IT staff brace themselves for redundancy

gallery

Rather than fearing the worst may happen, managers in the IT industry are certain of their fate as redundancy becomes an inevitability rather than just a possibility.

So says research by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), whose redundancy hotline activity and polling efforts show that tech leaders are now less concerned with job security and instead are readying themselves to re-enter the recruitment rat race.

A quarter of those questioned by the CMI said that they’re updating their CV in preparation for the push, while just over a third (34 per cent) are ramping up networking efforts to try and make friends in the right places and open up new employment opportunities.

Worryingly, but alas a sign of the times, some 84 per cent of IT workers have been employed in a company where colleagues have been made redundant.

“Quite clearly, any suggestion that there is already ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ is misplaced. However, if we can help people to dig deep and develop their skills this may enable them to move forwards as well as to move on,” said Ruth Spellman, the CMI’s chief executive.

“There is a worrying lack of concern about helping those who survive redundancy and unless these individuals are given a focus or sense of direction, the spiral of low productivity and morale will continue on a downward trend.”

While 69 per cent of tech workers reckoned there is less of a stigma attached to redundancy than back in the 90s, it doesn’t necessarily ease the blow to those directly affected.

That said, 22 per cent plan to use this year to boost their transferable skills base, with 28 per cent opting for a qualification to make them even more attractive to potential employers. If the saying that fortune favours the brave rings true, five per cent of those surveyed – the ones planning to start their own business – may well see that their risk pays off.

The CMI has created a Redundancy Support Service (01536 207400) for its members to help during these troubled times.

Email to a friend

Print this page