UK suffered biggest unemployment surge in G7 Economics UK unemployment rose at a faster pace than any country in the G7, the OECD has said, with a sharp rise in joblessness particularly damaging for the youngest people. Unemployment levels across the country rose sharply by 0.8 percentage points over the year to 5.2 per cent between the last three months of 2024 and [...]
Pizza king points to youth joblessness as restaurant group eyes takeovers Hospitality The boss of restaurant group Bow Street raised concerns over youth joblessness as the firm behind Dim T slipped into an annual loss, but outlined his dealmaking plans. David Page, now the chief executive of the Aim-listed firm, is a former boss of Pizza Express and played a key role in the expansion of Franco [...]
Firms slash jobs at fastest pace this year and pay growth slows Economics Businesses slashed jobs at the fastest pace in 2026 as employers also resisted giving staff big pay increases over March, research has suggested, exposing the Iran war’s damaging effects on all sides of the UK economy. Research by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG said there was a steeper rise in the number [...]
European banking jobs face AI reset ‘not mass job losses – for now’ April 10, 2026 European banking jobs are in line for a boost from AI despite widespread fears the integration of new tech will trigger mass layoffs, according to fresh analysis. The headcount at the top lenders is expected to get a four per cent average uplift, analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence said in a new note. The increase is [...]
Workers’ rights laws couldn’t come at a worse time for businesses April 8, 2026 The government’s Employment Rights agenda is becoming a reality, and the timing could scarcely be worse. As the first provisions of the Employment Rights Act come into force, Britain’s economic outlook is darkening rapidly. Growth is faltering under the weight of an energy shock, inflation is stirring again and businesses are staring down a period [...]
Government can’t fix the jobs crisis alone – employers must step in March 25, 2026 It is companies, not ministers who do the most to create meaningful work. Let’s get to it, says Octavius Black One of Europe’s most successful fintechs has given its employees unlimited access to AI with a simple instruction: build tools that will multiply your productivity by a factor of ten. The results are highly personalised [...]
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 [...]