Speaking at a London roundtable event, Colin Tenwick, chief executive of talent management solutions company StepStone, said the impact of such legislation is to force international companies to question further investment in Europe.

Addressing the Belgian situation, StepStone chief marketing officer Jim Cassidy told Recruiter: “The legislation has put companies operating
in Belgium in a difficult position… Companies will scrutinise their Belgian growth and investment opportunities, and may have to restructure their business to alleviate the pressure of enforced wage hikes in the current economic climate.”

Ironically, the high cost of doing business, and especially restructuring, in Europe makes UK workers more vulnerable to redundancy, panellists agreed. “The cost of losing people in Germany, for instance, is unbelievable compared to the UK,” said Julia James, director, leadership development, EMEIA People Team, at Ernst & Young. Jameson was another panellist at the roundtable. “Unfortunately, it is cheaper to lose people in the UK.”