If Burnham wants firms to hire young people, he needs to get out of their way July 8, 2026 Firms don’t need subsidies to incentivise them to hire NEETs, we just need to make sure that work pays, says Mani Basharzad Andy Burnham’s honeymoon seems to be getting shorter by the day. Even before reaching Nunber 10, he is refusing to hold a proper press conference. But when he enters office, he will face [...]
Staff would turn down promotion to keep flexibility at work July 3, 2026 Half of the UK’s part-time staff would turn down a promotion if it meant losing the flexibility of their current role, according to fresh polling, leading industry chiefs to warn against an overzealous crackdown on agile working. The Yougov data, commissioned by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and shared exclusively with City AM, found exactly [...]
More than 80 retail bosses urge Starmer to tackle youth unemployment crisis June 10, 2026 More than 80 retail bosses have called on the Prime Minister to set out urgent measures to tackle youth unemployment, warning that the “ladder of opportunity for young people is wobbling”. The chiefs of leading retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and John Lewis have called on Sir Keir Starmer to safeguard the position of retail as [...]
Zero-hour crackdown could wipe out seasonal work, Labour warned June 2, 2026 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 [...]
Pub bosses warn tax hikes driving youth unemployment crisis June 1, 2026 Pub bosses have warned that Labour tax hikes are driving the youth unemployment crisis, which is pushing the UK towards an “economic catastrophe”. Several hospitality leaders have called on the government to reverse its increases to employer national insurance contributions (NICs), which pubs say are making it harder for them to hire young people. Last [...]
Milburn NEET review: Anger crackles from the page but will Labour act? June 1, 2026 Alan Milburn's review into Britain's economically inactive youth (or NEETs) makes for extraordinary reading, but will the government act?
Hollywood Bowl boss: ‘Incredibly painful’ tax hikes make it harder to hire May 27, 2026 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 [...]
The Debate: Is Britain’s minimum wage too high? May 27, 2026 Rishi Sunak has confessed minimum wage hikes he oversaw were too high. But is raising wages during a cost of living crisis really so bad?
Next boss slams Labour’s zero-hour contracts crackdown May 26, 2026 The boss of Next has slammed the government’s crackdown on zero-hour contracts and called on Labour to unwind its “employment taxes”. Lord Simon Wolfson, chief executive of the FTSE 100 retailer, said the government’s plans to force employers to offer guaranteed hours to those on flexible contracts will make it “much harder” for Next to [...]
‘Economic catastrophe’: Social media and welfare state ‘to blame’ for youth unemployment May 23, 2026 Social media and the welfare state are pushing Britain towards an “economic catastrophe” over youth unemployment, a landmark government review has found. Smartphones have “rewired” the brains of young adults and left them trapped in unemployment, former health secretary Alan Milburn has found in an official report commissioned by Sir Keir Starmer. Labour ordered the [...]