The research shows a 50% jump in the number of employers expecting to cut jobs compared to three months ago. Within the private sector, 38% of companies plan to make redundancies, compared to 16% in the public sector.

However, the number of firms who have plans to increase their staff numbers has increased, but numbers are still lower than previous years. 

The economic uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, alongside the lockdown restrictions put in place in March have led to an increasing number of job cuts throughout the UK. In the month leading up to 9 July, more than 2,000 employers were asked whether they planned to make redundancies.

While 33% of firms said they did expect to see staff numbers decline, another 49% said they planned to hire in the three months until the end of September.

Such plans have signalled an increase in confidence compared to the previous quarter of this year, when just 40% of firms said they planned to take on new staff.

However, that figure was still “well below” levels seen in previous years, according to the reports’ authors. Similarly, the proportion of employers planning to take on new staff, relative to those expecting jobs cuts, had fallen to its lowest level since 2013 when the survey began in its current form.

Gerwyn Davies, an advisor at the CIPD, predicted a “sombre autumn for jobs”.

He said: “This is the weakest set of data we’ve seen for several years. Until now, redundancies have been low - no doubt due to the Job Retention Scheme - but we expect to see more redundancies come through this autumn, especially in the private sector once the scheme closes.

“Hiring confidence is rising tentatively, but this probably won’t be enough to offset the rise in redundancies and the number of new graduates and school leavers entering the labour market over the next few months.”