Tag Archives: Reed

Reed’s Research Highlights the Impact of Job Cuts

Reed has undergone an extensive research process in order to compare the reaction of recessionary pressures in 2009 to those of the 1992 recession. This comprehensive study is a part of the Keep Britain Working initiative, which was developed by the recruitment services provider.

From the very beginning of this research it is clear that today’s employers are responding very differently to recessionary pressures than those of 1992.

This is in spite of the fact that an identical percentage of organisations in both the 2009 and 1992 studies – 44% – said they had made redundancies as a direct response to the downturn.

Where organizations in early 1992 felt compelled to radically re-engineer their staffing structures, in 2009 something else is happening. In 1992 over 67% of organisations indicated that staffing structures had been changed by the recession. Managers were particularly hard hit by redundancies and were predicted to be least in demand in the upturn, as companies de-layered across the board. The multi-layered, hierarchical organisation was replaced by something much flatter and therefore more flexible.

Redundancies seemed to be imposed with what often sounded like brutal relish. They were characterised by phrases such as “stripping out the dead wood” or “cutting out anyone over the age of 50”, heralding the end of the “job for life”.

Two decades ago 40% of employers identified their most successful recession-driven change as “increasing central controls”. In contrast only 20% encouraged greater employee co-operation. This smaller group actively introduced higher levels of internal communications and staff training, multi-skilling workers to perform across previously rigidly demarcated roles. While it was feared at the time that mass redundancies would jeopardize what was known as the “psychological contract”, in retrospect the actions of this smaller group sowed the seeds of a new relationship between staff and managers which the best organisations appear to have built upon ever since.

In 2009, in contrast to 1992, redundancies have hit across the board, but have not changed the shape or staffing structure of organisations. In 1992 67% said a fundamental shift in staffing patterns occurred, today people are split 50/50. This report shows a different process is occurring, involving a more fundamental shift in attitudes amongst employers and workers.

Key findings for 2009 include the following:

Staff number changes within the organization since the down turn:

• Decreased: 44%
• No Change: 36%
• Increased: 20%

Effect of Recession on staffing patterns within the organization:

• No Change: 51%
• Change: 49%

Via EPR Network
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Reed Researched On How Organizations And Employees Have Reacted To The Current Recession

If you have ever wondered about how organizations and employees have reacted to the current recession and how this compares to responses to the previous recession, then Reed has the answers you are looking for. In fact, Reed has taken it one step further to include information about what we can look to predict in terms of the new challenges and opportunities people challenge, from these reactions.

Reed have undertaken a comprehensive study which benchmarks a new survey of over 600 organisations – representing all sectors, sizes and locations – against research completed in Spring 1992, in the depths of the last UK recession.

The results are fascinating. They reveal that a sea-change has taken place. Yes, employers across the country are making recession-fuelled redundancies, but today this is only one part of their response. Organisations from Corus to KPMG are dramatically flexing worker terms and conditions, including benefits, hours and pay, thereby reducing costs while retainingstaff.

In 1992 a culture of partnership between workers and bosses was the exception. Now, a spirit of informed co-operation is widespread and this has enabled a far more flexible response to this downturn. This bodes well for a swift resurgence when the upturn comes.

The study reveals just how much this recession has strengthened the role of HR professionals, accelerating their move to the strategic centre of organisations as they implement and lead their employers’ responses to the downturn. Yet in spite of this, a key finding of this research is the prediction that skills shortages will be an even greater threat to recovery this time than in the aftermath of 1992.

Employers tell us that as soon as the upturn comes they will recruit to replace the staff that they have cut. This applies to all roles, across all levels. However, skilled staff are the only category where things are noticeably different. Organisations plan to recruit considerably more skilled staff once recovery begins than they have cut in the downturn.

This suggests that the UK’s recovery faces a very real threat from growing skills shortages. The problem will become even more acute as post-recession Britain moves further towards becoming a high-skill economy.

This issue demands attention from both business and government, as it will not resolve itself. A key national priority must be to re-tool and re-skill the workforce, to keep Britain working.

Via EPR Network
More Human Resources press releases