.”
Recruitment
intentions, forecast in the CIPD’s Labour Market Outlook, are still positive,
Beatson added, while redundancy figures have not changed significantly.
Therefore it
would be “unwise to read too much into a single month’s figures” he said.
Kevin Green,
chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said:
“Although there has been an increase in a number of unemployed this month, all
the indications and feedback we receive from recruiters show that businesses
intend to hire more people this year. We expect to see slow growth in the jobs
market over the coming months.”
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
‘The City and the Common Good: What kind of City do we want?’ - ‘Good People’
I recently went to an event at St. Paul’s Cathedral,
which was the first of a series with the overall title, ‘The City and the
Common Good: What kind of City do we want?’
This first event was about ‘Good People’; the others will be on ‘Good
Money’ and ‘Good Banks’. The Keynote
speaker last week was Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and formerly
of Birmingham. Also speaking were Peter
Selby, Helena Kennedy and Tracey McDermott (Director of Enforcement and
Financial Crime at the new Financial Conduct Authority).
Vincent Nichols quoted TS Eliot: "What
life have you if you have not life together?
There is no life that is not in community..." but went on to say that you need to cultivate
community and, reflecting Catholic Social Teaching, that in the recognition of
both community and the holding of personal property the well-being of each is dependent
on the other. The danger with the City
(of London) is that that a disconnection has grown up both of people in the City
with each other and with those outside.
But, he
argued, good people yearn for love, relationships, friendship and to make a
difference. This lies deep within us in
sharing a common humanity and life of relationships, and to learn to live well
is to learn the virtues – we act well because it has become habit for us. Becoming people of virtue starts within the
family but should also be inherent in our schools and universities (and in this
case business schools); the institutions of commerce should nurture this with a
clear sense of purpose focused on the wider common good.
Profit should
be made by delivering a purpose that leads to human well-being (not as an end
in itself), for unless you know the purpose you will never get the ethics
right. Business should be able to
demonstrate how it is making the world a better place; so whilst employees need
technical skills they must also be schooled in character and virtue.
His view that
there are limits to law and regulation – they are a lazy proxy for morality –
drew comment from the representative of the FCA who, whilst arguing they were
necessary but not sufficient, said they needed to reflect underlying norms,
though sadly in financial services this connection was not always made, so it
is important to make society’s morals clear.
Vincent Nichols was, however, arguing for a fundamental transformation
of purpose so that the banks and big business were at the service of society
and he felt that (as the economist John Kay has said) it will take another
financial crisis before the City wakes up to the scale of reform that is really
needed.
He concluded
by saying all this depends on the quality of leadership to draw out the good in
people by their own actions: do they appeal to fear or greed, or to
selflessness and a desire to serve the wider good?
Helena
Kennedy in responding referred to Adam Smith’s ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments’
saying that markets are only good if there is good law and high ethical
standards and that this has been squeezed out in many parts of our society
because we have made money a measure of value and how we measure people. She feared that there was still a sense in
the City of waiting to get back to business as usual. Peter Selby said that exhortation is not enough;
there are issues of power here and an imbalance of effect. And whilst schools of virtue are important we
also need schools of resistance, to say ‘enough is enough’.
In response,
Vincent Nichols referred to the virtues of courage and judgement and spoke
again about the power of leadership for service, and in the discussion about
the purpose of business, said that corporate social responsibility is about
more than ‘reputational laundering’. It
should lie at the core of the business that should be about the quality of
relationships with employees and their families, growth of employment, the
quality of goods and services, the tax that is paid, as well as shareholder
return. In short, there needs to be a
broader view of success. But for this to
be so, markets need a more personal connection to work properly, because
business doesn’t operate in a vacuum, it depends on its context and on its
connection with the society within which it operates. Wealth creation is, however, good if it is
for the right purpose.
Unsurprisingly, many in the audience were sympathetic to the tenor of the speakers' contributions but there seemed to be few practical suggestions about how they should be achieved, apart from the long-term of education from the Archbishop and Peter Selby's call for resistance. A couple of questions made the point of the significant contribution of financial services to the economy and to tax paid, asking if we could afford to see this diminish.
Implied in Vincent Nichols views is that financial services should serve the needs of business and the economy rather than making money from money (so-called casino banking), which is a significant part of the City and which contributes to its disproportionate size relative to the economy as a whole. Businesses run well along the lines suggested by the archbishop should make good profits in a longer-term and more sustainable way. One has to ask if the over concentration of resources in the London and the South East is not damaging to the rest of the country and its economic and social well-being. Stephanie Flanders (the BBC's Economics Editor), who chaired the discussion, wrote a piece recently asking 'Should Britain let go of London?' showing how the gap is widening between London and the rest of the country and how economic and other policies are skewed by London-centrism.
In this week of Baroness Thatcher's funeral (which takes place in the same space as this debate that I am reporting upon) it has been pointed out by a number of commentators that the north-south divide which was already happening before she came to power has become more acute as a result of government policies (of all parties) over the past 30 years. Mrs Thatcher's government was responsible for the 'Big Bang' de-regulating much of the City from its previously restrictive ways and contributing to its exponential growth. But no one has been able to halt, let alone reverse the decline of manufacturing or find an effective policy to truly revive affected regional economies, and the present governments' attempts at rebalancing the economy towards manufacturing and exports have been ineffective.
To truly succeed may mean grasping some very difficult nettles including the deeply entrenched economic and political power of the City. To get some idea of this see: 'Who Runs Britain?' by Robert Peston (2008), London, Hodder & Stoughton, which I have mentioned previously on a number of occasions.
Unsurprisingly, many in the audience were sympathetic to the tenor of the speakers' contributions but there seemed to be few practical suggestions about how they should be achieved, apart from the long-term of education from the Archbishop and Peter Selby's call for resistance. A couple of questions made the point of the significant contribution of financial services to the economy and to tax paid, asking if we could afford to see this diminish.
Implied in Vincent Nichols views is that financial services should serve the needs of business and the economy rather than making money from money (so-called casino banking), which is a significant part of the City and which contributes to its disproportionate size relative to the economy as a whole. Businesses run well along the lines suggested by the archbishop should make good profits in a longer-term and more sustainable way. One has to ask if the over concentration of resources in the London and the South East is not damaging to the rest of the country and its economic and social well-being. Stephanie Flanders (the BBC's Economics Editor), who chaired the discussion, wrote a piece recently asking 'Should Britain let go of London?' showing how the gap is widening between London and the rest of the country and how economic and other policies are skewed by London-centrism.
In this week of Baroness Thatcher's funeral (which takes place in the same space as this debate that I am reporting upon) it has been pointed out by a number of commentators that the north-south divide which was already happening before she came to power has become more acute as a result of government policies (of all parties) over the past 30 years. Mrs Thatcher's government was responsible for the 'Big Bang' de-regulating much of the City from its previously restrictive ways and contributing to its exponential growth. But no one has been able to halt, let alone reverse the decline of manufacturing or find an effective policy to truly revive affected regional economies, and the present governments' attempts at rebalancing the economy towards manufacturing and exports have been ineffective.
To truly succeed may mean grasping some very difficult nettles including the deeply entrenched economic and political power of the City. To get some idea of this see: 'Who Runs Britain?' by Robert Peston (2008), London, Hodder & Stoughton, which I have mentioned previously on a number of occasions.
Friday, 22 March 2013
Unemployment February 2013 and How Should we Grow
I've summarised the lastest unemployment figures for the County, but also offer a warning about complacency and some thoughts on what kind of county we might want to be.
Unemployment
Unemployment
The claimant count in Worcestershire in February 2013
increased by 326 to 10,685 (3.1%), 1,134 lower than the number of claimants in
February 2012. This is the lowest level since
December 2008, however as expected the number has risen due to the decrease in
seasonal work.
The district with the highest proportion of claimants
aged 16-64 was Redditch (3.9%), whilst the greatest decrease in absolute terms
(between February 2012 and February 2013) was in Worcester with a fall of 322
claimants. The urban centre with the
highest proportion of claimants is Kidderminster with 4.5% and the lowest is Wythall
at 1.9%. In Worcestershire's urban areas
the proportion of claimants is 3.5%, which is 0.4 % higher than the county as a
whole.
Long Term Unemployment
The proportion of claimants who have been receiving JSA
benefit between 6 and 12 months has decreased by 5.1 % to 15.1% since February
2012. The proportion in receipt of JSA
benefit for more than 12 months has increased by 5.3 % over the same period to
21.6% of all claimants. The number of people claiming for 6-12
months has declined due to them either finding employment or falling into the
category of claiming for more than 12 months.
Claimants Leaving the Unemployment
Count
2,600 people left the claimant count in February 2013, of
those people 42.8% have found employment, a further 43.4% are either 'not
known' or have 'failed to sign'; it is possible that some of these people have
also found work.
Youth Unemployment –
Claimants
Aged 18-24
In February 2013 the number of claimants aged 18-24 was
3,030, an increase of 150 claimants compared to January 2013 but 570 fewer than
in February 2012. The proportion of claimants aged 18-24
is 7.3%, 0.2 % higher than the England average. The
district with the highest proportion of claimants aged 18-24 was Wyre Forest
(9.0%). The greatest decrease in absolute
terms (between February 2012 and February 2013) took place in Redditch with a
fall of 195 claimants. After
a significant rise, the Worcestershire 18-24 claimant rate reached a peak in
August 2009. It has since fallen with some seasonal
effects related to Christmas and summer employment; however it is yet to reach
pre-recession levels.
Some
Comments
It has been consistently pointed out that Worcestershire’s
unemployment figures are better proportionately that the West Midlands region (usually
towards the bottom of the table of regions) and England or the UK. The
exception is youth unemployment where we tend to be above the England
proportion. This hides some significant variations
as the figures of the highest and lowest districts and more particularly urban
centres shows. Go to smaller areas and
the differences are even more pronounced (for example, the area where I am
associate minister has over 6% unemployment, whilst where I live two miles away
is under 2%).
In overall terms Worcestershire’s situation may lead us
to think that we’re not doing too badly and indeed there are signs that we are
faring better than many in the recession.
But as Ahmed Goga, Worcestershire County Council’s Head of Economic Development
and Strategic Planning, said at the Faith at Work in Worcestershire AGM this
week, beneath the surface all isn’t quite as rosy as we would like to
think. This is shown in modest average
incomes and gross value added, low levels of innovation in our industry and a
failure to bring back young people who leave to go to university. Whilst people with degree and equivalent
qualifications are quite numerous, there is a high proportion with less than
GSE standard education. And there is a
real problems for high tech firms in recruiting suitably skilled people – the right
kind of engineering is where the demand is.
The thrust of Mr Goga’s argument is that whilst
Worcestershire is a nice place to be, there is a danger of complacency which
could lead to stagnation. This is very
much the tension at the middle of the debates in the genesis of the Next Generation Worcestershire programme: how to ensure economic prosperity whilst preserving
those things that make the County a good place to live.
There is also a tension which was raised in the recent
Worcester Diocesan Synod debate on the economy: how to balance necessary
economic development alongside global environmental issues of pollution and
resource depletion.
In this time when so much of the debate surrounding the economy
and particularly the budget is about growth (almost at any price) it is
important to hold onto a wider and longer perspective. We may argue that love, compassion and justice
among the Kingdom priorities that the Diocese of Worcester has embraced require
a redistribution of the increasingly unequal shares of income and wealth that
our economic system is giving to people.
However, whilst we must do what is possible within the County we also
must be aware that in the system as it is we are (according to Mr Goga) in
competition with the likes of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire,
rather than the other parts of the West Midlands, and nobody may have told them
about our difficulties with growth. We
must also be aware of the argument, also made in Next Generation
Worcestershire, that prosperity is needed for the provision of those services
we deem important to care for our increasingly ageing population.
The challenge, rather like that reported today of Lord Mandelson
to the Labour leadership, is to work at a compelling alternative rather than
repeat the critique.
Friday, 22 February 2013
Unemployment January 2013
Unemployment
Against the national trend that saw a decrease in unemployment in the UK between October and December 2012 of 14,000, taking the total down to 2.5m, and a reduction in the claimant count in January 2013 of 12,500 to 1.54m, the claimant count in Worcestershire increased by 505 to 10,359, or 3% of the 16-64 population. This, though, is still 1,045 lower than the number of claimants in January 2012 and remains below regional and national levels.
Meanwhile, separate figures revealed that one in seven employees have been made redundant during the recession. John Philpott, director of the Jobs Economist consultancy, said that around 3.5 million people had lost their jobs since the beginning of 2008. Of those, 63 per cent were men and 37 per cent were women.
‘For both men and women 2009 was the peak year for redundancies,’ Philpott added, ‘although in terms of share of total redundancies 2011 and 2012 have been the two worst years for women, reflecting public sector job cuts.’ (From CIPD members’ site)
Against the national trend that saw a decrease in unemployment in the UK between October and December 2012 of 14,000, taking the total down to 2.5m, and a reduction in the claimant count in January 2013 of 12,500 to 1.54m, the claimant count in Worcestershire increased by 505 to 10,359, or 3% of the 16-64 population. This, though, is still 1,045 lower than the number of claimants in January 2012 and remains below regional and national levels.
The number of claimants in Worcestershire was at its lowest level
since December 2008, however, as expected, the number has risen due to the
decrease in seasonal work. The greatest
decrease in absolute terms (between January 2012 and January 2013) took place
in Worcester with a fall of 348 claimants. The district with the highest proportion of
claimants aged 16-64 was Redditch (3.8%).
The urban centre with the highest proportion of claimants aged 16-64 is
Kidderminster with 4.4% and the lowest is Wythall at 1.9%. In Worcestershire's
urban areas the proportion of claimants aged 16-64 is 3.4%, which is 0.4% higher
than the county as a whole.
Long Term
Unemployment
The proportion of claimants receiving Job Seeker’s
Allowance between 6 and 12 months has decreased by 4.8% to 15.1% since January
2012 but those claiming for more than 12 months have increased by 5.5 % over
the same period to 21.8% of all claimants. The number of people claiming for
6-12 months has declined due to them either finding employment or falling into
the category of claiming for more than 12 months.
Youth Unemployment
– Claimants Aged 18-24
In January 2013 the number of claimants aged 18-24 was
2,880, an increase of 190 compared to December 2012 and 560 fewer compared to
January 2012. The proportion of
claimants aged 18-24 is 7.0%, 0.2% higher than the England average. The district with the highest proportion of
claimants aged 18-24 was Wyre Forest (8.5%), whilst the greatest decrease in
absolute terms (between January 2012 and January 2013) took place in Redditch
with a fall of 180 claimants. After a
significant rise, the Worcestershire 18-24 claimant rate reached a peak in
August 2009. It has since fallen with
some seasonal effects related to Christmas and summer employment; however, it
is yet to reach pre-recession levels.
Comments
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (the
professional body for HR) said: ‘In line with the results of recent CIPD
surveys, the UK jobs market strengthened significantly in the final quarter of
2012. However, the medium-term outlook remains less certain, as the public
sector seems likely to continue to shed jobs and there are questions over the
private sector’s ability to sustain this momentum unless economic growth
resumes soon.’Meanwhile, separate figures revealed that one in seven employees have been made redundant during the recession. John Philpott, director of the Jobs Economist consultancy, said that around 3.5 million people had lost their jobs since the beginning of 2008. Of those, 63 per cent were men and 37 per cent were women.
‘For both men and women 2009 was the peak year for redundancies,’ Philpott added, ‘although in terms of share of total redundancies 2011 and 2012 have been the two worst years for women, reflecting public sector job cuts.’ (From CIPD members’ site)
Outlook
Supporting the
view above, thirty-five per cent of UK organisations are planning redundancies
or considering job cuts this year, according to new research. With the exception of Greece, this was a
higher percentage than any other country in Europe, found the study by HR
consultancy Aon Hewitt. Of the UK
organisations contemplating a reduction in headcount, 62 per cent were in
service-based industries, the survey revealed.
Commenting on the survey results, Andrew Macleod,
leader of Aon Hewitt’s pay research practice in the UK, said: 'The high
potential figure for redundancies may stem in part from UK organisations
feeling that they continually have to adapt and reorganise to remain
competitive in what is still a volatile economic environment.' (From CIPD
members’ site)
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