Benchmarking the impact of cuts in the public sector in 2012
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Staff morale in the public sector is deteriorating as spending cuts continue, XpertHR research suggests. Three-quarters of public-sector employers say staff morale has worsened during 2011 as the impact of public spending cuts intensified. A further two-fifths say that industrial relations in their organisation worsened in 2011. This is according to 2012 XpertHR Benchmarking research on the impact of public-sector cuts. The survey is based on responses from 78 public-sector organisations with a combined workforce of 439,919 employees. |
XpertHR Benchmarking subscribers can drill down into the complete results data from our surveys of cuts in the public sector for 2012 and 2011.
XpertHR Benchmarking also enables you to refine the results of the 2012 survey for the following areas of the public sector: local government; central or devolved government; education; health; public safety; and non-departmental public bodies.
Majority of employers in public sector acted to cut wage bills in 2011
A clear majority of public-sector employers surveyed by XpertHR took action to cut wage bills in 2011.
Employers acting to reduce their wage bill sought to cut their wage by 7% at the median in 2011.
Public sector cost-cutting continues in 2012
Public sector cost-cutting measures are ongoing in 2012. Nearly nine public-sector employers in 10 expect to make cuts to organisational wage bills in 2012.
The most common planned restructuring measures to reduce public-sector wage bills in 2012 are:
- voluntary redundancies (planned at three-quarters of public-sector organisations);
- compulsory redundancies (at just over half); and
- introducing shared services (at just over two-fifths).
Three-quarters plan voluntary redundancies in 2012
Voluntary redundancies are the most common course of action for public-sector employers seeking to reduce their wage bill:
- Four-fifths used voluntary redundancies in 2011. This was up from three-fifths in 2010.
- The predicted median number of employees to be made voluntarily redundant in 2012 is 50 per organisation.
Half plan compulsory redundancies in 2012
Compulsory redundancies are the second most common measure to cut wage bills:
- Three-fifths of public-sector employers made compulsory redundancies in 2011. This compares with two-fifths in 2010.
- Public sector employers expect to make 50 employees compulsorily redundant per organisation at the median in 2012.
Is public sector cost-cutting having the desired effect?
Cost-cutting measures appear to be having desired effect for many public-sector organisations surveyed by XpertHR:
- Nearly three-fifths report that they cut their wage bill by the expected percentage in 2011.
- More than three-fifths (62.8%) believe their organisation's situation regarding overall costs has improved over the past year.
You can also access XpertHR's detailed written analysis of the survey findings.
If you have any comments or queries about this survey, or about XpertHR Benchmarking, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.
Michael Carty, benchmarking editor
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