Public sector job cuts hindering not helping deficit reduction, warns CIPD
Chancellor George Osborne has been urged to postpone continuing public sector job cuts because they are a “false economy” that is hindering rather than helping deficit reduction plans. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development today warned that the Coalition Government was cutting too far, too fast, after a survey by the organisation revealed […]
Arc scheme to create 1,000 jobs in deprived London Olympics boroughs
A new initiative has been launched to support social entrepreneurs and boost employment in the London boroughs that are hosting the 2012 Olympic Games. Unveiled by Olympic medalist Jonathan Edwards in Hackney, arc, organised by Business in the Community and supported by Deloitte and BP, aims to generate 1,000 jobs for local people and support 200 […]
Analysis: Private sector fails to offset public sector jobs cull as unemployment soars
Unemployment has experienced the largest quarterly hike since August 2009, driven by a faster than expected public sector jobs cull that a slowing private sector is failing to offset. According to official labour market figures published by the Office for National Statistics, unemployment stood at 7.9% or 2.51 million for the three months to July, […]
Skills shortages and unemployment to remain endemic, warns study
The UK’s education system is not fit to meet the changing needs of industry and, as a result, skills shortages and unemployment seem set to remain endemic issues for UK Plc into the foreseeable future. This is the stark warning of a joint study between the Daily Telegraph and think tank The Work Foundation, which […]
Engineering suffers from lack of jobs not skills, says study
Claims that there is a shortage of graduates with the engineering skills required to drive economic growth may be overstated, according to research from Birmingham University. Researchers at the institution say that fewer than half of graduates who leave university with a degree in engineering are actually still working in the field six months later. […]
Does performance-related pay provide value for money?
While the average new hire’s salary is 3% down on 18 months ago, pay packages for FTSE 350 bosses have soared 700% since 2002 – despite company share prices spectacularly failing to correspond. A report by The High Pay Commission revealed that most of the jump in directors’ renumeration came in the form of annual […]
UK riots: Tottenham and Croydon given £20m job creation fund
The Department for Communities and Local Government has announced a £20m ‘enterprise and growth package’ for two areas of London most affected by the recent riots and looting in England, reports our sister site, www.businesszone.co.uk. Eric Pickles, the communities and local government secretary announced the London Enterprise Fund aims to “breathe new life” into Tottenham […]
Youth unemployment led to riots, says Carpetright CEO
The chief executive of Carpetright, one of the stores destroyed in the Tottenham riots on Saturday night, has called on the coalition government to do more to create jobs for young people. Lord Harris of Peckham told the Daily Telegraph that he believed part of the reason behind the violence, which started in London but […]
HSBC plans 30,000 job cuts by 2013
HSBC plans to cut up to 30,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2013 as part of a major refocus of its global banking operations towards Asia and away from less profitable regions. On announcing better than expected first half pre-tax profits of $11.5 billion, a rise of 3%, the group said that it had […]
Murdoch’s employees pay the price of News of the World scandal with no consultation
Some 200 NoW journalists have lost their jobs after the last edition of the newspaper went out on Sunday 10 July 2011. Sub-editors at sister tabloid The Sun walked out last week in protest. Affected journalists have been told they will receive a 90-day payment to cover the legally-required consultation period of job cuts. But […]
BBC announces cuts to tackle criticism
The BBC will axe two thirds of its senior managers, curb the pay and perks of those remaining and introduce a cap on the director-general’s salary, its new chairman has announced. Lord Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust and a former chairman of the Conservative Party, promised to take action over the “toxic” issue of […]
Call centre jobs league: Burnley 1: Bombay 0
A telecoms company has transferred its call centre operations from Bombay to Burnley because costs are now at “absolute parity”, but it considers UK employees to be more loyal and efficient. New Call Telecom, which provides home telephone services, broadband and low-cost international calls, is opening the contact centre in Lancashire after being attracted by […]
Salaries flatline desipte more vacancies
Although the number of job vacancies rebounded last month, particularly in the professional services and engineering sectors, salaries have remained flat. Employment web site Reed.co.uk said that its Job Index stood at 125 in June, which is four points or 3% higher than May, indicating that the number of available posts has returned to April’s […]
Head of HR in NHS to be replaced by interim
The head of HR for the NHS and Social Care is leaving the post at a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty for both sectors to take up a senior role at BT. Clare Chapman, director general of workforce for the NHS and Social Care – the country’s biggest HR job – will leave the […]
Surprise drop in movement in the City
Uncertainty over the pace of economic recovery led to a 19% drop in new vacancies in the City last month compared with April, a move deemed to be unusual at this time of year. The figures produced by Square Mile recruiter Morgan McKinley are significant given that financial services was the first sector to go […]
‘Worrying deceleration’ in job market points to sluggish recovery
The employment market showed a “worrying deceleration” last month, raising fears that sluggish economic recovery will hold back job creation in the private sector and fail to offset widespread public sector job losses. A survey of 400 recruitment consultancies undertaken by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and management consultancy KPMG revealed that the hiring of […]
40,000 jobs could go at Royal Mail
The Royal Mail is preparing to axe as many as one in four of its workers – or 40,000 jobs – over the next five years in the run-up to privatisation. The postal operator has already agreed a three-year deal with the Communication Workers Union to cut headcount by 8,000 per year until 2013. […]
Unpaid internships land Lib Dems in hot water
The contentious issue of internships has erupted again after it emerged that one in three posts on a government jobsite was unsalaried and the Liberal Democrats were advertising for unpaid work experience online. The revelations follow a political row last month after Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg criticised unwaged internships, saying that workers should be […]
Air tax increase could cost 77, 000 jobs
Coalition government plans to increase air passenger tax would blow a £475 million hole in the UK’s £115 billion-a-year tourist trade and cost up to 77,000 jobs, a report has warned. The study commissioned by budget airline easyJet predicted that proposed changes to Air Passenger Duty rules would lead to an estimated drop of […]
Jobcentres should be privatised, says Association of Learning Providers
The Association of Learning Providers, which represents almost three quarters of the organisations awarded contracts to deliver the coalition government’s Work Programme, has now called for the nation’s jobcentres to be privatised. The payment-by-results contracts, which are worth up to £5 billion over the next seven years and are intended to try and get the […]
