Thousands more private and public redundancies as cutbacks continue

News Article - 08 February 2011
Category: Business

Several organisations have announced redundancies recently as the effects of the economic downturn continue to be felt across the public and private sector. Barclays and Lincolnshire County Council were among the more high profile casualties, with over 9,000 and 818 job losses respectively.

Kelly Smith, executive councillor for finance and HR at Lincolnshire County Council, said: "Unfortunately staffing reductions are inevitable. However wherever possible we hope that voluntary redundancies will minimise the number of compulsory redundancies that have to be made."

Cuts have been enforced nationwide and despite workers at Aberdeen City Council voting against a voluntary 5 per cent pay cut, the council admitted it had "no alternative" but to carry out compulsory redundancies in order to recoup £120 million in running costs.

Some organisations are attempting more left-field ways to deal with the mounting cash crisis; Cambridge University have started a voluntary scheme to reduce the potential fallout of a redundancy drive. Launched last month, the university's Voluntary Severance Scheme applies to all areas of the university including academic and non-academic staff.

A spokesman for the University said: "The scheme will allow approved applicants to leave the university and will assist the university in supporting any restructuring activity during these times of financial constraint."

The knock-on effect of redundancies in private and public sectors is that many highly-skilled people will be forced to look further afield for employment - resulting in a regional 'brain drain' as employees move to areas that continue to prosper. While the local economy may experience short-term benefit from budget cuts, in the long-term it will increase figures of workforce mobility and encourage many entrepreneurs to start their own business.

With large companies having to resort to redundancy to save money, SMEs could become heavily affected by poor economic conditions over the next few months. Protecting profit margins is essential to help prevent firms having to take emergency measures to remain operational.

Access financial software can help; the budgeting functionality allows firms to review performance against budget at any time. Tasks and sub-projects that show signs of over-spend can then be analysed to increase efficiency and ROI.

For more information, please call Access on 0845 345 3300.

Article keywords: Barclays, Lincolnshire County Council, Kelly Smith, Aberdeen City Council, Cambridge University, Voluntary Severance Scheme, SME, Access financial software, budgeting functionality

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