January 21, 2021
Furlough scheme should be extended ahead of the Budget, says CIPD
With six weeks still to go until the Chancellor’s Budget, the CIPD is urging the Government to act early to extend the furlough scheme to protect jobs, support incomes and enhance skills development. Its calls are outlined in a report called The Future of Furlough – Recommendations for now and for any future wage subsidy. In order to support smaller firms who don’t pay an apprenticeship levy, the CIPD is also recommending the creation of a furlough scheme training fund of up to £100 million, which would be funded from levy-paying firms’ expired levy funds that would otherwise go to HM Treasury. The CIPD estimates that this could pay for training or outplacement skills development support for nearly 160,000 workers in small firms. (more…)
Employee engagement levels may have actually improved during the COVID-19 pandemic, claims a recent survey undertaken by intermediary 
New research by 
New data analysis by web design and development agency 
Employers are failing to identify and tackle potential age bias in their recruitment process, with most employers interviewed not seeing it as a ‘problem’ in their organisation, according to a new report by the 
The way in which we work has changed in a way no one would have ever predicted as a result of last year’s pandemic. Consequently, many businesses have chosen to adopt to an agile working practise. This coupled with the rapid evolution of the hybrid workplace has allowed more employees than ever the flexibility to work from home, many people however still crave that interaction with colleagues, and the ‘corridor conversations’ that cannot be replicated via Zoom and can only happen with workplace collaboration. 
Only 46 percent of employers plan to hire a young person between the age of 16 and 24 in the next year despite new Government incentives to do so, a report from the 
The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has announced the start of a new project to plot a route to net zero carbon for the UK’s built environment sector, by developing a Net Zero Whole Life Carbon Roadmap. Hot on the heels of the Government’s new target to cut emissions by 68 percent by 2030, against 1990 levels, this project will identify how the built environment supports that objective and set a science-based trajectory to achieving net zero for the whole sector by 2050. The roadmap will cover all building types and infrastructure, all built environment stakeholders and sub-sectors and address carbon across the whole building lifecycle. 
New research from absence intelligence company 
January 22, 2021
Working parents present new and important challenges for employers
by Katie Davenport • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news