Business cutbacks and job losses

The British economy is in falling into a recession and this brings about a fall in the demand for labour and a rise in unemployment.

In many of the examples I have shown below, the root cause of the labour shedding is a decline in demand in a related industry – for example a cement factory that is finally shutting down because of the severity of the slump in new house-building. Or the employees at a local newspaper in Guernsey in the Channel Island affected by the steep drop in demand for traditional forms of media advertising. Markets are inter-related and there are few businesses in the UK at the present time that can describe themselves as ‘recession proof’.

Newspapers shedding staff because of a decline in advertising revenue

Low cost airlines suspending flights from Birmingham due to a decline in demand for city breaks

Agency workers losing their jobs as car plants scale back production and mothball their factories for weeks at a time

Employees at Speedferries facing unemployment as their business falls into administration and fails to find a buyer

Dockers face redundancy as a slump in imports and exports hits port businesses

A slump in sales causes over a thousand workers to lose their jobs at Yell.com

The downturn in construction and high energy costs leads to job losses at a Cambridgeshire cement factory

It is worth reading through some of these stories and considering the negative multiplier effects on the local economies. How many of those who are made redundant will find fresh employment in the current economic climate?

Revision Presentation - Marketing Mix: Introduction to Promotion [17 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Calculating and Measuring Profit [13 May 2012]
Marketing analysis: the UK supermarket battleground [3 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Unemployment & Business [6 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Business Cycle and Economic Growth [6 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Retrenchment [4 Apr 2012]
Simple solutions to everyday problems - Spanx [11 Mar 2012]
Business legislation - the cost to businesses [5 Mar 2012]
Pampering - demand booms as consumers seek an affordable treat [4 Mar 2012]
Economics for Business: Is an economic recovery underway? [28 Feb 2012]
Barriers to entry for business expansion to Brazil [23 Feb 2012]
Extreme Market Segmentation? [20 Feb 2012]
Would you work harder - for nothing? The hidden costs of employment fear [29 Dec 2011]
Unemployment and motivation [28 Dec 2011]
Revision Presentation - Workforce Planning [26 Dec 2011]
The human story of long-term unemployment [15 Dec 2011]
Strategies to revive the High Street: Mary Portas reports [13 Dec 2011]
Time for this Dragon to Cut Costs to Keep his Health Clubs Fighting Fit [11 Dec 2011]
Optimism and expansion in consumer leisure markets [2 Dec 2011]
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Gerald Ratner [27 Nov 2011]
Advertising vs reality in fast food. [24 Nov 2011]
Cut price cup cake deal goes wrong…... [22 Nov 2011]
Unilever hit by rising costs [6 Nov 2011]
Revision Quiz - Marketing: Promotion [1 Nov 2011]
Behind the scenes of an Innocent advert [30 Oct 2011]
Brand positioning & the authenticity of British countryside [29 Oct 2011]
Batten down the hatches - strategies for the next downturn [24 Oct 2011]
Marketing in an age of austerity - Live Well for Less [20 Oct 2011]
How PepsiCo are trying to control diseconomies of scale [18 Oct 2011]
Car Wars - VW v Greenpeace [17 Oct 2011]
Non-price Determinants of Demand [Advertising] [17 Oct 2011]
Revision Quiz - Costs, Revenues and Profits [12 Oct 2011]
Revision Quiz - Business Costs [12 Oct 2011]
The Business of Newcastle United [12 Oct 2011]
Shoppers switch stores as income patterns change [11 Oct 2011]
Reebok forced to tone down its advertising claims [29 Sep 2011]
Stakeholders gripped by the bad news coming from BAE Systems [28 Sep 2011]
Tesco’s sausage advert is banned [15 Sep 2011]
Where there’s muck there’s brass [6 Jul 2011]
The costs of redundancy [5 Jul 2011]
Recruitment challenges from the skills gap [25 May 2011]
An end to outsourcing? [18 May 2011]
Using Chucklevision to Teach Business [8 May 2011]
Booming Billboards [27 Apr 2011]
Private v Public Sector - A Clash of Two Cultures? [20 Apr 2011]
Kate & Wills - A Short-term boost to demand [9 Apr 2011]
Is the golf business coming out of the bunker? [7 Apr 2011]
Recession?  Hair today, gone tomorrow [6 Apr 2011]
The UK Economy - Economic Growth GDP [15 Mar 2011]
The UK Economy - Unemployment [13 Mar 2011]
The Profit Margin Bloodbath of UK Recession [6 Mar 2011]
Protection for the endangered pasty [23 Feb 2011]
Commodity prices in action - soaring Copper [6 Feb 2011]
The Year of Corporate Philanthropy [31 Jan 2011]
An idea that’s a lot of hot air…. [11 Jan 2011]
Shawshank Redemption Meets Home and Car Insurance [5 Jan 2011]
Big brands boost their advertising [4 Jan 2011]
Q&A - Describe the main features of advertising as a method of promotion [2 Jan 2011]
Q&A - What is promotion? [2 Jan 2011]
The New Andrex Puppy - Cost cutting or Inspired Marketing? [3 Dec 2010]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 3) - Smart Marketing [26 Nov 2010]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 2) - Innovation, Service and Smart Operations [26 Nov 2010]
Euro Disney - an HRM & Finance Nightmare? [24 Nov 2010]
48 old adverts that would be banned immediately these days [22 Nov 2010]
Recession-proof production at Fiat [20 Nov 2010]
JCB - A Great Case Study for Business Students [19 Nov 2010]
Revision Crossword - Promotion Basics [6 Nov 2010]
Cash flow Clue-doh! The Mystery is Revealed… [2 Nov 2010]
Start-ups - a surge in new businesses post recession [2 Nov 2010]
Profits up at Amazon - but so are costs [22 Oct 2010]
Making the FT Brand Sweat! [19 Oct 2010]
Analysing the Business Data - Marriage in Decline [19 Oct 2010]
Google, Profits and Diversification [16 Oct 2010]
Rationalising & Redeployment at Alliance Boots [9 Oct 2010]
The business cost of labour turnover [7 Oct 2010]
Who ate all the pies? [17 Sep 2010]
Would you stand for it? [14 Sep 2010]
Businesses prepare for the double-dip [13 Sep 2010]
Strategy in Action - Crocs Comes Back from the Dead [4 Sep 2010]
Can small firms shrug off their recession trauma? [2 Sep 2010]
UK regulators move in to control online advertising [1 Sep 2010]
A beginners guide to GDP [30 Aug 2010]
Inflation and profit margins - lessons from the market [27 Aug 2010]
Recession Strategy - Manufacturing Emerges Leaner and Fitter [25 Aug 2010]
Lost in translation - demand from public sector to dry up? [4 Aug 2010]
Lesson Worksheet - Marketing Mix: Promotion Basics [1 Aug 2010]
Nissan profits from a recovery in demand [30 Jul 2010]
Demand for Foreign Holidays Takes a Sharp Dip [14 Jul 2010]
World Cup 2010 Business Winners and Losers [13 Jul 2010]
The Marketing Mix Challenge in reaching the Muslim Market [13 Jul 2010]
Dark days for the UK nightclub market [21 Jun 2010]
A significant rise in unemployment ahead for the UK [16 Jun 2010]
Emerging Stronger - How UK Businesses Responded to the Recession [14 Jun 2010]
BUSS4 - Recession Strategy Lessons from Four Female Entrepreneurs [6 Jun 2010]
Recession Strategy - For Airlines it is all about Unit Costs [2 Jun 2010]
Emerging from Recession - Manufacturing Leads the Way [1 Jun 2010]
BUSS4 UK Recession - More Profit & More Customers - How Sainsburys Did It [25 May 2010]
Strategy Case Study - Vauxhall/Opel restructuring [24 May 2010]
Advertising Slogans Quiz [20 May 2010]
BUSS4 UK Recession - Data Burn [15 May 2010]

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