U.K. businesses may still be getting to grips with what a post-Brexit world looks like, but it's not just companies that are concerned about the future, but workers too.
Just over a month after the U.K voted to leave the European Union, close to half of U.K. workers (44 percent) are feeling downbeat over what the future will be like, a new survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reveals.
The survey, published Sunday, came just ahead of new manufacturing data. The U.K.'s manufacturing activity dropped to its lowest level in over three years, with the Markit/CIPS UK manufacturing purchasing managers' index coming in at 48.2 percent in July—down from 52.4 in June—its lowest since early 2013. The data release noted that the domestic market had been hit by both pre- and post-referendum uncertainty.
Many companies—both U.K. and international based—are already mulling over strategies in light of the country's decision to leave the EU. British lender Lloyds is one of the latest to announce that it plans on cutting 3,000 jobs and closing an additional 200 branches by the end of 2017.
Taking a closer look at the CIPD survey, which interviewed just over 1,000 working adults online, negativity was notably high among those who work in the public sector (61 percent) and employees aged between 25 and 34 years (63 percent).
The doom and gloom following the vote deepens when looking at job security, with 22 percent of workers surveyed feeling less secure in their job because of the referendum's outcome; in comparison to the mere 3 percent of those who felt more secure on the job front.
These concerns come less than two weeks after another CIPD/People Management survey was released, which revealed that some 36 percent of employers had received queries from workers over job security, while another 36 percent of companies revealed that non-UK employees were worried over whether they had the right to work in the country, following the vote.
What the survey reveals is that Brexit "has proven to be a seismic event in people's working lives", Ben Willmott, head of public policy at CIPD, said in a statement accompanying the survey; adding that there's been a "significant level of pessimism" in the vote's aftermath, specifically among public and voluntary sector employees.
"Hopefully, as the political and economic situation becomes clearer, this will subside, but in the short term there is a clear need for UK employers to do more to engage with their workforce about the likely effects of Brexit on their organization," Willmott added.
Following the vote, the survey revealed that some workers feel they now needed to expand their skills base. Consequently, Willmott said it was crucial for companies to not let Brexit's uncertainty lead to a reduction in office training, while line managers should make sure that their staff feel they can be open about raising any of these concerns.