Brexit and Careers

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Brexit Harmful towards Career Prospects

Job opportunities within the UK have declined over the last quarter with more than 30% of workers fearing that leaving the EU will have an outstanding negative impact on their careers. A statement according to CEB has revealed that, “employees mistrust of their leaders and managers is undermining loyalty and growth”. It has been indicated that the employees trust and confidence within their employers has started to decrease, as over the last year, 71% of workers have begun doubting their manager’s reputations while 73% have started to have negative perceptions of their company’s approach towards recruiting new employees and management.

Brian Kropp – HR Practice leader from CEB comments, “The unpredictability of Brexit negotiations and the perceived slowdown in business is weighing heavily on the workforce and recruitment sector, causing a breakdown in trust and confidence. Understandably, employees are nervous about their future and their career prospects. But growing tensions between leaders and their employees is creating challenges with loyalty and productivity”.

Job seeking has also declined by 2%, with levels of intent to look for a job dipping slightly as well. This indicates that more workers are already considering their next job move with more than 18% stating this is because of the uncertainty regarding the Brexit vote.

CEB’S data also shows that the lack of future career opportunities is the top factor that is driving people away from jobs, with over 42% highlighting this within their organisation. Poor people skills are also beginning to arise within the recruitment sector as more and more people are not looking for jobs due to poor communication skills and a decline is loyalty.

Kropp finishes with, “We’ve seen a huge performance drag caused by political, economical and organisational uncertainty. If leaders want to rebuild trust and keep workers engaged and productive, they need to set expectations: change is the new normal”.