A new survey from Acas has found that a third of employers (33%) are likely to make staff redundancies by January 2027.
Acas commissioned YouGov to ask British businesses about their redundancy plans between February 2026 and January 2027.
The poll revealed that 46% of large businesses are likely to make redundancies and 1 in 5 (21%) small and medium-sized (SME) businesses said that were likely to do so over the same period.
The government has recently consulted on new law changes outlined in the Employment Rights Act 2025 for employers that want to make collective redundancies across their organisation. Acas has published its response to the consultation.
Acas Director of Dispute Resolution, Kevin Rowan, said:
"The results of our poll reveal that a third of businesses are considering redundancies by the start of next year.
"Organisations should look at all possible alternatives to redundancies first, but if employers conclude they have no choice, then they have legal requirements they must follow. This means they must consult with staff early to seek their views, or risk being subject to a costly legal process.
"In 2027, the government's Employment Rights Act will introduce new consultation requirements if redundancies are proposed across multiple sites. Acas recommends that the government ensures employers and trade unions understand the value of collective consultation and have the skills to work well together."
If an employer finds there are no other choices than to make redundancies, then there are strict rules on consulting staff that they must follow.
An employer must discuss any planned changes and consult with each employee who could be affected. By law, employers who wish to make 20 or more staff redundant in a 90-day period must also consult a recognised trade union or elected employee representatives about the proposed changes.
If an employer does not meet consultation requirements, employees can take their employer to an employment tribunal. If successful, the employer may have to pay up to 180 days' full pay for each affected employee. An employee can also make a claim of unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal on the grounds that they were not consulted, or the consultation was not meaningful.
At the moment, collective redundancy rules only apply if the redundancies are proposed at one workplace. The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a law change that means the rules will count redundancies across an employer's entire organisation.
An organisation that plans to make a certain number of redundancies across multiple sites or workplaces will have to follow new law changes due to take effect in 2027. The government ran a consultation to seek views on the changes and what the redundancy threshold number should be that sparks a collective redundancy process for an employer that has multiple sites.
Acas advice is that employers should consider all possible options before considering redundancies, as other solutions to their situation could be found through consultation with their staff, employee representatives and unions.
In response to the government's consultation, Acas recommended that:
- the government makes sure that employers, trade unions and staff representatives understand the value of collective consultation and have the skills to work well together
- the government should also pick a threshold for consultation that is easy to understand and does not require complex systems to calculate, as this would help avoid procedural disputes and reduce administrative burdens
Read Acas's response to the government's consultation
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Background notes
Acas commissioned YouGov to poll employers in a representative sample of British businesses. The survey was carried out online and the total sample size was 1,011 senior decision makers in Great Britain. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2 February to 9 February 2026. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc, have been weighted and are representative of British business size and region.
Participants were asked how likely, if at all, is your organisation to make staff redundancies in the next 12 months (that is, between now and January 2027).
The results were:
- 33% were likely to make redundancies
- 59% were unlikely to make redundancies
- 8% didn’t know
For large businesses that employ more than 249 employees (sample size 370):
- 46% were likely to make redundancies
- 47% were unlikely to make redundancies
- 8% didn’t know
For small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) that employ 1 to 249 employees (sample size 641):
- 21% were likely to make redundancies
- 70% were unlikely to make redundancies
- 9% didn’t know
- The government's consultation Make Work Pay: threshold for triggering redundancy obligations on GOV.UK closed on 21 May 2026. Acas has published its response.
- Acas runs training courses on covers the legal requirements and considerations for employers thinking about redundancies.