A study* on UK redundancies reveals that the number of layoffs occurring in SMEs is increasing. 47% of employees working in an SME that laid off staff noticed a rise in these layoffs in the last year compared to 12 months prior. A majority of 44% of UK workers that observed these increases believe layoffs have risen by 10-20%, whilst 14% believe they have grown by 21-30%.
The majority of UK layoffs are occurring in London. 37% of London- based employees reported job cuts in their firms in the last 12 months, compared to 28% in the UK as a whole. Overall, of those companies laying employees off, 63% were let go due to cost-cutting, whilst 28% were due to a decrease in operations, and 26% a decrease in funds.
Moreover, when employees were asked if their company provides support to those being laid off, 26% stated that no assistance is offered, which stood at 27% for businesses specifically operating in London.
Communication during the layoff process
Communication regarding job cuts was also an issue within UK SMEs, as it is revealed that 57% of employees were not informed/made aware of ongoing cuts occurring within their company.
Overall, the majority of UK businesses do not have an offboarding strategy when an employee is let go (only 25% do), yet London-based companies were the exception to the rule, with over one-third (37%) having an offboarding programme in place. Overall, of all the companies with an offboarding plan, 75% include an exit interview.
The study also found that when an employee leaves, the majority of companies ask for feedback regardless if it was a voluntary or forced exit (at 38%).
David Jani, Content Analyst at GetApp UK, comments:
Our study was very revealing of how companies in the UK are adjusting to the era of high inflation and managing offboarding as a result. Whilst a minority of our respondents noted redundancies, they appeared to be on the rise especially in London where the highest uptick was noted by our sample of SME employees.
Despite the job losses gradually increasing, most SMEs do not have an offboarding strategy in place. This runs many risks, not least the loss of vital know-how within a company and missing out on essential employee feedback.
*Study from GetApp
