Jobs
UK’s Much-Feared Wave of Job Cuts Is Failing to Materialize
- Hard evidence of post-budget labor cuts is proving elusive
- Experience of labor shortages may be prompting firms to hoard
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A threatened avalanche of job cuts after Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves unveiled her tax-raising budget has so far failed to materialize, with memories of how difficult it was to rehire workers following the pandemic persuading many firms to hang onto staff instead.
The prospect of a £26 billion ($32.7 billion) hike in payroll taxes combined with another hefty increase in the minimum wage from April triggered a raft of warnings from business leaders including Stuart Machin, CEO of Marks & Spencer Group Plc, and billionaire James Dyson. Surveys too pointed to hefty cuts, with the closely watched PMI showing jobs being shed at a pace seen during the financial crisis.