November 9, 2020

More stability in sight for employment but three in ten employers still planning redundancies

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Working lives

The pace of deterioration in UK job prospects is starting to slow this autumn due to very modest improvements in planned recruitment activity and a slight decrease in employers’ intentions to make redundancies. This is according to the latest quarterly CIPD/the Adecco Group Labour Market Outlook (LMO) survey – involving more than 1000 employers and covering all sectors of the economy. More →

November 3, 2020

Government urged to give regions greater power over skills and employment

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Working culture, Working lives

The Government must give UK regional economies greater autonomy over skills and employment to develop grassroot recovery strategies – or risk levelling down the chances of millions, according to a new report published by City & Guilds Group. More →

July 17, 2020

Self-employment is great for wellbeing, not so great for the bank balance

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

In the week the ONS announced that the number of self-employed people in the UK had dropped by 178,000 over the last quarter, a new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Study suggests that the growing number of people who turn to self-employment do so despite a drop in their incomes. On average, they earn nearly £500 (30 percent) less a month than they did before falling out of traditional employment. More →

March 25, 2020

Fall in employment and property values is inevitable

by Neil Franklin • News

It is already inevitable that the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will include a “big hit to commercial property values” and a rise in unemployment in the UK, according to reports from researchers Capital Economics (paywall). The economic research consultancy has downgraded its forecasts for the UK economy and, as a result, is projecting a near 10 percent decline in property values and a rapid but short-lived increase in unemployment. More →

January 22, 2020

Self-employment hits the 5 million mark for the first time

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

UK job growth was the strongest in nearly a year in the three months to November, according to new government data. The Office for National Statistics said the strong jobs growth reflected a particularly weak three-month period to August when jobs fell, but the data also showed the employment rate hit a record high of 76.3 percent with jobs growth driven particularly by self-employment and the numbers of women in full time work. More →

December 9, 2019

Do emails outside of work hours breach employment law?

by Darius Whelan • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing

It is common for many employees to send, read and reply to work emails at all hours of the day and night, including weekends. This change in work culture developed in recent decades and has accelerated with the advent of smartphones. But is this a breach of employment law? The short answer is that “it depends” and we need some test cases to clarify the situation, not least in the UK. Some workplaces have a culture of long working hours and it can be difficult for an individual employee to go against it. The contract may refer to a 40-hour week but the reality may be very different. Smartphones and other digital devices have contributed to a culture of “digital presenteeism”. More →

November 19, 2019

Young people mistakenly associate self-employment with more pay and leisure time

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Students and school-leavers see self-employment as a route to a higher income, better work-life balance and more family time and so one in five 16 to 21 year olds think they will self-employed at some point, a new analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows. However, other studies from the UK government paint a different picture with people in self-employment generally earning less and working longer hours than their employed contemporaries, but often happy to forgo the certainties of paid work for greater flexibility and control. More →

November 4, 2019

Over fifties are driving the rise of self employment

by Neil Franklin • News

Millions of older workers are joining and benefiting from the freelance sector, new research from IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) claims. IPSE’s research suggests there are now almost two million (1,907,000) self-employed people over the age of 50 in the UK: a number that has increased by 58.5 per cent in the last ten years. The growth is even bigger among highly skilled freelancers. Today, there are almost a million (950,000) highly skilled freelancers in the UK: a number that has risen by 68.2 per cent in the last ten years. More →

October 21, 2019

Business rates and employment costs for small firms need overhaul

by Neil Franklin • Business, News, Property

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling on the Chancellor Sajid Javid to bring forward radical interventions to address an unprecedented long-term slump in small business confidence, slowing economic growth and a widening trade deficit when he publishes the 2019 Autumn Budget on 6 November. In a letter to the Chancellor, the group calls for a major reduction in business rates bills for small firms, as thousands struggle to stay afloat amid spiralling operating costs. More →

October 14, 2019

Self employment boom continues to shape UK cities

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News

New research from the Centre for Cities claims that we are still seeing the long-lasting consequences of the post-financial crisis self-employment boom in the UK’s cities. But too many people working for themselves lack access to training – raising concerns about their long-term security and many cities’ future economic strength. More →

September 24, 2019

Employment of mothers shapes working lives of children

by Neil Franklin • News, Working culture

A new report from the IZA Institute of Labor Economics claims that working mothers serve as role models for the working lives of their children, especially their daughters. The report suggests that while the inter-generational correlation of labour market outcomes has been a subject of interest among both academics and policymakers for a long time, much of the literature has focused on the correlation of earnings. The new report argues that not only is the potential to earn transmitted across generations but also the willingness to work more generally. More →

July 26, 2019

Self-employment might be good for mental health

by Mark Stabile • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

The general picture of self-employment, the gig economy work and mental wellbeing is not a pretty one. Around the world, Uber drivers face wage and security worries. Deliveroo workers have too much competition. Airbnb owners face legal problems in Paris and other cities. But while these headlines suggest a dark cloud over the heads of gig economy workers, recent data I’ve looked at unexpectedly shows that they are about 33 percent more likely to self-report positive mental health traits.
More →