Business group CBI ramps up forecast for British GDP as wages get a lift August 23, 2015 Improving worker productivity and household spending is set to boost the UK economy for the rest the year. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which represents 190,000 businesses, said this morning that it raised its estimate for UK growth this year to 2.6 per cent from a 2.4 percent pace forecast in June. “We’re encouraged [...]
From TfL Tube strike and Greek debt crisis to awful colleagues and FTSE woes: Here’s what got us talking this week August 21, 2015 There was a flypast. There was a bus in someone’s front garden. And somewhere – or perhaps everywhere – the sound of prosecco corks being popped overtook those of champagne. Here’s what got us talking this week 1. Our colleagues To be fair, it’s something we probably discuss most weeks, and we’re not alone. Perhaps that’s [...]
XpertHR survey: UK employees’ pay rises stuck at two per cent in the last three month to July August 21, 2015 UK pay rises stalled in the three months to July, with employers feeling unable, or seeing no need, to offer workers better deals. Basic pay awards in the three months to the end of July stood at two per cent, unchanged since April 2014, according to a survey by XpertHR. The XpertHR pay measure tracks the increase in pay [...]
The dream of a four-day week just became reality for 10,000 of Uniqlo’s staff August 21, 2015 Dream of working a four-day week? Then maybe you shold relocate to Japan, where Uniqlo parent company Fast Retailing is trialling just that. Starting in October, the fashion giant – which also owns J Brand and Theory – will offer a four-day to around a fifth of its workforce. According to Bloomberg, around [...]
Apprenticeship levy faces new round of critics August 21, 2015 Business groups are pushing back today on government plans to fund apprenticeships with a new tax on large firms, saying the measure would prove “costly” and “bureaucratic”. Chancellor George Osborne first proposed an “apprenticeship levy” last month in his Summer Budget, saying that too many large companies “leave the training to others and take a [...]
The number of young people not in education, employment, or training is going down August 20, 2015 The job prospects for young people are improving, despite the fact unemployment overall has stopped declining. There were 922,000 young people who were not in education, employment or training (Neets) from April to June, the Office for National Statistics said this morning. It marks a drop of 21,000 from the first quarter of this year. The [...]
UK jobs market: People would rather be unemployed than work on a zero hours contract August 20, 2015 People would rather be unemployed than on a zero hours contract, according to a new study that shows half of those who’ve been offered the controversial contract turned it down, opting instead for continued unemployment. Zero hours contracts, which guarantee no set hours, have skyrocketed in recent years, but despite 700,000 people in the UK [...]
Over-qualified and under-employed: The majority of graduates are “in non-graduate jobs”, says the CIPD August 19, 2015 New graduates are being massively under-employed when they try to join the labour market, with thousands taking their first step in their career in jobs that don't require their hard-won degrees, a new study has found. The research, by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), found graduate over-qualification has reached “saturation point”, with [...]
UK housing: Skills shortages forcing construction firms to turn down building work August 19, 2015 Is a skills shortage fuelling the UK housing market's supply issues? Research published today suggests that two-thirds (66 per cent) of small and medium construction firms have had to turn down work because they don't have the staff to carry it out, according to the Federation of Master Buildings. London has the biggest [...]
Pocket money inflation exceeds parent wage hikes August 18, 2015 Bad news for working parents: the average allowance for UK youngsters is growing at an unprecedented rate, and it’s even outstripping their parents’ wage growth this year. Average pocket-money for eight-15 year olds has soared by 448 per cent in nearly 30 years, compared with just a 193 per cent increase in parents’ income over [...]