With more than 200,000 people expected to become unemployed during the next 12 months, UK employment is set to reach lows that have not been seen in two decades. If the recent analysis forecasts prove to be true, almost 9 percent of the British population (approximately 2.8 million) will be without jobs in 2012.
Unfortunately, companies in the private sector have been unable to make up for the loss of jobs in the public sector during the last few years, in light of the recent eurozone debt crisis and the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008. Analysts expect employment in the public sector to fall by more than 100,000 in the coming fiscal year.
Gross domestic product growth is also expected to be slower than previously thought, as analysts have dropped the forecast growth rate from 0.9 to 0.4 percent. In addition, UK employees will likely face even more pay cuts as many companies in the public sector are trying to reduce productivity due to the struggling economy.
In particular, the number of job vacancies in entry-level job positions is expected to drop significantly during the first half of 2012, potentially pushing the already staggering youth unemployment rate to more than 1 million. Although the beginning of 2011 saw a bit of recovery in the UK jobs market, that progress has recently come to a halt. Some speculate the decline in the jobs market was partially caused by bank holidays in April.
According to the reports issued by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), unemployment is expected to continue to rise to nearly 3 million before a possible slight decline in early 2013. Even so, unemployment is expected to remain at more than 2 million until 2015.
