New data from the CIPD and KPMG highlights the range of alternatives employers are pursuing to avoid having to make redundancies in the first quarter of 2009. The data, based on early findings from next monthís quarterly CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook and released as part of the CIPDís ëRedundancyWatchí, finds a half of employers saying they have introduced recruitment freezes to offset the need to make redundancies, while forty four per cent are terminating temporary or agency worker contracts to prevent the shedding of in-house staff and one in seven (15%) have introduced short-term working.
Other measures employers say they are taking to help avoid redundancies include more use of flexible working measures (19%), cutting bonuses (17%) and wage cuts (7%). Perhaps unsurprisingly, these measures are being adopted most by those sectors most affected by the current downturn, such as manufacturing and private sector services.
Gerwyn Davies, CIPD Public Policy Adviser and the reportís author, says:
ìThere is little doubt that private sector companies will continue to shed staff in great numbers this year and into 2010. However, what often goes unnoticed beneath the media headlines is the extent to which employers are introducing alternatives to avoid or minimise the number of redundancies they make. Measures such as recruitment freezes, shedding temporary workers and short-term working are clearly not without pain, but they can often be preferable to redundancies.
ìThere is a high cost to making people redundant, and letting skilled staff go can risk longer-term damage to the future prospects of the business. These findings highlight the lengths to which managers are going to minimise the impact of the recession on their organisations and employees.î
Dr John Philpott, CIPD Chief Economist adds:
ìOur Redundancy Watch report highlights the fact that redundancies are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the impact of the economic downturn on the jobs market. While the report offers some comfort to people on permanent contracts who fear being made redundant the news is less good for agency temps, contract staff and those, including graduates, seeking to be recruited into jobs. Whichever way we look at it demand for labour is plummeting, as todayís official unemployment statistics will confirm.î
CIPD ëRedundancyWatchí highlights employer efforts to exhaust alternatives to redundancies
New data from the CIPD and KPMG highlights the range of alternatives employers are pursuing to avoid having to make redundancies in the first quarter of 2009
