How will fresh Covid restrictions affect the UK economy and jobs?

How will fresh Covid restrictions affect the UK economy and jobs?

The introduction of Covid-19 countermeasures across the UK and the rest of Europe, not to mention the US and Asia, to try to combat the spread of the Omicron variant has raised the spectre of the global economy stumbling into 2022 in a distinctly weakened state. But how big is their impact likely to be?

Employers are unlikely to panic in the run-up to Christmas, no matter how disappointed they are that customers have begun questioning spending decisions. Many firms, especially in the hospitality, retail and tourism industries, were already short of staff.

A longer spell of working from home could change how firms respond, while even tighter restrictions are expected to be met with an increase in the number of firms going bust, possibly before they get a chance to make staff redundant.