CIPD: 1.6 million jobs will go in UK
The private sector will lose more jobs than the public sector following the coalition government’s spending cuts and VAT rise and will struggle to create a targeted 300,000 posts per year by 2015-16. The warning from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) came as researchers revealed that graduate unemployment had hit the highest […]
Getting to the heart of the CSR for HR
The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) signals a period of change for both private and public sectors that will last for at least the next four years. For the public sector in particular it marks one of the biggest shake-ups seen in recent times. Private sector organisations will also be forced to take stock of how […]
Public sector job cuts likely to hit three quarters of a million
Public sector job cuts are likely to hit three quarters of a million rather than the implied 490,000 over the next few years as the coalition government looks to completely restructure service provision in the UK, an HR body has warned. The chancellor in his Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) announcement said that planned real cuts in […]
Call for Foundation Pension to offset increase to state pension age
A pension funds body has called for the creation of a universal Foundation Pension of £8,000 to offset the coalition government’s decision to increase the state pension age to 66 by 2020. In his Comprehensive Spending Review announcement yesterday, chancellor George Osborne revealed that the state pension age for both men and women would rise from […]
Lord Alan leads the call for realistic strategy to clear public sector deficit
The coalition government must lay out a clear strategy for economic growth if the private sector is to have enough confidence to create the positions required to absorb public sector job cuts, business leaders have warned. In the wake of the Comprehensive Spending Review announcement yesterday, Lord Alan Sugar, entrepreneur and star of the BBC's Apprentice […]
610,000 jobs will be axed in the public sector by 2016
Some 610,000 jobs will be axed in the public sector by 2016 as a result of coalition government budget cuts of more than 50% in some departments, according to draft copies of today’s Comprehensive Spending Review document. The plans were unwittingly revealed yesterday by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, when he fell foul of […]
Employers back government’s minimum threshold on strike ballots proposal
Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Three quarters of employers back coalition government proposals to introduce a minimum threshold on strike ballots over fears that increased levels of industrial action following swingeing budget cuts could stifle the UK’s economic recovery. These are the findings of a study among 507 senior UK decision […]
Public sector workers say striking worth the public perception risk
Although just under three in five public sector workers understand that they risk losing public sympathy if they cause disruption through strike action, 49% believe that they must do what is necessary to protect their jobs. But according to a survey of 2,000 UK private and public sector workers undertaken by the Chartered Institute of […]
Finance talent war rages on – and set to worsen
Although finding skilled finance, accounting and operational support professionals is already proving tricky for many employers, the skills shortage is only likely to worsen as business confidence starts to return. A survey undertaken among 6,300 financial leaders across 19 countries by specialist recruitment consultancy Robert Half revealed that, while the hiring market was still in […]
Ed Miliband needs to ‘reconnect’ business with Labour party
The British Chambers of Commerce has warned Ed Miliband that he must make reconnecting the Labour Party with business a key priority for his early months in office. According to a survey of Labour back-benchers undertaken by polling organisation ComRes on behalf of the BCC, while small-to-medium businesses are keen to see a reduction in […]
Cable announces 10% Royal Mail employee shares scheme
Business Secretary Vince Cable today announced that at least 10% of the shares in Royal Mail will go to its employees. This makes it the largest employee shares scheme of any privatisation for 25 years in terms of the number of workers who will benefit – second only to the privatisation of British Telecom in […]
Vince Cable to announce consultation into exec banking pay
Vince Cable is expected to announce a ‘wide-ranging’ consultation into banking executives’ pay today, following warnings that the industry could be heading for a “train crash” if it continues to award staff huge bonuses while refusing to lend money to businesses. On the closing day of the Liberal Democrat party conference in Liverpool, the Business […]
Organising the chaos in HR
John McGuire from the Center for Creative Leadership, who is currently in attendance at the NG HR US Summit, spoke about ‘transforming your leadership culture’. He believes that too many changes with management initiatives can prove detrimental to morale. “Our work with clients around the world has shown that there is a hierarchy of […]
More cuts in L&D expected
Learning and development managers may be over-optimistic about their ability to cope with expected budget and staff cuts over the next six months, a new report has warned. The study entitled the ‘UK Learning Trends Index’, the first in a regular six-month survey to be undertaken by online learning content provider GoodPractice and industry training […]
Cuts cause ‘bullying tactics’ accusations from unions
Unions have condemned Birmingham City Council’s “bullying” tactics after warnings that new contracts imposing cuts in pay and conditions on nearly 26,000 staff were to be introduced as part of a bid to save more than £330 million by 2014. Stephen Hughes, chief executive of the country’s largest local authority, has sent legal notices to […]
NI holiday not enough to avoid double dip
A coalition government scheme to provide a national insurance ‘holiday’ for start-ups does not go far enough and must be accompanied by further tax breaks if small businesses are to spearhead economic recovery, an employers’ body has warned. The government is hoping that job creation by the private sector will counterbalance job cuts of an […]
Up to 14 years to recover from lost public sector jobs
The UK risks sliding into a double-dip recession before the end of the year as business leaders resolve to slash recruitment and rein in expenditure in response to the coalition government’s proposed austerity measures. But even if private sector employment growth continues at the last decade’s average of 0.7%, it is expected to take 14 […]
Union calls for civil disobedience to beat cuts
The Trades Union Congress is expected to overwhelmingly back a composite motion today to ‘support and co-ordinate campaigning and joint industrial action’ at a national and local level in response to proposed public sector budget cuts. Union leaders warned the Financial Times that public sector pensions are shaping up to be the most “combustible” issue, […]
Uncertainty taking toll on morale
Four out of five senior managers believe that the current unsettled economic outlook is more difficult to deal with than outright recession, not least because they are finding it increasingly difficult to win staff buy-in for difficult decisions. Just under half acknowledged that employees now had a jaundiced view of the sincerity of the leadership […]
Workplace trust eroded by recession
Low levels of senior management trust are particularly marked among Generation Y and legal personnel, central and local government sector workers and those scarred by office closures and compulsory redundancies during the recession. According to a survey undertaken among 5,000 staff by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), those organisations that chose to cope […]
