Unemployment Figures Up
As expected, the unemployment figures have climbed significantly to 1.86 million and it is not the end of the bad news; more the start.
Many employers with askilled and experienced workforce do not want to take drastic action until they are sure that there is no alternative. This has been exacerbated by the Christmas break with many holding off making decisions until they see what the New Year brings.
If you look at it from the employees’ viewpoint there are two schools of thought about whether to announce redundancies before Christmas or after. Do you tell everyone early so that they plan their spending accordingly? Or do you allow them to have a good Christmas and tell them the bad news in the New Year?
Economic commentators have expressed concern that the figures are increasing so rapidly at such an early stage of the recession. In my view this is not surprising: we are experiencing the “motorway jam” of employment. Businesses increased their staff numbers to meet what appeared to be an endless boom without thinking if there was a smarter way of meeting demand. Once businesses realise that we are in for a long recession we may well see unemployment figures rise rapidly to 3 million.
