UK Budget 2010

All - what are your initial thoughts on the Chancellor's UK budget? Pleased? Worried? Think you could have done better?

Consultancies that do a lot of public sector work will be nervous given the assertion that the government will be "halving spending on consultants".

PA is likely to be particularly badly affected as they are heavily reliant on public sector jobs.

"PA is likely to be particularly badly affected as they are heavily reliant on public sector jobs."

PA is actively hiring consultants with a strong track record of public sector consulting. Read into that what you will.

A few ideas spring to mind:

- The people who run PA are once again demonstrating their calibre by hiring the wrong people at the wrong time

- PA's efforts to reduce its workforce through performance management were so successful that the organisation is now under-staffed even allowing for a 50% reduction in public sector jobs

I spoke about this to a former colleague in one of the other public-sector-serial-rapist firms - his view was 1. heard it all before, they have no alternative for delivering against policy and 2. if they want to cut spending they'll need consultants to tell them how!

Here we go again. Another potentially interesting thread results in the same tired arguments about PA. This is just so boring.

You beat me to it Not Again. We know people think PA only works in public sector and is about to go under so we don't need it in every thread.

Tony - how about if someone states in the thread they open that they don't want PA in it you just automatically delete any posts that do?

Agree - was actually more interested in those independents out there - how is this budget affecting you?

Very little impact. Any indy that has not learned by now how to income shift , well...less said the better.

As I get longer in the tooth it brings the benefit of realising that all wealth and income is relative. Before and after the budget, my relative position (in purely financial terms) is unchanged and as such my lifestyle in relative terms will be unchanged.

In terms of winning work, I'd have to say exactly the same. As mentioned above, when companies cut costs they all too often get consultants involved to tell them how to do it. This goes for the private sector as well as public.

Final point - as an educated, flexible, worker macro-economics impact your quality of life by 10% max. Your own activity can create outcomes that are entirely counter-cyclical to the economy. I've seen three or four major downturns now. I did have a dull time during one, but during two I got promoted, earned bonuses and had a great time.

I am of course aware that after some budgets there are people who find themselves 23 quid worse off a week and can only balance the books by buying less baby food. I'm just saying that I don't believe many of them are management consultants.

Not starving but I was made redundant directly as a result of the lack of credit, haven't worked in 6 months and am wondering if that is the end of my business career.

So I think macro economics has affected me.

Oh and there is talk of cutting the tax free lump sum in pensions; and anyway my pension is down massively on what it was....again I see that as a direct result of government macro economics.

Hi "not working"

I feel for your situation. Having been involved in a few high risk starts ups, I have also had periods out of work and it can be incredibly frustrating, not to mention financially painful.

My point on the macroeconomics was not so much that there is no effect, more that as an educated, mobile professional, there is more chance that you can do something about the situation through personal endeavour (turning to contracting, taking a job miles away in the short term, commuting to another city, etc).

Compare this to a steelworker in Teeside or a miner in South Wales where entire villages find themselves simply, "waiting for the upturn" due to geographical ties, non-transferable skills and (at the risk of being accused of being cruel) a historically limited view of employement.

I hope this is not the end of you career. Without knowing your age and skill set I couldn't comment. Keep plugging away, keep considering all your options and best of luck.