The CIPD has been forced to cut 41 jobs as the recession deepens, meaning 12% of its workforce has been made redundant.

A spokesman from the CIPD told HR magazine: "We are very aware of the impact of recession and, as our members are cutting back, we have had to implement a redundancy scheme."

The announcement comes only months after the CIPD's chief economist, John Philpott, told HR professionals at the organisation's conference in Harrogate: "Redundancy should be the last thing on employers' minds. They should be thinking about all the alternatives such as flexible working, job sharing or even pay reduction before resorting to redundancy. It is up to everyone at this conference to do their damnedest by their people."

But this morning (Friday) the CIPD spokesman told HR: "We never said employers could avoid all redundancies, and job cuts should never be a first resort. But against the backdrop of recession we have carried out sustained cost-cutting over the past year including sabbaticals and part-time working."

The job cuts will be across all departments at the CIPD's head office in London.

The spokesman added: "We remain committed to offering first-class service to our members."