Contents
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What to expect when redundancy calls
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A hat-trick of redundancy scenarios
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Hello redundancies, we’ve been expecting you
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Conscious and compassionate uncoupling
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Resetting after redundancy
Redundancy happens. It can feel like the end of the world. That may be because, by its nature, it’s the end of something that might once have felt reliable, predictable and secure.
Knowing why redundancy happens, what to expect and where to look for support can make an upsetting and at-times brutal experience feel more like something that can be endured and survived.
In time, a clear-headed approach can also increase the prospects of redundancy offering a path to somewhere better.
A dose of realism is also important: a clear head and a clear path forward can take months or even years to emerge.
The UK economy in 2025 feels a potentially more challenging place to survive redundancy than in the past. Multiple socio-economic indicators suggest many people already feel anxious and overwhelmed by juggling employment, housing, healthcare, education and other needs.
What to expect when redundancy calls
Like many of life’s less pleasant experiences, redundancy doesn’t have to be faced alone. One reason is that redundancy affects a lot of people.
The Office for National Statistics’ UK labour market overview for July 2025 shows that estimates for payrolled employees in the UK fell by 135,000 (0.4%) between May 2024 and May 2025, and by 25,000 (0.1%) between April and May 2025.
If the April-to-May number is accurate and that monthly change is repeated over the next 12 months, the total fall in payrolled employees from May 2025 to May 2026 would be 300,000. That’s more than twice the number recorded for the previous year, and roughly equal to the populations of Wakefield (320,600), Wirral (313,100), Wigan (306,700), Dudley (305,600) and central Nottingham (299,797) according to researchers writing for Wikipedia.
A hat-trick of redundancy scenarios
The nature of UK employment law means redundancies generally fall into three main categories. Each one relates to different challenging business scenarios which become more commonplace when the economy struggles.
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Business closure occurs when an employer permanently stops trading and the entity ceases to exist. Every job within the business is impacted and no longer required because the business itself is closing down.
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Workplace closure happens when an employer closes a specific site or relocates part of its operations. Employees at the affected location become redundant, even if the business continues elsewhere.
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Reduced requirement for employees arises when there is a reduced need for employees to carry out a particular kind of work, either across the business or at a specific location. It can often result from restructuring, the introduction of new technology, a downturn in business fortunes and wider economic pressures.
Each type requires employers to follow fair procedures and consult with affected employees. Various methods are available, such as voluntary or compulsory redundancies, to manage the reality of these three main scenarios.
Hello redundancies, we’ve been expecting you
Loss of income and security via redundancy happened to me in 2010, along with the entire in-house marketing team I’d been part of for three years. It felt upsetting, surprising, brutal, and also predictable and understandable, because the UK economy was tanking in the wake of the 2007/8 financial crisis.
Employers were cutting investment in training, skills and vocational education. As employees of a vocational education, skills and training business, we knew we were on borrowed time.
The bigger employers who funded and supported our business as part of a private-public sector skills council (SSC) included Nissan, Toyota, BAE Systems, Airbus, NG Bailey, Rolls-Royce, Vauxhall, Jaguar Land Rover, Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and others.
Engineering, manufacturing, technology, life sciences, building services and construction were all hit hard by the credit crunch. So was youth employment. So was retention of older, experienced workers. When the national economy crashes, very few people gain.
Conscious and compassionate uncoupling
Once the shock-of-the-expected subsided in 2010, that redundancy process was handled calmly and compassionately, as far as I recall, while accepting other views and experiences may differ.
Even as a recent graduate in only my second full-time role, I had various degrees of personal privilege at the time. For example:
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I was the only male in the team of newly-redundant marketeers, although the predominantly male business development team was also cut and had more experience and better contacts to fall back on
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I didn’t have a mortgage or dependent family to worry about, although rental commitments and student and graduate debt repayments were significant concerns
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I was also open to moving at the time, and benefitted from doing so, even if the period from 2010–2025 has hardly been a sea of calm and tranquility in the UK economy and jobs market
Facing redundancy while working for a public-private sector partnership, backed by Government, meant employment laws were respected, rules and processes were followed and it felt to me like we were treated as humans as well as headcount.
That’s not to say there wasn’t room for improvement. There usually is. Some businesses choose to invest in helping their departing staff to find a new foothold in work through reskilling, upskilling, career coaching and supporting with their search for new income and security.
Not every business can afford to do this, especially small businesses, and especially in 2025. The UK economy has weathered a series of storms over the decades without looking like it’s ever properly fixed the foundations. What’s brewing now feels like it may prove to be a new crisis with echoes of old, unresolved crises as well as sticking-plaster solutions coming unstuck.
Nevertheless, the reality is some businesses choose to support departing employees to deal with redundancy in constructive and compassionate ways. Hopefully the Government’s planned reforms of labour laws and workplace protections will help to establish a new higher bar for the economy as a whole.
Resetting after redundancy
Sometimes redundancy is a bolt from the blue; sometimes certain industries are hit harder than others; sometimes it feels like the whole economy is going through a collective trauma.
Even though redundancy is more common than some people think, it can feel terribly hurtful and isolating. That can be true even when the possibility has been signposted in advance and regardless of knowing it’s the business, and/or the economy, not you.
Whatever the specifics of your personal circumstances, few families or friendship groups are lucky enough to avoid at least one person being impacted by redundancy.
It’s a fact of life, and that means it’s much more common than people think. Prepare to be upset. Prepare to feel hurt or rejected. Then prepare to look up and move forwards. It’s healthy to express these feelings to help process, accept and adjust to new realities, however uncomfortable or unwelcome they may feel.
Pretending negative feelings don’t exist runs the risk of storing up emotional and psychological trouble further down the line, unless of course redundancy opens up a door you’ve struggling to find via other routes, in which case it can feel like a relief.
As far as possible, don’t let shock, surprise, stigma and shame hold you back from understanding how the process works, what your rights are and how to ensure you’re protected.
Many people are facing similar scenarios at the moment. While that can create fear of competition, seeking out solace and support from organisations which exist for this purpose can offer a sense of collective strength and be a lifebelt to hold on to.
