Public sector jobs cull to lead to “tectonic shift” in UK labour market
More than one in seven public sector jobs will be lost as a result of coalition government budget cuts, leading to "a tectonic shift" in the nature of the UK labour market, according to the CIPD. The organisation cited the Office for Budget Responsibility‘s latest employment projections, which indicate that the public sector workforce is […]
Budget 2012: Five industries singled out for special treatment
The Chancellor picked out the aerospace, energy and pharmaceuticals, creative media and science industries as being crucial in helping the UK reduce its reliance on the financial services sector. George Osborne said in his Budget speech today that he would be “backing” the five industries as part of a “deliberate strategy to create a more […]
European eSkills Week: Europe to be 700,000 ICT professionals short by 2015
Convinced ICT is a strong part of our national economy and a great destination for young people? Brussels agrees – hence its European e-Skills Week campaign, which is trying to accentuate the positive in terms of the sector. Kicking off in Brussels yesterday, the closing event will take place on 30 March in Copenhagen. […]
National Science and Engineering Week: UK to be 2m engineers short by 2015
Guess how many engineers and scientists we’ll need to remain competitive in the next five years? Some 2.2 million. How many kids are going into engineering at the moment as a career? More like 125,000. That sobering statistic is one of the prompts behind ‘The Big Bang Fair,’ a jobs fair that hopes to […]
International Women’s Day: Making gender diversity a workplace reality
The aim of International Women’s Day today is to inspire women, celebrate their achievements and find ways of creating brighter and more rewarding opportunities for future generations. But in terms of the workplace, just how far has gender diversity actually come? The media is full of reports about the need for greater female equality. […]
50p tax rate harming job creation, claim businessmen
The current 50p income tax rate for high earners is “damaging the economy” and delaying the UK’s recovery from recession, according to a letter signed by more than 500 business leaders. The letter, which was printed today by the Daily Telegraph, accused Chancellor George Osborne of putting “populist politics before sound economics” and called on […]
Legal Insight: How to guard against constructive dismissal claims
Lord Sugar is as famous for his business success as he is for his “You’re Fired” catchphrase on ‘The Apprentice’. Seven series of the popular BBC television show have produced seven winners, but only one still works for him. However, viewers of the last series will know that the winner no longer takes it […]
Minister for disabled: Unemployment result of unwillingness to work
Unemployment in the UK is down to people’s unwillingness to work because there is “no shortage of jobs”, the minister for disabled people has said. Maria Miller, who works for the Department for Work and Pensions, said on BBC Radio 5’s ‘Pienaar’s Politics’ programme yesterday that the current employment situation was the result of a […]
Fewer ex-offenders required to reveal spent convictions to employers
In a bid to boost employment rates among former offenders, the Justice Minister is proposing to dramatically cut the period in which they are obliged to tell potential employers about their criminal past. The changes, which would be included as amendments in his Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, are the first to […]
20,000 financial services jobs to be axed by end of quarter
The speed at which the UK’s financial services sector is shedding jobs will accelerate over the next quarter due to growing concerns about the escalating Eurozone crisis and the state of the global economy. According to a survey undertaken by employers lobby group the CBI and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, UK banks, insurance firms and asset management […]
Start-up NI holiday created only 1,000 jobs, admits PM
The Prime Minister has confessed that the Coalition Government’s scheme to exempt start-ups from paying National Insurance contributions had been disappointing in terms of job creation. Introduced last September, the initiative was intended to encourage new companies to employ more people by allowing entrepreneurs in certain areas of the UK not to pay NICs when taking […]
SME manufacturing initiative to create 23,000 jobs, claims Government
The Coalition Government claims that a new version of an initiative intended to secure the future of England’s beleaguered small and medium-sized manufacturers will create 23,000 new jobs and safeguard a further 50,000. Previously operating on a regional basis and run by the now disbanded Regional Development Agencies, the Manufacturing Advisory Service will operate nationally […]
Blog: How Google will learn to love your career website
There is a lot of confusion surrounding recruitment search engine optimisation and it could be easy for HR professionals to assume that a corporate career website will never be able to beat the job boards and agency recruiters to high page rankings. The truth is that a well optimised career website can be more attractive […]
New global jobs recession could spark social unrest, warns ILO
Even as the Coalition Government vowed to kick-start UK infrastructure projects in a bid to create employment, a United Nations’ agency warned that the global economy was on the brink of a new jobs recession that could spark off social unrest. The International Labour Organization said in its ‘World of Work Report 2011’ that it […]
How to guard against corporate social media discrimination
Corporate social media discrimination is becoming an increasingly tricky issue to deal with and HR is finding itself at the forefront of the struggle – often without having the necessary defences in place. Corporate social media discrimination refers to situations where employers use social networking sites such as Facebook to undertake research about a candidate’s […]
News Analysis: Jobs market shows mixed picture
The state of the labour market appeared mixed this week, with the number of City and retail jobs plummeting amid predictions of increasing numbers of opportunities elsewhere. According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, a huge 30,000 jobs will have been lost in London’s Square Mile by the end of the year – […]
Legal Insight: The Bribery Act revisited
That the Bribery Act has claimed its first victim less than four months after coming into force serves as a timely reminder to employers to be aware of their responsibilities. Munir Patel, who worked at Redbridge Magistrates’ Court in east London, pleaded guilty to accepting £500 to ‘get rid’ of someone’s speeding charge, which amounted […]
Brain drain from 50p tax rate underestimated, warns Diageo chief
The 50 pence income tax rate is resulting in a trickle of high earners starting to leave the UK, while inhibiting others from coming here, Diageo boss Paul Walsh has claimed. Walsh, who has run one of the world’s largest drinks manufacturers for the last 11 years, told the Sunday Telegraph that the impact of […]
Lessons from across the pond: could regional talent hubs create a ‘Big Society’?
The Government is missing out on a powerful online tool for regenerating communities. Since his famous ‘Big Society’ speech in July 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron and the Coalition government have both been looking for ways to deliver on the vision outlined. With the Cabinet Office tasked with transforming this relatively abstract idea into […]
Gloucester Council’s shared service centre to save local jobs
Gloucester City Council’s move to a shared services model for revenues, benefits and welfare rights-based services will safeguard local jobs and should even create more as other authorities sign up to the arrangement, it has claimed. The Council has outsourced the delivery of the services to outsourcing company Civica in a bid to make annual […]
