Pressure
will grow on HR departments to help employers recruit and retain the best
people if the expected economic downturn in America spreads across the
Atlantic.
This
is the view of the CIPD’s chief economist, John Philpott, who said that if the
UK moved towards recession, unemployment was unlikely to climb drastically and
companies would still face a fight to hold on to their best employees in a
competitive labour market.
Concerns
over a downturn in the UK economy were highlighted last week when the Bank of
England cut interest rates for the first time in 20 months.
Philpott
said, "I think there would be increasing internal pressure on HR
departments in terms of recruitment and retention.
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"There
is also a potential problem in terms of rewards and keeping hold of the best
people because the labour market is going to remain fairly tight."
Philpott told Personnel Today that if the UK was affected by
an economic downturn it would place a greater emphasis on companies to achieve
increased productivity.
