The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has urged the US Senate to pass president Bush’s $700bn (£380bn) bail-out package tonight.
CIPD chief economist John Philpott told Personnel Today that if the US government failed to approve the plan, tens of thousands of UK jobs could be lost.
Senators are due to vote later on the plan to buy up the bad debts crippling the US financial sector using US taxpayers’ money. Stock markets across the world have endured a turbulent few days since the plan was rejected by the lower House of Representatives on Monday.
Philpott said: “This is not just a banking crisis, it affects us all fairly big time. We need to get this rescue package signed and sealed in the US to unblock the log-jam in the banking system.”
The bad debts hidden in the US financial system have made banks across the world unwilling to buy or sell debt, making it hard for both consumers and organisations to get hold of credit.
Philpott warned that this had led to a double whammy on employers of reduced consumer demand and less opportunity to invest.
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“It is frustrating that [the rescue package] is not going through so far,” he added. “They don’t want to cut off their nose to spite their face.”
The CIPD has previously warned of a potential “jobs avalanche” at the end of this year.
