Report forecasts job loss woe

MORE THAN half a million people face losing their jobs in 2009, a new report has claimed.

And the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has said even those who escape redundancy face pay freezes.

It says that while total unemployment will not hit 3m, the time between New Year and Easter will be the worst for job losses since 1991, with at least 600,000 people facing the axe over the whole year.

According to official statistics, there were 1.86m people out of work in the UK in October. That figure was the highest since 1997, taking the overall unemployment rate to 6%.

The CIPD, which represents managers and personnel staff, also said many workers feared either pay freezes or pay cuts in 2009.

Chief economist John Philpott said: “This time last year, in the face of some scepticism, the CIPD warned that 2008 would be the UK’s worst year for jobs in a decade.

“It was, but in retrospect it will be seen as merely the slow-motion prelude to what will be the worst year for jobs in almost two decades.

“The CIPD’s annual barometer forecast is that the UK economy will shed at least 600,000 jobs in 2009. 
 
“Overall, the 18-month period from the start of the recession in mid-2008 until the end of 2009 will witness the loss of around three quarters of a million jobs, equivalent to the total net rise in employment in the preceding three years.”
Mr Philpott said job losses were likely to continue into 2010, taking the final toll to about 1m.