A survey of 2,000 employers by human resources body the CIPD and Adecco Group has found one in three employers plans to cut staff this quarter with almost 40% of private companies expecting to make layoffs. “Until now, redundancies have been low - no doubt due to the Job Retention Scheme - but we expect to see more redundancies come through this autumn, especially in the private sector once the scheme closes,” said Gerwyn Davies, senior labour market adviser at the CIPD.
“This will likely be accompanied by a pay squeeze for workers, which is actually to be welcomed to help preserve jobs. This looks set to be a sombre autumn.” Separately, figures from the Insolvency Service show over 139,000 jobs were lost in June, with the number of firms cutting 20 or more roles during the month up fivefold compared to last year, rising to 1,778. Elsewhere, a survey of small businesses from employee benefits gro up WorkLife has found almost half say they expect to cut wages, jobs or both to help them survive the coronavirus crisis.
Read more: The Independent