Zero-hour crackdown could wipe out seasonal work, Labour warned Retail Labour has been warned that its controversial crackdown on zero-hour contracts could eradicate seasonal work and put even 20-hour contracts under threat. The government has said it could class 20-hour weeks as a low-hour contract and force firms to offer permanent terms after as little as 12 weeks of work. Retail and hospitality firms have [...]
Hollywood Bowl boss: ‘Incredibly painful’ tax hikes make it harder to hire Retail The boss of Hollywood Bowl has hit out at Labour’s “incredibly painful” hikes to national insurance and the minimum wage for making it harder to employ workers. Stephen Burns, chief executive of the UK’s largest tenpin bowling operator, told City AM that Labour policy has made it “significantly more expensive to employ somebody than it [...]
Job cuts at Big Four firms fuel worker burnout Prof Services Job cuts at professional services firms are resulting in overworked staff, but the pressures – combined with increased reliance on AI – risk damaging firms’ reputations through mistakes, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. The professional services industry, especially the Big Four giants, has faced its fair share of job cuts, with thousands of roles laid off in [...]
Should you build an AI clone of your CEO? No! April 22, 2026 As Meta launches an AI avatar of Mark Zuckerberg, Paul Armstrong writes why cloning your boss means cloning mistakes.
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 [...]
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 [...]
When a Building Reminds You Why You Love Your Job February 26, 2026 Every so often, a project comes along that captures the essence of why working in and for a great city is such a privilege. The opening of the new hub by Premier Inn by Whitbread in Farringdon at the Old Bailey is one of those moments that we now encounter quite frequently in the City, [...]
Starmer sticks to youth minimum wage pledge despite jobs fears February 18, 2026 The government will stick to the Labour party’s manifesto commitment to equalise the minimum wage despite speculation it would row back on the pledge over unemployment fears, the Prime Minister has said. Speaking on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We’ve made commitments to young people in our manifesto, and we will keep to those commitments, [...]
The £6bn boost to the economy from getting 50-64-year-olds back to work October 22, 2025 There are roughly 1m people between age 50 and state pension age who say they want or need to keep working but are facing a range of obstacles, says Catherine Foot As the UK awaits the findings of the Keep Britain Working Review which is looking to address economic inactivity due to ill-health and disability, [...]
When it comes to work, Britain has an attitude problem October 8, 2025 It's not rocket science that more growth requires more workers, so why is our government burying its head in the sand, asks Emma Revell.