Sophie M
CIPD | LMO SPRING 2020
More than half of private sector firms are preparing to freeze pay over the next 12 months
The jobs market is set to take a significant turn for the worse in the next three months.
Findings from the latest Labour Market Outlook from CIPD and The Adecco Group have found that employers are putting a hold on recruitment, freezing pay and furloughing staff in order to protect jobs.
Based on a survey of 2,053 HR professionals and decision makers in the UK, findings from the report indicate that:
• Hiring intentions have fallen to their lowest levels since the survey began in 2005.
• More than a fifth of organisations expect to make some redundancies in the three months to July 2020; up 6 percentage points on the previous quarter.
• Just over half (52%) of employers said they planned to take part in the Government’s Job Retention Scheme (JRS).
The CIPD Labour Market Outlook, in partnership with Adecco Group is one of the most authoritative employment indicators in the UK. The research report is based on a survey of more than 1,000 employers, many of whom are drawn from the CIPD’s membership of around 150,000 HR and people development professionals.
The partnership with CIPD supports Adecco Group’s aim of providing fresh insight and deeper understanding on the workforce management and recruitment challenges facing its customers and the wider business community by building strategic links with professional organisations and academic bodies.
The partnership between CIPD and The Adecco Group, now in its fifth year, was developed and scoped out by b2b with the CIPD team. b2b worked closely with CIPD to shape the partnership opportunity and then secured the partnership with The Adecco Group across this flagship industry barometer.
The partnership has been renewed, with The Adecco Group committing to working with CIPD across the LMO for another year.
Gerwyn Davies, CIPD Senior Policy Adviser for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, comments:
“While hiring and pay prospects have taken a significant turn for the worse, employers have so far held off from making large-scale job cuts. The Government’s Job Retention Scheme is undoubtedly a key factor, but many employers have also succeeded in achieving a step change in homeworking which, along with other steps to reduce costs, has avoided the need for large-scale redundancies.
“We are pleased that the Government has heard consistent calls from the CIPD to extend the job retention scheme and make it more flexible at the same time. The next challenge will be for Government to work with employers to design the best way to enable furloughed staff to work part-time for their employer, and gradually reduce reliance on the wage subsidy before the scheme ends in October.”
Alex Fleming, Country Head and President of Staffing and Solutions, the Adecco Group UK and Ireland, comments:
“The labour market is undergoing a huge transformation as a result of the current unprecedented circumstances. Recruitment activity has fallen significantly, but it’s positive to see that redundancy intentions have increased only modestly compared with the previous quarter.
“Organisations are doing all they can to keep employees in work, from reducing working hours, freezing hiring and cutting training budgets. Those employers taking part in the Job Retention Scheme have also been able to avoid making redundancies to what would otherwise have been more than a third of their workforce.
“As workplaces adapt to the new normal, it’s important that businesses take cohesive action to shape the future of work for the better.
To read the full report click HERE.
To find out more about how b2b developed this partnerships please contact kari@b2bpartnerships.org