DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEES SET TO TURN ON EMPLOYERS AS WORKLOADS RISE WHILE WAGES FALL
Graduates lucky enough to be in work can expect 2013 to be a “hard year of slog” which will result in a “simmering distrust of bosses”, according to a new report which warns of longer hours, a continued squeeze on pay and fewer jobs being created in the year ahead.
Employees will cling to their positions as job insecurity remains high, predicts John Philpott, director of The Jobs Economist. And young workers will be forced to adopt a “grin and bear it” attitude, in the knowledge that the jobs market will remain tough for some time to come.
The economist’s report also forecasts that unemployment will increase by 120,000 to 2.63 million in 2013 because growth in the workforce will exceed the number of jobs being created. This contradicts the government’s hopes that overall unemployment will continue to decrease, as it appears to have begun to do already. Youth unemployment will fall but remain high at 900,000, while long-term unemployment will remain broadly the same.
The gloomy job market will continue to impact workers’ pay. As wage increases remain smaller than inflation, many workers will experience an effective wage cut, as they have less money in their pocket than they did last year. Coupled with and an ever-growing workload – as redundancies are made and departing staff are not replaced – relations between bosses and workers will be strained. Under these conditions, grumbling private sector workers are unlikely to have much sympathy for public sector employees who complain about pay freezes, redundancies and cuts to their pension schemes. Philpott said:
“Our jobs outlook for 2013 is relatively optimistic in that we expect only a modest rise in unemployment. However, the fact that this can be considered good news merely underlines the harsh reality of current economic austerity.
“GDP [gross domestic product, the UK’s economic output] may grow somewhat faster but 2013 will be another year of hard slog, with longer hours for those lucky enough to have jobs and a further squeeze on living standards for workers and the jobless alike.
“Hard-pressed private sector workers are likely to keep their heads down and get on with the job rather than actively stand shoulder to shoulder with striking public sector trade unionists.
“Workplace disgruntlement in the private sector will instead take the form of simmering distrust of bosses, especially those who adopt the trendy management speak mantra of ’employee engagement’ while piling the pressure on overstretched staff.”
Graduate Fog doesn’t have a crystal ball, but let’s hope that not all of Philpott’s bleak predictions turn out to be accurate. The UK has a wealth of young talent and energy and it would be a tragedy to see that crushed as a result of short-term cost-cutting by employers.
*IF YOU HAVE A JOB, ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT KEEPING IT IN 2013?
What do you think of these predictions? If the economy doesn’t pick up fast, will relations between bosses and workers continue to suffer? Or are they already under strain? Do you expect employer to take advantage of the economic climate to squeeze more from their employees, while paying them less?
I work on behalf of a large bank and I am at risk of redundancy. Infact they plan on keeping less than 20% of the staff and we should be getting told next week who will be keeping their jobs. Those that don’t keep their jobs will be out in February or March at the latest. Those that do keep their jobs will be forced to go from 35 hour contracts to 40 hour contracts (some are already on 40 hours).
On the bright side I have 3 interviews in the next 2 weeks, I am pretty sure I am about to be offered a job with the HMRC, the bank that I work for will probably be involved in another misseling scandal which will mean more work for my department (hopefully for my job not the people who get screwed) and (finally)I am pretty good at my job so there is a good chance I will keep it and they can’t exactly make me work more hours as I work 40 hours as it is and earn £14k which isn’t a lot anyway.
Britain has a long tradition of making full use of employees’ abilities and are constantly looking at new techniques for releasing employees’ potential in order to boost performance and provide an even better service for the customer. In part, they achieve this through employee engagement.
Okay, now let’s look at what I’ve just written from the employee perspective. When the line manager shouts “Jump!” you ask “How high!” In Customer Services, I’ve found that the majority of customers are rude, arrogant, ignorant, selfish, impatient spoilt little brats! Darling customers! And managers get the whip out on their subordinates supposedly on behalf of the customer, piling on the pressure, constantly changing the criteria by which employee performance is measured, partly to make it difficult for employees to build a defence and partly to make it easier to get rid of people. Successful employees are recategorised as ‘failing’ to justify increasing the pressure. This is especially the case in outsourcing. The key is to extend everyone’s probation period by another month at the three-month review, get rid of the mediocre types and keep whipping the better performers until they burn out in 7 or 8 months. However, the fact that there is constant recruitment means that an employer will never be short of workers. Put them on a STANDARD 40 hour week and instead of creating a dozen new full-time jobs, employers simply offer overtime from time to time as business requires.
Workers are definitely in for a hard year of slog in 2013. Happy New Year???
I should add to what I wrote above – the majority of customers are relatively happy with their goods and some services. Out of the minority of customers who phone a call centre most of them are rude. Lol.