AROUND half a million people could lose their jobs this autumn, a shocking new study has predicted.
Research by the Institute for Employment Studies showed that between May and July this year, bosses told the government that 380,000 workers were at risk of redundancy.
This is more than double the peak reached in the Great Recession, when 180,000 staff were notified as being at risk between January and March 2009, it added.
But after analysing data of notified and actual redundancies, the UK’s economy could be hit harder with 450,000 redundancies in the coming months – the highest figure since 1995.
This may jump to higher than 700,000 if job loss notifications continue to rise, the IES said.
Their analysis is based on Insolvency Service data collected from employers planning 20 or more redundancies (which are given on HR1 forms).
The figures were then compared with estimates of actual redundancies reported in the Labour Force Survey.
The study comes as the government’s furlough scheme, launched in March to help firms struggling to pay their staff’s wages during lockdown, will be wound down on October 31.
Trade bodies and top politicians have been calling for an extension of the scheme – which helped 9.6 million people by August 16 this year – but Chancellor Rishi Sunak has stood his ground and said the scheme will stop on that date.
Meanwhile, around 2.7 million self-employed people have claimed around £7.8billion in support from the Government.
Despite the financial aid available, several industries have been financially crippled by the loss of income during the pandemic.
Airlines, retailers, banks and restaurants have cut thousands of jobs, leaving Brits worried about their future working prospects.
