Why a ‘do no harm’ Budget isn’t good enough Economics Labour market statistics can be pretty dry. Inactivity rates, nominal regular earnings growth, payroll numbers and claimant counts tend not, at first glance, to fire up the imagination. The data dumps are hoovered up by economists and analysts, not least as a guide to future Bank of England interest rate decisions or as a barometer [...]
Amazon pledges 30,000 jobs for Neets ahead of Budget Retail Amazon has pledged to create 30,000 entry-level roles for young people by the end of the decade, in the latest sign of firms rowing in behind the government’s effort to tackle the youth unemployment crisis. The tech and retail giant has announced its “Youth Promise” programme amid growing concerns about youth joblessness and the number [...]
James Dyson is right, technical universies are the solution to the NEETs crisis Opinion Technical universities in partnership with employers like Dyson can help up-skill the population, re-industrialise the nation and solve the NEETSs crisis. And Hereford is already showing the way forward, says Byron Evans A million young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Over 250,000 vacancies sit unfilled because the skilled workers needed are [...]
Tories call for urgent action on youth unemployment in Budget October 18, 2026 Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately has said the government needs to “take action in the Budget” to “back businesses to employ more young people”, referring the one million young people who are not in employment, education or training (Neets). Talking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Whately said the Labour party have [...]
Salesforce offers free AI tools to UK students as graduate job market lags October 15, 2026 As UK graduate vacancies hit their lowest level since 2020, Salesforce is offering free AI tools to six million students to help them meet employers’ growing demand for artificial intelligence skills. The US tech giant announced the scheme on Thursday, giving universities and colleges access to its workplace platform Slack and AI tools to help [...]
The urgent case for massive welfare reform is now impossible to ignore October 14, 2026 By accident or design, Britain is facing a moment of reckoning when it comes to welfare spending. The issue serves as a major fault line in Westminster, with the Tories pledging to slash the benefits bill while Andy Burnham vows there will be “no crude cuts” to the hundreds of billions of pounds spent across [...]
‘Slow-moving tsunami’ – IMF warns AI could hit 60 per cent of jobs in advanced economies October 12, 2026 AI’s impact on employment “is a slow-moving tsunami, but a tsunami nonetheless”, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned, as the technology threatens to reshape six in ten jobs across advanced economies. Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, said AI could affect 40 per cent of jobs worldwide, rising to 60 [...]
PwC expects junior hiring to ‘push back up’ across professional services despite AI fears October 7, 2026 The chief executive of PwC UK said he expects the hiring of young people across the professional services sector to “push back up”, challenging the notion that AI is replacing junior work and slowing entry-level recruitment. Marco Amitrano, the Big Four giant’s UK chief executive and senior partner of PwC UK and the firm’s Middle [...]
Businesses braced for wave of tribunal claims as government expands legal time limit September 30, 2026 Employers are set to face a fresh legal headache as the time limit for employees to bring claims to employment tribunals doubles, as the next phase of the reformed Employment Rights Act takes effect. From 1 October, employees will be given the legal right to take six months to bring cases to court against employers [...]
Ban non-compete clauses to ‘boost Britain’s fastest growing firms’ September 22, 2026 Rising hiring costs and difficulties recruiting talent are making it harder for Britain’s most promising companies to grow, with three quarters saying they could create at least 10 per cent more jobs if barriers to expansion were removed. New research from Enterprise Britain found the cost of employing staff has become one of the main [...]