UK employment rate hit record high of 73.4 per cent in February April 17, 2015 Britain's employment rate has risen to its highest level since comparable records began around 44 years ago, which could provide a boost to the Tories and Lib Dems as they gear up for the General Election. The final jobs and earnings before the election, released today by the Office for National Statistics, showed the number of people [...]
Zero hours, infinite rows: Is job growth stagnating or recovering? A look at Britain’s labour market April 12, 2015 Expect a screaming match this Friday – the jobs numbers are out. It isn’t every day that official statistics generate this much excitement, but we are in the middle of an election campaign. Economists expect another fall in unemployment, a decent rise in the number of jobs and another month of wages rising faster than [...]
Survey points to high business optimism and strong hiring plans April 12, 2015 Businesses are planning to take on more workers over the coming months, according to survey figures released today by accountancy firm BDO. BDO’s employment index – an indicator of hiring intentions – scored 113 in March. Despite it being marginally lower than February’s 113.1, it is far above the long-term average of 100. Firms also [...]
Why politicians should stop using employment law as an electioneering tool April 12, 2015 Faced with stubbornly unchanging polls and less than a month before the General Election, what can a party leader do to prevent the nation drawing the duvet over its collective head on 7 May? Into the arena is pulled employment relations law. All the main parties have something to say here – the coalition points [...]
Wage increases gather pace as recruiters battle skills shortage April 9, 2015 Salaries for new staff rose at their fastest pace in six month in March, recruiters said today, as diving unemployment combined with strong growth to push up pay. Finance workers and engineers are in the highest demand, closely followed by executive staff. The study from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG found that almost [...]
How to get into the finance sector: The six university degree subjects most likely to land you a job in a London bank April 8, 2015 It's that time of year again – A-Levels are coming up, and students everywhere are trying to work out what to next. Aspiring bankers could do worse than to read up on new research by salary benchmarking site Emolument.com, which has identified the six most common degrees held by London bankers. At the top – [...]
Employees expecting weak pay rises could risk economic recovery, economist warns March 29, 2015 Employees are anticipating a year of weak pay growth, a set of new survey data shows, with one economist warning it could hamper the UK’s economic recovery. “The survey data indicate that there are clearly few signs of pay growth picking up in 2015. This is a major concern as the sustainability of the economic [...]
Job market swings in workers’ favour as vacancy numbers soar March 29, 2015 The number of job opportunities grew strongly in February, new figures show. Professional recruiters had 21 per cent more vacancies in February than a year ago, according to data released today by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies. Permanent vacancies across engineering, IT, and finance and accounting rose by 25, 27 and 12 per cent [...]
Banks: Hurting us hits jobs all across the UK – not just the City March 29, 2015 Banking jobs are spread right across the country, rather than just in London, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) said yesterday, challenging the myth that finance only benefits the City. Edinburgh, Leeds and Birmingham each have more than 10,000 bankers. Manchester is close behind, with just under 10,000, and a range of other cities from Bristol [...]
Accountants call for a cut in national insurance contributions March 29, 2015 Accountants have put a reduction in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) at the top of their election wishlist. Cuts to NICs were seen as the highest priority for tax cuts with 49 per cent of accountants favouring a reduction, according to figures released today by Bloomsbury Professional, a tax and accounting information group. The second [...]