A third of risk managers polled said budgets are shrinking

A third of risk managers profiled in a recent survey said their organisation would be cutting back on risk management activities over the next year.

The Institute of Risk Management (IRM) asked its members whether their organisation’s budget for risk management will change over the next year. Thirty-two percent said that it would decrease. Only a quarter (26%) said that it would increase.

IRM members also feel less secure in their jobs. When asked how secure they felt 44% of the risk manager said they felt less secure than they were a year ago. Thirty-five percent said they felt the same. Less than one in five felt more secure.

IRM chief executive, Steve Fowler said: ‘We are all being asked to do more with less and it is always right to search for efficiencies. However, if organisations want to achieve their business objectives and take advantage of business opportunities in the upturn they are going to have to put appropriate resources into managing their risks effectively.’

‘You would like to think that people are now more conscious of risk management, but it does not look like awareness is being translated into action, which means that we are at risk of repeating the same mistakes,’ he added.