Doctor Pangloss on job losses

So, nearly one in five companies is about to cut its sales and marketing departments, according to your Factfile “Marketers braced for slump” (MW October 29). Am I the only person to have read this and not been struck by its gloom?

I recognise that cuts mean a human cost which we would always wish to avoid. However, at a macro level, these are not true job losses but are continued evidence of the restructuring that has been going on for many years; a steady outsourcing of the salesforce function to field marketing agencies.

What’s even better news for us is that, this year, companies are also reporting that budgets for lead generation and marketing information systems are to be increased, by 4.6 and 6.5 per cent respectively.

Both of these are areas in which we are increasingly involved because the nature of field marketing is changing, to the degree where our staff are as likely to be found on the end of a modem as a gondola end.

There are very few counter-cyclical businesses around, but we are very fortunate to be in one. Roll on recession.

Gary MacManus

Managing director

Aspen Field Marketing

Maidenhead