Hiring falls to 16-month low after Reeves’ ‘tough Budget’, survey shows January 9, 2025 Temporary billings also declined last month, and at a faster pace than typically seen during 2024.
UK firms shed jobs at fastest rate in three years amid payroll hikes January 6, 2025 Weak demand and higher payroll costs have led to the steepest decline in service sector jobs since January 2021, according to a new survey. Nearly a quarter of survey respondents reported a fall in workforce levels, while 12 per cent signalled a rise, data from the S&P Global UK Services PMI showed. “Service providers widely [...]
Retail jobs slashed as high costs lead to automation and outsourcing December 17, 2024 The number of jobs offered by the UK’s largest private sector employer – retail – has dropped again, as companies shift to outsourcing and automation in an effort to deal with higher costs. This trend has been ongoing for some time, and is responsible for both job loss and a lack of job creation as [...]
No ‘numerical’ migration target but UK should train own workers, minister says December 1, 2024 The UK won’t have a “numerical target” for net migration but should focus on training “our own workforce”, a cabinet minister has said. Pat McFadden has said the government wouldn’t be putting a figure on the level of net migration it wanted to see as part of the wider plan for change to be announced [...]
The Notebook: T’is the season of goodwill and charity. Here’s how to make yours count November 27, 2024 Christmas is when most of us become our most charitable, but here's how to make your goodwill actually count, writes James Reed.
Unemployment hotspots to get more NHS funding under new back to work plan November 26, 2024 Places with the highest levels of joblessness will get extra NHS support as the government bids to “get Britain working again”. Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall will announce the plans today as part of wide-ranging reforms designed to tackle economic inactivity and deliver the government’s promise to bring more than two million people back [...]
Jobs market gets Christmas boost from seasonal hiring November 25, 2024 In October, there were 0.64 per cent more vacancies than there were six months ago, the first time the six-monthly reading has been positive in 2024.
‘A clear thumbs down’: UK business confidence slumped post-Budget November 22, 2024 The UK’s business optimism “slumped” in a downturn after the Autumn Budget, according to a closely watched survey of the private sector. S&P’s ‘flash’ purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 49.9 in November, now below the neutral 50.0 threshold, down from 51.8 last month, and the lowest since October 2023. Firms reported a fractional [...]
‘Not the 1970s’: Minister slaps down four-day week calls from civil servants November 14, 2024 Civil servants won’t get a four-day working week as we’re “not living in the 1970s”, the pensions minister has said. Emma Reynolds slapped down the demand from Whitehall bureaucrats on Times Radio, after it emerged staff at one department claimed the policy could save the government millions. Workers at the Department for Environment, Food and [...]
The Notebook: Say it however you like, a National Insurance hike is a tax on jobs October 30, 2024 Job vacancies are already in decline. Raising National Insurance contributions are no way to help the economy, writes Reed CEO James Reed.