There were 667,000 redundancies last year - well below the 1.25 million in 1992, the worst year in the last decade, but edging above 1996 and 1997, when the totals were kept to below 650,000. It looks quite possible that there will be a substantial increase in the figure for this year. The amounts have really been pared back,' says Jo Bond of Right management consultants. A major reason for this is that employers have become accustomed to making people redundant and no longer throw money at the problem to assuage their guilt. However, they are more likely to negotiate over other benefits, such as laptops, life insurance and private medical insurance, where the cost to the employer is low but the value to the employee is high.
Some sectors retain a tradition of large pay-offs.
A big difference between now and 1992 is that many people who are laid off could quickly find new work, especially in South-east England. Only 5.2 per cent of the nationwide working population is unemployed, but in parts of the Home Counties the figure drops to below 1 per cent. And there is no longer a stigma to being made redundant. Job losses through mergers and cost cutting are now ever-present. Coles says employers' attitude towards making staff redundant went through a sea change in 1991 to 1993.