Almost 70 per cent of people have
been made redundant or know someone personally who has, a study has found.
The report by career
consultancy Penna Sanders & Sidney concludes that redundancy is a fact of
working life in the UK.
Over a quarter of 1,000
people interviewed in Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and London have been
made redundant at least once. A similar proportion have seen family members
made redundant and a third know friends whose jobs had been cut.
Just over a quarter
were made redundant in the early 1990s when the recession was at its peak, but
twice as many lost their jobs as the economy picked up.
Over a fifth were made
redundant this century, despite unemployment being at an all time low.
Sally Davis, director
of Penna Sanders & Sidney, said, "The perception is that redundancy is
synonymous with recession. Our experience is that in good times when
organisations are investing, merging, internationalising or restructuring they
are also likely to increase redundancies."
A total of 45 per cent
feel employers have a duty to help staff find other work, but only 15 per cent
thought the opposite.
Dr Diana Winstanley,
senior lecturer in HR management at Imperial College Management School, said,
"As redundancy becomes more commonplace at all levels, employers have a
responsibility to support outgoing staff to minimise the negative impact of
what is a very shocking experience."
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By Ben Willmott
