'Correlation between the length of lockdown and job insecurity'

“There is a clear correlation between the length of lockdown and job insecurity” these are the words of Manfred Abraham, CEO, BrandCap a management consulting firm.

Populus Group, a research company found that when the lockdown was extended for a further three weeks at minimum, 54 per cent of those in work are were at least “fairly worried” about their job security, an increase from 48 per cent last week and 36 per cent in mid-March.

Those who work in the private sector (59 per cent) are more worried than those who work in the public sector (42 per cent).

Despite 53 per cent of the public sector and 36 per cent of the private sector say they are now remote working, 32 per cent and 37 per cent respectively have said they have never worked from home. During the current crisis or at any other time.

Manfred Abraham, CEO, BrandCap part of the Populus Group said:

“There is a clear correlation between the length of lockdown and job insecurity. Acting right by your employees and in line with your purpose and values is key for businesses to avoid damaging their employer brand for the future. This is of course easier said than done but there are many examples of brands out there that have done this exceptionally well in the most difficult of circumstances.

On the 17/04/20 the Treasury announced that the UK’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was to be extended from the end of May to the end of June, allowing staff to be on furlough for another month.

This comes after Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary extended the UK lockdown by at least another three weeks. On the 15/04/20 the Government extended the start date of the furlough scheme to the 19 March from the 28 February, so more employees could be placed on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

The furlough scheme means the Government will pay 80 per cent of the wages of staff who have been furloughed. 

In order to gather these results, Populus Group ran a survey of 2,000 employees.

 

 

 

 

Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.