Budget employment law changes fuel increased job insecurity
Almost one in seven workers feel insecure about their job, particularly among those with a lower income, according to new polling.
The first of a new monthly Morning Wire/Freshwater Strategy poll revealed that while the majority (87 per cent) feel secure about their job, one in seven don’t.
The data noted that this is particularly pronounced among lower income workers, as 18 per cent of those on a household income of less than £30,000 reported to be most likely to feel insecure.
Chief executive of Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), Neil Carberry told Morning Wire that “runs counter to a lot of the narrative that we hear about insecurity”.
He explained “it’s a useful reminder when we’re thinking about a big Employment Rights Bill that bring up the cost of employment for firms tends to also increase insecurity because firms can’t give as much security.”
This comes after a vast number of businesses raised concerns about the future of the UK workforce under Labour’s new employment reforms revealed last October in Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget.
It was revealed in an economic analysis by the government that UK businesses are set to face around £5bn in additional costs annually as a result of the workers’ rights legislation.
In addition to these proposed law changes, Rachel Reeves also revealed in her Budget that the government will increase employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NIC).
UK businesses have since been sounding the alarm over rising costs following the announcement of the NIC changes, with warning of £400m in extra costs.
Morning Wire/Freshwater Strategy polling showed that the majority (59 per cent) do not expect to receive a pay rise within the next three months.
Carberry stated that “April is a really big month for pay rises so it will be interesting to see what happens then but I’m slightly surprised that hasn’t bled through to these figures, I do wonder how much offsetting is going on around the national insurance rise”.
While roughly one in eight workers (12 per cent) said that they are actively looking to change jobs sometime within the next three months. The poll noted that this is mainly driven by younger workers.
Among those considering changing, over 30 per cent said the primary reason was to secure a higher salary.
“I think it’s really important that people understand that you build your career by moving around,” explained Carberry.
He went on to add “one of the things that has been shown post the financial crisis is the generation that came into the labour force just after didn’t have the rate of pay growth that maybe previous generations had. He noted that this was “not just because pay was constrained, but also because they didn’t move jobs as much.”
“People should be thinking about what options they have as we go into a new year, because although vacancies have been dropping, there’s still a million vacancies in the British labour market. Still plenty of opportunity,” he added.
Method note: Freshwater Strategy interviewed n=1,207 eligible voters in the UK, aged 18+ online, between 4-6 January 2025. Margin of Error +/- 2.8%. Data are weighted to be representative of UK voters.