LONDON (UK) – A human resources industry body said on Monday that British businesses have the hiring intentions, found to be the strongest in a year and fewer are having plans to make redundancies, following the brightening up of economic outlook over the past three months.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said 56% of businesses have plans to ramp up staff numbers in the coming months, up from 53% in late 2020. It is still below the 66% who had plans to hire staff a year ago before the pandemic.
The proportion of firms planning redundancies saw a sharp dip to 20% from 30% in the last quarter.
However the CIPD said unemployment was expected to increase sharply if finance minister Rishi Sunak does not come to a decision about an extension of jobs support for businesses during his March 3 budget.
Gerwyn Davies, a senior labour market advisor to the CIPD, said, “It is far too soon to rule out further significant private sector redundancies later in the year if the government does not extend the furlough scheme to the end of June or if the economy suffers any additional unexpected shocks.”
A costly furlough programme supporting around one in five private-sector employees during the current lockdown is likely to come to an end on April 30.
The CIPD said hiring plans were found to be the strongest, with regard to healthcare, finance, education and IT. On the other hand, it was the weakest in the hospitality sector on which the current lockdown has had a heavy toll.
The survey, jointly run with recruiters Adecco, covered 2,000 employers between January 5 and January 30.