New survey of 1000 Jobseekers Shows Half of Britain’s Workers Failed by Employers’ Redundancy Processes, says Careerplan4.me

“There is a right way to look after staff being made redundant, and it’s not ‘here’s a cheque – goodbye’”

(PRWEB) April 27, 2010

Results from a new survey of over 1000 jobseekers finds that one in two were given no extra support in their redundancy, according to http://www.careerplan4.me. A quarter of the jobseekers have a very poor perception of their employer, while another half have a poor or indifferent view. Generally, half believe their overall treatment by their last employer was unfair or poor.

Garry Fullagar, a finance manager made redundant last year says, “There is a right way to look after staff being made redundant, and it’s not ‘here’s a cheque – goodbye’”. Garry is working again and, one of the lucky ones, feels his ex-employer couldn’t have done more to help him. He received a good package and outplacement support to find another job.

The survey shows the extent jobseekers feel employers are mishandling the redundancy experience, says Richard Banks from http://www.careerplan4.me. “Redundancy is not an easy situation for any party involved, but there are ways of handling it to support the employees – who, let’s face it, will voice their good or bad opinions very clearly after the event. Over 90% said they didn’t hesitate to tell others about their redundancy experience.

“We’re sure most employers would rather be praised by current or past staff, rather than risk future recruitment and their employer brand. Indeed, the survey clearly shows some employers handle the redundancy process very professionally - 14% of the jobseekers said they were well treated. The question is why don’t more employers take the time to handle redundancies carefully and support those leaving find new careers?”

http://www.careerplan4.me experts advise jobseekers to:

•     Make sure you know the type of job that you want and what you can offer.
•     Use the internet to find out what’s happening in your industry. Don’t just read relevant business news; research companies that outperform the market and contact them.
•     Don’t be afraid of social networks. They are an incredible and easy opportunity to make yourself known.
•     Employers will Google you, so make sure you have a professional reputation on every relevant social network.
•     Start talking to previous colleagues, people in the gym or other parents at school. You never know who knows who.
•     Get out there, secure some contracts and earn some money. All experience can be used as a positive and to sell yourself.

Case studies

Garry Fullagar, a finance manager, says employers, now, want you to be perfect. “It’s much tougher now because prospective employers are very specific about what they are looking for. Before, when everything was working normally, an employer would take you if you didn’t have a particular skill. Now, it’s completely different.” Garry is working again and, one of the lucky ones, feels his ex-employer couldn’t have done more to help him. He received a good package and outplacement support to find another job. “There is a right way to look after staff being made redundant, and it’s not ‘here’s a cheque - goodbye’.”

Helen Parry felt her very poor redundancy experience wasn’t only because her ex-employer didn’t do anything beyond the legal minimum, it was also because she felt she was being lied to before and during the process. Employed as a database administrator in the same company for 11 years, she subsequently found herself applying for fairly basic jobs – along with as many as 600 other applicants. Happily employed again, but on a lower wage, she sums up, “Just some honesty during the process and I feel I would have had the chance to find a new job while working out the last year with them”.

Careerplan4.me provides a range of online tools to help professionals who’ve been made redundant to find a new career. The career advice toolis available free via a local Jobcentre Plus. Careerplan4.me gives a competitive advantage over other jobseekers, helps break down the often daunting task of finding a new job and focus on the positive aspects of redundancy. It firstly offers career planning resources to assess skills, identify key strengths and areas for development and helps set objectives and goals. It then provides door-opening tools such as jobhunt4.me which scours 350,000 companies and most of the main UK job boards; Mandis, the UK’s leading business intelligence provider; CareerSiteAdvisor to help understand the modern day job market; as well as advice to use technology and the Internet successfully, in the same way as employers and recruiters.

•     29% of respondents to the survey rated the handling of their redundancy by the HR department as poor, 21% were indifferent, 28% felt it was fair. Twenty two percent of the respondents’ ex-employers didn’t have a HR department.
•     Overall treatment by their employer was rated as poor by 30%, 22% said it was unfair, 35% viewed it as fair and 14% said they were well treated.
•     Just over half the respondents said they were given no extra support in their redundancy, 20% were given outplacement services, 39% received a financial package, 15% were given advice to find a new role and 9% were given legal advice.
•     Asked their perception of their previous employer, a quarter said very poor, while 22% said poor. 32% were indifferent, while 16% and 5% said good or very good, respectively.
•     31% told over 10 people about the treatment of their ex-employer, 44% told between 3 and 9, 16% told between 1 and 2 others, while 9% told no one.
•     86% of employers made it clear why the employee was being made redundant.
•     Respondents who were made redundant less than a month ago equalled 8%, 2-3 months ago (20%), 4-6 months ago (26%), 7-11 months ago (24%) and over 12 months ago (22%).
•     1046 jobseekers across the professions responded to the survey.

For more information, visit http://www.careerplan4.me.

Ends
Press enquiries, please contact Kay Phelps on kay(at)bluepostdigital(dot)com or phone + 44 7710 043244; T: + 44 1932 789524.

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