Almost one third of UK firms plan to lay off staff in coming months
Study comes amid fears of mass unemployment caused by coronavirus crisis
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Your support makes all the difference.Almost a third of UK business intend to make redundancies over the next three months as firms continue to struggle from the fall-out caused by coronavirus, a new report has found.
In its latest quarterly recruitment forecast, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said that 29 per cent of 7,400 businesses surveyed intend to cut staff by the end of September.
This is the largest percentage ever recorded by the BCC in this type of study and comes amid growing fears of mass unemployment as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
The report, which was completed in conjunction with Totaljobs, found that 41 per cent of the large and small or medium-sized firms polled would axe roles during the next quarter, while 18 per cent of micro-businesses said they would do the same.
Of the companies surveyed, 28 per cent of them said they had already reduced staff numbers between April and June.
As well as the high rate of redundancies, the poll also recorded the lowest ever level of recruitment over the last quarter, with only 25 per cent of firms making new hires.
The BCC and Totaljobs welcomed the chancellor's summer statement, which included a job retention bonus for firms that bring employees back to work from furlough. However, they encouraged him to do more to reduce the threat to businesses and jobs.
The two organisations have called on the government to consider a temporary cut in employers' national insurance contributions and to support businesses to reskill their employees.
After citing the economic difficulties resulting from the pandemic, Hannah Essex, co-executive director at BCC, said: "The Government should consider additional support for employers before the autumn Budget to reduce the overall cost of employment and prevent substantial redundancies."
Around 75,000 redundancies were announced in June, half of the total number of job losses during the pandemic, according to the PA news agency.
Although some industries such as retail and travel saw an increase in job adverts last month, the overall rate of unemployment in the UK is expected to rise significantly.
The Office for Budget Responsibility said earlier this week that employment could jump from its current rate of under 4 per cent to 13 per cent.
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