Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Economics, government & businessLatest NewsPublic sectorJob creation and losses

Public sector job cuts faster and deeper than expected

by Nick Martindale 20 Oct 2011
by Nick Martindale 20 Oct 2011

The scale and speed of job cuts in the public sector have been far more severe than initially predicted and are on course to exceed the Government’s estimate of 400,000 job losses by 2016.

In a report to mark the one-year anniversary of the Government’s spending review, professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed that 290,000 people were made redundant between December 2009 and June 2011.

The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) originally forecast that no more than 100,000 jobs would go in the whole of the 2011-12 financial year but PwC claims that this figure has already been exceeded in the first quarter alone.

Paul Cleal, partner and head of public sector at PwC, said: “The public sector job losses have come much faster than anticipated. The total number of job cuts over the spending review period to 2015 will not necessarily be that much greater than forecast as job losses may be lower in later years, but earlier than expected job cuts have sapped demand at a time when the economy is already relatively weak due to a series of global economic shocks this year.”

Local authorities have led the way in shedding posts, accounting for 145,000 out of the 240,000 roles lost in the year to the end of June 2011. Central government made 66,000 positions redundant during this period, while a further 29,000 went in public bodies such as the BBC and the Post Office.

The impact of public sector redundancies has been cushioned to an extent by jobs growth the private sector during the same period, with 600,000 posts created between December 2009 and June 2011.

However, there are concerns about the continued ability of the private sector to absorb the numbers being cut in the public sector. In the second quarter of this year, 110,000 posts were made redundant in the public sector, compared with just 41,000 new positions being created in private businesses.

John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, also pointed out that many of the gains in private sector employment since 2009 were in part-time posts, with the average working week now standing at 31 hours.

“Trends in full-time-equivalent employment have been less favourable during the last couple of years than suggested by the total employment numbers,” he added.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics out earlier this month revealed that UK unemployment hit a 17-year high in the three months to August 2011, standing at 2.57 million.

There was a record cut in the number of part-time positions during that period, with 175,000 posts going as employers looked to cut back further in the wake of a stagnating economy.

Avatar
Nick Martindale

previous post
Equality chief urges employers to focus on diversity
next post
Cascade introduces the ‘personnel’ touch to its innovative software

You may also like

Employment law changes for 2022 and beyond: update...

1 Jul 2022

BT workers vote for strike action over pay

1 Jul 2022

Chief financial officers now more involved in HR

1 Jul 2022

Top 10 HR questions June 2022: Former employees

1 Jul 2022

Pay all care workers a £10.50 hourly minimum...

30 Jun 2022

Royal Mail managers vote to strike over restructure

30 Jun 2022

Give wellbeing a board seat: Prof Sir Cary...

30 Jun 2022

One in five workplaces lack LGBT support policies

30 Jun 2022

Christian doctor loses transgender pronoun case, but beliefs...

29 Jun 2022

New chief workforce officer at NHS England

29 Jun 2022
  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+