UK businesses planning ‘most brutal round of job cuts in a decade’

Many UK employers plan to raise prices and cut jobs in response to the government's upcoming payroll tax increases, according to surveys by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

• Confidence among small businesses has fallen to its lowest level in five years, with nearly half of employers expecting higher costs and one-third considering reducing staff.
• The FSB survey highlighted a significant drop in business confidence since the October budget, with around a quarter of small businesses anticipating contraction.
• CIPD noted this is the most significant decline in employer sentiment in a decade, excluding the pandemic.
• Despite the UK economy growing slightly by 0.1% in late 2024, the Bank of England has reduced its 2025 growth forecast to 0.75%. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves defended the tax increases as necessary for stabilizing public finances and funding services.

That headline I used is from The Sun: