The last three months has seen a significant drop in hiring confidence with the likelihood of employers making staff redundant at the highest level in the last 10 years, outside of the pandemic, showed the latest quarterly survey of more than 2,000 UK employers by CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development.

The imminent hikes in employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and the national minimum wage from April, announced in the Chancellor’s first Budget, have been a damaging blow to businesses of all sizes.

An overwhelming 90% of organisations expect employment costs to increase due to NICs changes with 43% expecting the NICs’ rise to hit their employment costs ‘to a large extent’.

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