The poll of around 600 employers revealed that around one-third are anticipating job cuts over the next six months – an increase from one in four at the end of last year – with public sector workers most at risk of redundancy.
“Managers in the public sector have woken up to the scale of the financial crisis that they face and many are now contemplating redundancy programmes,” said KPMG public sector boss Alan Downey.
CIPD public policy adviser Gerwyn Davies warned that a rise in unemployment is still a “distinct possibility” as cutbacks in government spending begin to take effect.
Last week, Health and Safety Executive inspector Simon Jones warned of the dangers of providing insufficient information to agency staff relating to possible risks in the workplace.
Posted by Ross George
