Workers left behind after redundancies still worried

Employees who escape the axe in companies shedding workers remain nervous about their future prospects, according to a new survey from HR consulting firm Chandler Macleod Group.

The survey of 5250 workers in February shows 76% of employees left in a company after redundancies are anxious about their job futures. Only 45% of those surveyed in full-time employment believe there are more opportunities for them.

The survey also shows that up to 50% of employees may be asked to change their mode of work with their current employer due to the downturn.

Chandler Macleod Consulting executive general manager, David Reynolds, says the results show that the downturn is much more damaging than anticipated.

“I believe that job losses will continue to rise steeply before the financial year end in June 2009 as organisations will need to show they have the strategies and structures in place to face the challenges of the financial year ahead.  Unemployment should rise to around 7% by the end of 2009,” he says.

“It’s possible that we’ll have up to another 12 months of more pain before we start to see an improvement in the economy and the demand for candidates increase.  Unfortunately, in a typical downturn, jobs are the last to feel the full effects and the last to recover.

“When recovery does come, it will be slow at first and then escalate as organisations wait and look for signs of recovery before they commit to increased fixed costs.  As a result, many businesses may look for temporary hiring solutions or revert to a variable workforce to get them over the six to nine month recovery period and then we will see a return to the candidate-driven market.”