Two-in-five businesses expected to cut jobs

The ICAEW says that the future prospects for employment levels looked bleaker: a third of respondents have already made staff redundant, and two in five expected to be doing so in the next six months. A result of a fall in customer demand and the need for greater productivity and efficiency were identified as the most important drivers for layoffs.

Meanwhile, a proportion of firms was hiring despite the pandemic, the survey found, with half looking for high-end skills. A quarter of companies had frozen recruitment.

Iain Wright, ICAEW Director for Business and Industrial Strategy, said “Our members give government credit for preserving jobs so far, but they believe that a hard landing for the economy is only months away, and that employment will be badly hit. Some of this will be because market demand is weaker, but the crisis is also driving companies to become more efficient. This may improve productivity, but it will cost jobs.”

“What we need to see in the Chancellor’s autumn budget is a social, education and industrial strategy which combines protection and re-training for displaced workers over the short and medium term, with intervention and investment to create jobs with a future – especially in the green and scientific sectors.”