UK FIRMS CONSIDER BIGGEST LAYOFFS IN 10 YEARS-Chancellor Reeves’ Tax Increase slated for April looms closer
UK employers are reportedly bracing for the biggest layoffs in 10 years as firms anticipate tax increases from April that Rachel Reeves announced in her autumn budget.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), representing human resources professionals, stated that a survey of 2,000 employers showed redundancy intentions at their highest level in 10 years.
Reeves has come under intense pressure after a series of weak economic data, undermining her plans to grow the economy. Official figures last week showed Britain narrowly avoided a recession in the second half of 2024 after showing unexpected growth in the fourth quarter.
Figures out this week may reportedly show a rise in inflation and unemployment, emboldening Reeves’s critics who claim that the government’s economic agenda is being blown off course.
The CIPD survey, which was carried out in the second half of January, found that most employers blamed the rise in employer national insurance contributions and a 6.7% increase in the “national living wage”.
