Telling
staff they are being made redundant is the biggest cause of stress for HR
managers in the media industry, research finds.
A
survey of more than 200 London-based HR professionals working in the media
sector reveals that 53 per cent identified the shaping and execution of staff
redundancy policies as their most stressful task.
The
survey by specialist recruitment consultancy Career Moves finds that the next
biggest stressor for HR managers is the prospect of company restructuring, with
43 per cent of those polled citing this as an issue.
The
study also exposed the daily stress created by the state of the London
transport system, with more than a third of respondents reporting that long
commuting time and poor public transport adds to the pressure at work.
Caroline
Foote, managing director of Career Moves, said: “Although fears about
redundancies and restructuring within HR departments themselves have now
receded, handling redundancy and restructuring still dominated their day.
“The
survey was undertaken at the peak of the press spotlight on pensions, just
after the introduction of the latest raft of legislation, during the recent
SARS epidemic and the Iraq conflict, and yet all these paled into
insignificance in comparison to handling the grim task of redundancies and
restructuring, and it highlights the depth of the current downturn within the
media industry.”
The
survey was conducted among senior HR managers at some of London’s biggest media
companies, including the BBC, Channel 4, Penguin and Time Warner.
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