29th July 2008
More than half of British businesses are preparing to shed jobs in response to the credit crunch, a survey has suggested.
While 60% are looking to reduce costs, 53% of businesses are looking to cut jobs, according to the latest National Business Confidence Survey, carried out quarterly by KPMG.
The survey showed that more than half believed the financial straits will continue for up to another two years, though only one in ten thought it would lead to recession.
However, the figures show how confidence has diminished since earlier in the year - when the previous survey was carried out in March only 29% were looking at cutting back on staff.
Malcolm Edge, regional chairman for KPMG in the North, said: "The clouds that were on the horizon when we first conducted this survey back in early spring are now right overhead, with businesses now feeling the impact of this so-called 'perfect storm' of rising inflation, tightening credit conditions and plummeting consumer confidence."
The survey also underlined how confidence across the whole of the UK has been hit, with four out of five businesses polled in the survey based outside London.
Edge added: "There were certainly arguments in some quarters at the beginning of the year that it was primarily the City of London that had been caught in the eye of the storm, and that the rest of the British economy may escape relatively unscathed.
"However, there's now no denying that we're all in this together, possibly for the long haul."
Majority of firms 'considering job cuts'
While 60% are looking to reduce costs, 53% of businesses are looking to cut jobs, according to the latest National Business Confidence Survey, carried out quarterly by KPMG.
The survey showed that more than half believed the financial straits will continue for up to another two years, though only one in ten thought it would lead to recession.
However, the figures show how confidence has diminished since earlier in the year - when the previous survey was carried out in March only 29% were looking at cutting back on staff.
Malcolm Edge, regional chairman for KPMG in the North, said: "The clouds that were on the horizon when we first conducted this survey back in early spring are now right overhead, with businesses now feeling the impact of this so-called 'perfect storm' of rising inflation, tightening credit conditions and plummeting consumer confidence."
The survey also underlined how confidence across the whole of the UK has been hit, with four out of five businesses polled in the survey based outside London.
Edge added: "There were certainly arguments in some quarters at the beginning of the year that it was primarily the City of London that had been caught in the eye of the storm, and that the rest of the British economy may escape relatively unscathed.
"However, there's now no denying that we're all in this together, possibly for the long haul."
Tags: Employment
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