Preparing for the 'inevitable'

Managers in the engineering sector believe that their own redundancy is ‘inevitable’, according to the latest report by the Chartered Management Institute (

).

Based on a series of polls from 2,340 individuals and feedback received by the CMI’s redundancy hotline, the report showed that 39 per cent of employees admitted to updating their CV in response to cutbacks in the industry.

The survey also revealed that 24 per cent of respondents in the engineering sector were increasing their networking efforts in an attempt to uncover job opportunities and almost two-thirds of participants said they had worked in an organisation where others had been made redundant.

The drop in confidence is set against a backdrop of more than 50,000 job losses since 5 January, with a total of 1.92 million people currently unemployed in the UK.

However, the survey also discovered some positive news, with 64 per cent of those working in the engineering sector stating that there is less stigma attached to redundancy and 34 per cent seeing the current climate as a good opportunity to reassess their career paths.

Around 23 per cent of those surveyed said that they intend to develop transferable skills this year, with 32 per cent hoping to undertake a qualification.

Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the CMI, said: ‘Quite clearly, any suggestion that there is already ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ is misplaced.

'However, if we can help people to dig deep and develop their skills this may enable them to move forwards as well as to move on.

'There is a worrying lack of concern about helping those who survive redundancy and unless these individuals are given a focus or sense of direction, the spiral of low productivity and morale will continue on a downward trend.’