A report from HR software Employment Hero, found 42% of those who want to quit cited redundancy rounds or headcount changes as their top reason.
Job security was a priority for many respondents, as 30% said they wanted to leave to find a more secure role elsewhere.
More on redundancies:
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Why redundancy should only be a last resort
The results come as the UK economy continues to face grim forecasts and uncertainty.
KPMG forecasted a GDP growth of -0.3% in 2023, on the back of a squeeze on household real incomes and the impact of past interest rate increases.
Liz Sebag-Montefiore, co-founder of HR consultancy 10eighty, said employers need to keep remaining employees in the loop about the reasons for layoffs.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “To ensure those employees you retain are still motivated, you need them to understand what the process is and how it will afford better outcomes and enable a more stable environment going forward.
“Show how downsizing fits into the larger strategy of workforce transformation over time and what the future of your workforce might be.
“Assess the long-term effects layoffs have on company performance and make provision to take care of redundant employees and survivors to protect your corporate reputation and employment brand.”
When asked what would encourage them to stay in their current role, 18% of respondents said “an assurance of job security” and 45% said “a salary increase”.
Hapreet Dhillon, chief people officer for Al Rayan bank said stability is crucial to retention.
Speaking to HR magazine, Dhillon said: “Psychological safety is crucial to retention. Ensuring people are rewarded properly is central to this, and that means ensuring your employee benefit strategy is competitive as well as the base salary your people receive.
“Introducing generous increases in maternity provisions, uplifts in holiday entitlements, a highly competitive pension scheme, and empowering our people to tailor their packages to suit them, has had a very positive impact on our retention over the last 12 months.”
Sebag-Montefiore also emphasised the importance of mutual respect with employees who are let go, including outplacement support to help leavers find new roles.
She said: “Whether you are letting one, 70 or 700 people go, they deserve to be treated with consideration and respect; not as though they are lambs to the slaughter. Talk to all of the employees, be open and honest, and reassure the survivors that those being made redundant are being supported; this is where outplacement support comes in.
“Failure to support ex-employees will have an adverse effect on the reputation of your organisation. Treating leavers well reassures the redundancy ‘survivors’.”
Employment Hero’s survey had over 1,000 respondents and was completed between 4 and 11 January 2023.
