ACAS chief executive, John Taylor, will join a debate tomorrow (April 26) about why redundancy isn’t working, and what the alternatives are.

John Taylor will join TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, in an open discussion about why redundancy is not working, and what the alternatives are. They will consider why in this age of caring the UK continues to rely upon this dated management tool, and why we do not encourage alternatives instead of using a blunt instrument which inflicts massive social costs on employees and the economy, and wastes skills and training investment. “If we are to reduce the need for sudden, significant redundancies then we must change the way we fund and save within our businesses. Part of that is finding new ways to retain the investment in our skills – our most valuable resources – people.”

The debate will be held at Congress House in London, starting at 1.00pm, in front of an invited audience. Other panellists will include John Duncan, group HR director at the Royal Mail, David Lennan, former director general of the British Chambers of Commerce and director of StaffShare, Sir Steve Bullock, chair of the Workforce Board at the Local Government Association, and Sarah Anderson CBE, chair of Call Britannia. This will be an open and free conversation about what place redundancy has in today’s caring and sophisticated society, and consideration of the practical alternatives. The agenda will broadly be: Redundancy as a business strategy. Is reactive skill-wastage still (or ever) socially acceptable? The alternatives to redundancy. What are they and shouldn’t they be encouraged? Society and the workplace. The attitude to work and the workplace are changing but how do employers best react? Y Work? Y-Generation employees and their changing attitude to work and time.