23 January 2013

Today's ONS announcement on unemployment statistics* shows that the number of people that are unemployment in the UK had dropped by 37,000 to 2.49million, for the period September to November 2012.

Mark Holweger, Director of Legal & General's general insurance business; "Its great to see that there was a fall in the number of people unemployed, but unfortunately there has been a number of job losses announced since Christmas** which has meant that the start of 2013 has not been so rosy. Legal & General's Job Security Index which provides an 'up to the minute' picture of workers views on their job situation shows that UK workers confidence in their job security has fallen in January. Fewer than three in four, (73%) of workers said that they were confident that their job is secure. This is a fall of 5% since October 2012 and a fall of 2% since January 2012 when we first started tracking UK working adults' confidence in their job security.

Our Job Security Index also shows that confidence among part-time workers is at its lowest level since the survey started, at 65%. This is a fall of 8% from 73% in October 2012 and down 4% from 69% level a year ago. So unfortunately today's ONS statistics, announcing that the number of workers in part-time employment has fallen by 23,000 to 8.11million people could potentially be the start of a rise in future unemployment levels for this group of workers, as the positive confidence levels we saw in October, ahead of the Christmas period, disappears."

Other key findings from the Job Security Index include:

  • Over half (54%) of UK adult workers said they think they will worry about how they will maintain their current standard of living. This rises to almost two thirds (60%) of those aged between 35 and 44,possibly because this age group has potentially higher financial pressures and many responsible for both their children and ageing parents.
  • Almost a third (30%) of UK adult workers think they will work unpaid overtime in 2013 to minimise their chances of losing their job. Over a third, (34%) think they will increase the number of paid hours they work to get extra income, over a quarter (26%) are hoping to secure a pay rise or promotion, almost a quarter (24%) think they will move to a job which is better paid and has better job security and a few think they will look to move abroad for a better job, income or lifestyle (8%).
  • Those aged between 18 and 24 are the most likely to think they'll work extra hours or unpaid overtime to minimise the chances of losing their job in 2013 (38%), as well as the most likely to increase the number of paid hours they work to get extra income in 2013, (45%).

More details and regional breakdowns in a press release that is available to download from Legal & General's media centre -http://www.legalandgeneralgroup.com/media-centre/press-releases/2013/group-news-release-1123.html

Notes to editors

Source: The Legal & General Job Security Index is based on research conducted for Legal & General by YouGov of 2686 UK representative employed adults, either employed full or part-time or self-employed, over the period 3rd - 6th January 2013. Additional interviews were conducted in order to boost the number of respondents in Wales (to 563), Scotland (to 587), London (to 434), Leeds (to 208), Manchester (to 312) and Birmingham (185).

* http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/january-2013/index.html
** http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21047652

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