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Britain simply can’t afford mass redundancies – yet politicians seem resigned to the job losses to come
As news rolls in each day of a fresh round of job losses, fatalism seems to have set in. Forecasts suggest that as many as 1.3m jobs could be lost as the government’s furlough scheme ends; and unemployment could hit a terrible new high of 4 million people by the end of the year. However, all sides of the political debate seem to have conceded that the flagship job retention scheme will have to end soon for most businesses.
But if we look abroad at countries like Germany, France and Switzerland, mass unemployment and job destruction on such a scale is not seen as a price worth paying in a recession. Instead, state-subsidised “short-time working” schemes kick in across the economy, so that firms cut fewer jobs and employ more people, even if some are on shorter hours. This means that workers can hold on to their job on reduced hours, and companies avoid the costly process of firing and re-hiring. This is in stark contrast to the UK’s all-or-nothing job shedding. Continue reading...