Survey shows 63 percent of UK adults do not fully understand the process of redundancy. More than three quarters do not know all the benefits they would be entitled to. Comment from Mike Hartley, Commercial Director at Scotcareers.
Almost half are only willing to talk about redundancy with people they are close with. However, most people were prepared for the unknown, with just 2 percent feeling they would survive financially for less than a month if they were made redundant. A new survey of over 1,400 adults in the UK undertaken by Scotcareers, the official job site for Media Scotland’s newspapers, has revealed that people are still highly secretive on the topic of redundancy. Of those surveyed 49 percent would only talk about redundancy with people they are close with, and 8 percent said they would actively keep it a secret from everyone. Some of the most popular reasons for this secrecy included privacy (47 percent), embarrassment (24 percent) and not wanting to feel judged (21 percent).
This reluctance to talk about redundancy openly means that people who have not experienced it first-hand have little understanding of the procedures and their rights during the process. The survey revealed that 63 percent of people did not fully understand the process of redundancy and 79 percent did not know all the benefits financially they would be entitled to. The survey asked people how long they thought they could survive financially if they were to be made redundant. Of those surveyed, 62 percent felt they could survive for between one to six months, with the most popular response being three to four months (23 percent). Positively, 36 percent of people surveyed felt they could survive for more than six months. Although perceptions of financial survival varied, just 2 percent of respondents felt they could survive less than a month.
The survey also looked at how long people thought it would take to find a new job if they were made redundant. A third of those surveyed thought it would take them just one to two months to find a new job, and 74 percent were confident they would find a new job within six months. A small proportion (six percent) of those surveyed were less confident about their prospects, feeling they would never find a new job if they were made redundant. Mike Hartley, Commercial Director at Scotcareers commented, “Redundancy has become a major focus for Scotcareers due to volatility in certain industries and because it is not often represented frankly in a way that is helpful.
“We wanted to find out what the perceptions were and what people actually knew about their rights so that we could tackle the questions people want answered, without them feeling that their privacy is being compromised. It’s important that expert advice is made available to everyone to help steer them through their post-redundancy journey and job search.”
