Headlines: June 17th, 2009

The impact of the UK budget deficit, which will trigger severe cuts in public service spending, is becoming clearer with a prediction that 350,000 public service jobs could be cut. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has produced this estimate of cuts based on previous downturns in the economy.

The Institute warns that cuts of this order will bring strikes, because the public services are highly unionised, compared to the private sector. Staff cuts and strikes would foster a culture of discontent with an impact on productivity, which has already declined severely in the last nine years.

Areas of public services have already suffered job cuts and a survey by the Keep Britain Working campaign has shown that the stress of cuts affects managers. Results show that almost half of all public sector managers are worse at motivating since recession began.

The survey also revealed that one in four managers have increased their criticism and blaming of others, one in five have hidden themselves away, more than one in three have simply become indifferent with one in five are pretending that nothing’s happening.