In the current climate, with unemployment at a three year high and almost 10million UK workers currently furloughed, there is a lot of anxiety around job security and the economy.
Global recruitment specialists, MRL, recently conducted research to find out how the UK is feeling towards their jobs during the current crisis.
A shocking 62% of UK workers say that they currently do not feel as if their job is secure. Alongside this, 42% of UK workers say that although they are already working, they are currently looking for new employment.
Worst hit regions in UK
When the results were further broken down, there were clear differences across the UK cities. Workers in Edinburgh and Norwich seemed less affected by the current situation, compared to workers in Newcastle and Southampton who are struggling with high cases of job insecurity.
When we asked workers from each city to tell us if they felt their job was secure, these were the results:
% of workers who feel their job is secure:
- Edinburgh 83%
- Norwich 71%
- Birmingham 70%
- Manchester 70%
- London 65%
% of workers who feel their job is not secure:
- Newcastle 63%
- Southampton 56%
- Nottingham 55%
- Belfast 50%
- Leeds 46%
Gen X struggling most with job security
There was also a stark difference when the results were broken down by age. The research found that both youngest and oldest workers felt similarly, with 70% of UK workers aged 25-34 and 66% aged 65+ saying that they felt their job was secure.
However, there is a huge drop in confidence for Gen X respondents, with just 41% of those aged 45-54 and 45% of those aged 55-64 saying that they feel they have job security.
% of workers who feel their job is secure – by age:
- 25 – 34 70%
- 18 – 24 67%
- 35 – 44 66%
- 65+ 66%
- 55 – 64 45%
- 45 – 54 41%
This could be down to the industries that millennials tend to be working in, as they’re much more suited to digital working and remote working.
It could also be due to older workers nearing retirement and feeling comfortable in their last few years of employment.
What comes next?
Billy Humphreys, spokesperson for global recruitment agency MRL, said “Within the current climate, it’s not uncommon for employees to experience job insecurity. Businesses need to retain and reassure their staff by showing commitment in other ways.
“Training and development is one way; with many employees stuck at home, this is a great opportunity to upskill whilst working remotely. There are hundreds of free e-learning courses online available, even using Youtube is a great starting point.“If people feel they aren’t being looked after and there is no point of return, work with a specialist recruiter to help find the right role. Recruiters are on the frontline speaking to clients day in day out, and know what businesses are looking for.
“Even during the pandemic, MRL has been working within the technology sector providing incredible talent into multiple organisations to help with a variety of different projects.”
