With the chancellor’s Autumn Statement fast approaching, industry experts, businesses and individuals are anticipating the economic forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility and the possible changes the chancellor could make.

Here is a round-up of some of the top Brexit-related stories this week:

Employers not preparing for labour market changes

Employers have not prepared for the possibility of post-Brexit restrictions on hiring European workers, according to the CIPD.

A survey of over 1,000 respondents found that 15% of businesses had started preparations, despite 42% expecting restrictions to damage their operations.

Gerwyn Davies, labour market analyst at CIPD, said:

“It’s vital that the UK government considers making intermediate arrangements when introducing changes to immigration policy.

“This will ensure that employers that have come to depend on EU migrants to deal with recruitment difficulties or skills shortages have time to review their recruitment and training and development strategies ahead of Brexit.”

EU contributions to continue after Brexit
German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has warned the UK that they would face EU budget contributions for more than a decade after Brexit.

Ahead of Theresa May’s meeting at the Berlin summit, Schäuble said that until the process of leaving the EU is complete, the country will have to complete its commitments.

Schäuble told the Financial Times:

“Possibly there will be some commitments that last beyond the exit…even, in part to 2030. Also, we cannot grant any generous rebates.”

Uncertainty on labour market
Employment rose by 49,000 while unemployment fell at 37,000 in Q3, according to the Office for National Statistics.

However, Suren Thiru, head of economics at British Chambers of Commerce said that further uncertainty of Brexit could put more pressure on the labour market over the next year:

“The slowing economy and continued uncertainty over Brexit, which is dampening firm’s recruitment intentions, is likely to put increased pressure on UK employment levels over the next year.”

Leaving EU customs union
Foreign secretary Boris Johnson has stated that the country could be leaving the EU customs union.

According to a recent interview in a Czech newspaper, Johnson said that the outcome on leaving the customs unions will be dealt with in the negotiations.

The move could affect businesses moving goods to and from the EU.