March 01, 2011
The UK public sector is bracing itself for a swathe of redundancies in the aftermath of deep and stringent Government austerity measures, according to this quarter’s Labour Market Outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG.
The group’s joint Labour Market Outlook net employment index, which measures the difference between the proportion of employers that intend to increase and decrease total staffing levels, shows a distinct move towards increase staff losses.
33% of employers say they will be looking to employ fewer people in 2011 as a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review and redundancy intentions have risen to their highest level since the survey began.
More than half (52%) of public sector employers intend to make redundancies in the first three months of 2011, and local government will be a standout sector, with 77% of local government employers planning to cut their workforces.
“The first quarter of 2011 was always going to be a quarter of reckoning for the jobs market, and it seems that last year’s modest recovery will be reversed by a modest relapse this year,” said Gerwyn Davies, Public Policy Adviser at the CIPD.
“While private sector jobs generation is encouraging, it’s more important than ever that the Government continues its growth efforts in the private sector so as to offset the jobs gloom in the public sector.”
However, despite the gloomy public sector forecast, research suggests that the private sector will continue to generate jobs growth, with manufacturing and private sector services providing the majority of the jobs.
