Alistair Darling's plans to slash HR spending to pay for his Pre-Budget Review giveaway are ominous for practitioners in all sectors.
The UK's most powerful accountant seems to reckon he can do away with a few thousand HR professionals to find the money for a 2p-in-the-pound cut in VAT.
If you are one of 20 HR administrators serving one small public sector employer, it may be time to sharpen up the CV. You would be far from the only person in the UK searching Google for tips on writing covering letters.
No-one would suggest that all HR practitioners should be safe from the chop at a time like this - but let's just hope the profession doesn't suffer excessively.
If chief executives across the UK follow the chancellor's lead in January then we could see HR departments stripped to the bone as organisations struggle to stay afloat. If ever there was a time to prove your worth to the business, this is it.
There is more than a glimmer of hope, however, as our senior reporter Louisa found out at the CBI annual conference last week. Three hugely important business people spoke to her about the importance of the HR profession during an economic crisis.
Print off the article and include it in your team's Christmas card to the chief exec.
