There’s a lot of economic speculation swirling around the Westminster washbowl at the
momment, but little of it is as eyecatching as today’s report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Its finding that a
third of employers are expecting to cut jobs in the next quarter is bound to spark double-dip fears, even if that expectation is more keenly felt in the public sector than in the private. 36
percent of public sector employers foresee job losses, against 30 percent in the private sector. Perhaps more worryingly, both sectors are expecting more redundancies than they did in last
quarter’s report.
Look below the headline figures, though, and there are signs that the private sector is driving on ahead regardless. The CIPD’s index puts private companies on a defiant +19, suggesting that they are quite willing to hire overall.
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