The boom is busting and experts are queuing up to predict hard times ahead. But you can try to safeguard against the worst excesses of recession. It could be the biggest non-event since, well since the last recession that was forecast but never materialised, in 1999. Or it could be real. But while City pundits feverishly debate whether or not we are technically recession-bound, each of us could take steps to prepare for the worst.
Jobs are generally one of the first targets in the recession firing line.
For most companies, staff are the biggest single cost and so an area that is ripe for big cuts. It's important for workers to know their rights. All employees who have been in their job for more than two years are entitled to statutory redundancy pay , although it doesn't always amount to much. Thankfully, losing one's job has lost much of its stigma. A survey earlier this month found one in five of a random sample questioned had been made redundant since the start of 2000.