Three in 10 organisations expect to make redundancies over the next year, with large organisations more likely than smaller firms to cut staff numbers.
According to a survey of 1,015 senior decision-makers by arbitration service Acas, many employers are facing tough choices about headcount in the coming months.
Two in five (41%) large businesses and one in five (20%) SMEs are likely to make staff redundant in the next 12 months.
Redundancy
Redundancy: What to do when making staff redundant
Acas chief executive Susan Clews said: “Acas advice for bosses is to exhaust all possible alternatives to redundancies first but if employers feel like they have no choice then they must follow the law in this area or they could be subject to a costly legal process.”
In the past few months, major employers including Prezzo, Accenture, Amazon and Meta have announced sweeping job cuts. P&O Ferries has also announced plans for further job cuts after making hundreds of seafarers redundant last year.
Many of these employers have cited soaring inflation, changes to operations and economic uncertainty as their reasons for cutting staff numbers.
Acas reminded employers about their consultation obligations if they planned to make redundancies. They must discuss any planned changes and consult with each employee who could be affected, and if they wished to make 20 or more staff redundant within a 90-day period, they must also consult a recognised trade union or elected employee representatives.
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For 20-99 redundancies, consultation must start at least 30 days before the first dismissal, and for 100 or more redundancies it has to start at least 45 days before. There is no set time period for less than 20 redundancies, but the length of consultation must be reasonable.
