Unemployment is rising and top bosses want to do something about it March 25, 2026 Business giants have come together to find ways of hiring more people currently out of work as private sector bosses move to play a more active role in improving the state of the UK labour market. Company chiefs from the likes of BT, Shell, Marks & Spencer and Pret have joined a new, non-governmental ‘Employer [...]
Sunak urges rethink on taxing jobs as AI begins to reshape hiring March 22, 2026 Rishi Sunak has called for a rethink of how work is taxed, warning that AI is beginning to shift hiring patterns as companies weigh the cost of people against automation. Writing in The Times, Sunak said employers face immediate costs when hiring through national insurance contributions (NIC), while deploying AI carries no equivalent tax burden, [...]
UK risks ‘jobless generation’ as retail hiring plummets March 19, 2026 A leading industry body has warned the UK faces a “jobless generation” as the number of jobs in retail fell to a record low. There were 2.8m retail jobs in 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics’ four-quarter average, which smooths out seasonal variations in hiring, which is 383,000 fewer than in 2015. The [...]
UK job market weakens as economy set to worsen March 19, 2026 The jobs market failed to provide more positive signs for the UK economy as official data suggested that fewer postings were available for job seekers. An estimate published on Thursday showed that the number of payrolled employees dropped by 49,000 in February while data showed a small rise in January. The Office for National Statistics [...]
Bribing firms to hire us is an insult to young workers like me March 19, 2026 The government’s plans to subsidise companies to hire young workers is a sticking plaster over the self-inflicted wound that is youth unemployment, says Oliver Dean Pat McFadden, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, recently announced that the government will launch a £1bn scheme to shift young people away from unemployment and welfare and [...]
Nine in ten hospitality job switchers quit the sector March 13, 2026 Nine in ten workers in hospitality and tourism quit the sector altogether when they switch jobs, as the hiring “churn” drives costs and dampens the industry’s productivity. As many as 87 per cent of hospitality and tourism workers who quit jobs end up leaving the industry for good, while the exit rate stands at 82 [...]
UK jobs market ‘facing sustained shocks’ March 9, 2026 The Labour government is facing a rallying cry to ease the cost burden on businesses to avoid derailing a recovery in the jobs market. The latest jobs report from KPMG and the REC, the professional body for recruiters, showed hiring for permanent roles reaching a stabilising point in February with the pace of declines the [...]
Watch: War brings Reeves’ failures into focus March 5, 2026 War in the Middle East rendered the Chancellor’s Spring Statement “irrelevant” according to City analysts as the economic impacts of the Iran conflict become frighteningly clear. Rachel Reeves made just a passing mention of the Iran war when she addressed MPs on Tuesday, referring briefly to global instability while trying to paint a picture of [...]
Reeves says ‘everything is fine’ as economy burns March 4, 2026 Having stripped the ‘fiscal’ element from the fiscal event, we were left with simply an event. But was it even that? It could have been called an occasion, but even that might have been stretching it. What we actually got was a Spring Statement that amounted to little more than a Labour party conference speech. [...]
Reeves to deliver ‘stability’ Spring Statement amid turmoil in Iran March 3, 2026 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to deliver a Spring Statement trumpeting the UK’s economic stability against the backdrop of a war in the Middle East, with official forecasts expected to touch on lower growth, falling inflation and higher unemployment over the coming months. In an address to the House of Commons around 12.30pm today, Reeves [...]