Learning from the downturn - Key messages from an employer perspective

This research report, produced for the IES HR Network, looks at the initiatives that HR functions took to reduce redundancy and protect skills during the recent recession.

The aim of the research was to see whether organisations were responding to economic problems differently than in the past, and, if so, why there were adopting these strategies; and to consider whether such initiatives might have longer term beneficial impacts, not just on the bottom line but on factors such as employee engagement and workforce flexibility.

The report includes four case studies from the last quarter of 2009: KPMG, Jaguar Land Rover, Norton Rose and the BBC, for organisations that had implemented innovative cost-saving programmes in an attempt to reduce headcount reductions, and a review of literature around the use of cost-saving measures during the recession.

This report will help organisations think through their responses to business change.