A week in HR: Gloom predictors brace workers for a difficult 2009

Posted by HR Zone in Strategies on Mon, 05/01/2009 - 12:24

HR weekThis week sees workers braving the freezing temperatures to make the long post-Christmas commute back to work, and many have job security on their mind as fear of redundancy and uncertainty looms over new year merriment. Annie Hayes reports for the first news round-up of 2009.

Professional body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is the first group to predict a difficult 2009. According to its newly-released annual Barometer Survey, the new year is shaping up to be the worst year for jobs in two decades. Predictions of job losses total 600,000 in 2009. Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, the centre for economics and business research paints a more worrying picture with reports that the wider ILO measure of unemployment is more likely to approach 2.8 million within 12 months.

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Editor's Welcome

 

Hello! And welcome back as we enter 2012, with a busy year ahead of us all. With talk of double-dip recessions, a possible partial or even full break-up of the Eurozone and unemployment rates set to hit nearly 9%, topics such as organisational streamlining, staff resilience and talent management are likely to be on many an HR professional's lips over the next 12 months.
 
But to lighten the gloom here in the UK, we also have the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and its attendant public holidays to look forward to at the start of June. Followed by two weeks of Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August and the Paralympics from 29 August to 9 September, each generating their own excitement, but also issues to work through for hard-pressed HR departments trying to sort out the multifarious staffing issues in advance.
 
So with an interesting but challenging year to come, HRZone promises to be with you, supporting you all the way and providing our usual insightful blend of news, analysis, community blogs and expert comment to help you sort the wheat from the chaff. As ever, we love to hear from you too so feel free to either post your words of wisdom to our blog section yourself or, in the case of longer, more in-depth ‘expert voice’ articles, drop me a line with any ideas to cath.everett@siftmedia.co.uk.....
 
Cath Everett
HRZone Editor 
 
 
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