Bonuses down despite strong year for Britain’s biggest banks February 19, 2015 Payouts for top bankers have taken a tumble so far this year, according to industry data seen by City A.M., as the bonus cap combined with investor and political pressure takes its toll. Preliminary data from pay benchmarking site Emolument.com shows bonuses for front office staff falling precipitously this year compared with last year’s pay [...]
UK unemployment falls again: How do other EU countries compare? February 19, 2015 The unemployment rate in the UK dropped again yesterday, falling to 5.7 per cent. The UK, like the United States and Germany, is lucky to have a growing workforce and luckier still to have growing wages. Across the European Union, countries are in far greater distress. Some, like Greece have very high unemployment: in Alexis [...]
UK employment rate matches highest level since records began February 18, 2015 JOBS MARKET figures improved in the final months of 2014 despite economic growth slowing. There were 30.9m people in work in the period from October to December, according to figures released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is 103,000 more than the period July to September and 608,000 more than the same time [...]
In charts: Bonuses help push UK wage growth up to 2.1 per cent as unemployment falls February 18, 2015 The UK’s unemployment rate tumbled to 5.7 per cent between October and December, while growth in pay rose to its highest since 2013, according to "corking" figures published by the Office for National Statistics today. Pay leapt 0.4 percentage points to 2.1 per cent including bonuses, but slowed to 1.7 per cent excluding bonuses. The [...]
Ocado delivers first profit of £7.5m but cuts bonuses by 40 per cent February 12, 2015 Grocery delivery service Ocado reported its first profit yesterday, of £7.5m for 2014, up from the £5.1m loss in 2013, although top executives had their bonuses slashed by around 40 per cent. Executive directors only reached half their targets, resulting in total bonuses paid dropping nearly £800,000 compared to 2013 totals. Group sales went up [...]
Kate Robertson: Who do you think is sorting out youth unemployment anyway? February 9, 2015 Understandably, David Cameron vaunts the 1.75 million jobs created on his watch. Though this makes those on the opposition benches squirm – I'd just like to point out who's doing the creating. As the political back-and-forth of an election season gains momentum, it’s something we are likely to hear more and more members of [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct faces million-pound claim over bonus scheme which excluded zero-hour contracted staff February 3, 2015 Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct faces legal claims over its bonus scheme from hundreds of staff working at its stores which could run into millions of pounds. Nearly 300 workers on zero-hours contracts were excluded from a bonus scheme which gave around 2,000 staff who were permanently employed a windfall share of £160m worth of shares [...]
32 charts showing every unemployment rate in every Eurozone economy January 30, 2015 The Eurozone has finally had some good news: unemployment is down to 11.4 per cent, its lowest rate since August 2012. Although admittedly, 11.4 per cent would cause a mutiny in the UK. The figure’s drop was relatively small: it was 11.5 per cent in November and 11.8 per cent in December. And chipping fractions [...]
IFS: Top earners’ wages worse affected by the financial crisis January 30, 2015 High earners saw their pay packets pinched the most during the global financial crisis, but pay will pick up across the board this year, according to new research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Wage increases would be buoyed by pay rises alongside the low rate of inflation, which is being dragged down by [...]
European Central Bank eyes bankers’ bonuses and share options January 29, 2015 The European Central Bank (ECB) has cast its eye over bankers' bonuses and share options, saying banks should pay more attention to their capital ratios when they dole out this kind of variable remuneration. In its relatively new role as the Eurozone's chief bank adviser, the ECB said it would "thoroughly examine" banks' policies regarding [...]