Archive for October, 2009
How to protect your employment possibilities
The current controversy surrounding rumours of Government expenditure cuts hit new heights this week with the Prime Minister himself responding to speculation and indicating that indeed there will need to be cost savings - and sizeable cost savings at that - in a bid to eat into the multi billion pound public deficit. The numbers make for grim reading with the UK monthly budget deficit in August soaring to £16bn with public sector net debt at £804.8bn, equivalent to 57.5% of gross domestic product. Disappointing returns in light of recent figures that were showing a slow down in unemployment and increasing consumer confidence as the Government seeks to manoeuvre the economy out of recession and back towards stability and growth.
In times of recession, the nature of the private sector and its sensitivity to the economic climate has led to that area feeling the pinch first, the private sector employment market particularly vulnerable to negative pressures reflected in pay freezes, job cuts and closures. Industries such as IT, construction, manufacturing, financial services and retail all bearing the brunt of the cold winds of economic downturn. What’s happening now is that the public sector too, in areas such a health, education, infrastructure projects, defence and various other public services are likely to also be affected as and when the planned spending cuts come on stream. Such are the levels of debt in the system that public sector cuts might need to run so deep that levels of unemployment in these sectors might be as bad if not worse than in areas of the private sector.
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