Search Results for: labour market

UK employers concerned for future of the post Brexit economy despite booming jobs market

UK employers concerned for future of the post Brexit economy despite booming jobs market

by • News, Workplace

Employer confidence in the UK economy has moved into negative territory, according to the latest JobsOutlook survey by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC). The net balance fell from +6 per cent last month to -3 per cent in the latest report, as 31 per cent of employers now expect the economy to worsen and just 28 per cent expect it to improve.  Employers are still looking to hire, with one in five (19 per cent) planning to increase permanent headcount in the next three months.  Confidence in making hiring and investment decisions remains positive with a net balance of 10 per cent, but is at its lowest for the past year.  In addition to signs of deteriorating employer confidence, consumers are also becoming more pessimistic. The GfK’s index of consumer confidence fell to -12, equalling last year’s post-referendum low.

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Pay levels are falling but job market remains robust, despite Brexit relocation plans

Pay levels are falling but job market remains robust, despite Brexit relocation plans 0

by • News, Public Sector, Workplace

The UK economy is about to be hit by a fall in basic pay awards and real wages warns the CIPD, which has found that employers’ median basic pay expectations in the 12 months to March 2018 have fallen to 1 percent compared to 1.5 percent three months ago, which is lower than at any time during the past three and a half years. The findings from the latest CIPD/The Adecco Group Labour Market Outlook survey are consistent with recent Labour Market Outlook reports, which have indicated a slowing in the rate of basic pay growth, and with official labour market data. The report also found that 12 percent of private sector firms say the UK’s decision to leave the European Union has led them to consider relocating some or all of their business operations abroad. Popular relocation destinations include the Republic of Ireland (18 percent), Germany (17 percent) and France (13 percent).

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Brexit leads to ‘softening’ of employment market, claims CIPD survey

Brexit leads to ‘softening’ of employment market, claims CIPD survey 0

by • News, Public Sector, Workplace

BrexitThe UK’s decision to leave the EU has resulted in a softening in hiring intentions and businesses should invest in skills immediately, according to the latest CIPD/Adecco Group UK & Ireland Labour Market Outlook. The report is based on employer sentiment in the two weeks before and after the EU Referendum and claims that employers surveyed ahead of the vote were somewhat more optimistic about hiring intentions than those surveyed afterwards. It suggests that the proportion of employers expecting to increase staffing levels over the next three months dropped from 40 percent pre-Brexit to 36 percent following the vote. The net employment balance, based on the difference between the share of employers expanding their workforce and those reducing it, dropped from +21 pre-Brexit to +17 post-Brexit. However, the fall was significantly sharper among private sector employers, with the post-Brexit employment balance declining to +25 from +39.

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Worldwide BIM market to reach US$11.54 billion by 2022, claims report

Worldwide BIM market to reach US$11.54 billion by 2022, claims report 0

by • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Property

BIMAccording to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research Building Information Modelling (BIM) Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2015 – 2022, the global BIM market was worth US$2.76 bn in 2014 and is expected to reach US$11.54 bn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 19.1 percent from 2015 to 2022. North America was the largest market for BIM in 2014. Growth in this region is expected to be driven by increases in construction activities and the penetration of cloud-based services for BIM software. BIM is a tool used to visualize the design of buildings in 3D. BIM also helps in attaining estimates of various other factors, such as cost implementation, time requirement, labour requirement, raw material provision, and other key prerequisites in the construction industry. Management of the entire construction lifecycle can be simulated by BIM.

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Lack of flexible working options is distorting the job market for women

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

flexible working womanUK employers and their female employees are missing out on a range of opportunities because of their failure to implement better flexible working arrangements, according to a report from The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The report examined flexible working across Europe and found that while significant progress had been made in the UK, nearly two thirds (64 percent) of working women are unable to vary their working hours and a quarter (25 percent) claim it is difficult to take one or two hours from their day at short notice. The report claims the pent up demand for such working arrangements restricts employment opportunities for women compared to men, means more women are working in jobs below their skill level and creates the conditions for extensive underemployment.

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Labour demand growing, but many employers prefer to increase hours not people

by • News, Workplace

Employment experts give cautious welcome to job increase figuresThere was a fall in unemployment of 18,000 to 2.49 million from March to May of this year according to the latest figures published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Between June and August 2013 the unemployment rate dropped from 7.8 per cent to 7.7 per cent, with a slight rise in total pay of 0.7 per cent. Although the news was welcomed by employment experts, Nigel Meager, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies pointed out that while employment increased by 0.9 per cent in the last year, the number of hours worked in the economy grew faster; and CIPD Chief Economist Mark Beatson commented that there is no sign yet that increased demand for staff were leading to higher wages. (more…)

Video: A new kind of job market, or the commoditisation of work?

by • Comment, Workplace

At a TED talk delivered in London at the end of 2012, Wingham Rowan, project director of Slivers-of-Time, a ‘work marketplace’, says that websites such as his are thriving by bringing together what he terms ultra-flexible workers with employers to deliver short periods of work on specific tasks. The question is: whether this is a valuable tool in providing flexible work opportunities for appropriate people or the most advanced example we yet have of how labour is increasingly commoditised, casualised and disposable?

AI, automation anxiety and the future of work: lessons from Daniel Susskind

AI, automation anxiety and the future of work: lessons from Daniel Susskind

by • AI, Comment, Workplace

Jo Sutherland reports from an enlightening lecture on how automation anxiety and fears about the future of work may not be quite as you thinkWhen I joined the audience at Gresham College for Professor Daniel Susskind’s inaugural lecture on automation anxiety, I expected the familiar line: AI is coming for our jobs. That’s not what I heard. Instead, Susskind, Professor of Business at Gresham, made a surprisingly nuanced argument, explaining that the real story was less about the number of jobs losses, and more about how the very nature of work is shifting. This piece reports on that event (available to watch below) and reflects on what his ideas mean for workplace leaders – and, from my vantage point as a communications professional working with organisations through workplace and digital transformation, how we talk to and engage our colleagues through the change. (more…)

Younger people want more office time as remote work leaves many feeling isolated

Younger people want more office time as remote work leaves many feeling isolated

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

A new poll suggests that younger people are increasingly seeking a return to office working, as large numbers report that remote work has left them feeling lonely and disconnected. The survey from Bupa, based on responses from employees aged between 16 and 24, found that around 40 percent say they feel lonely when working from home. Many of those in this group began their careers during the pandemic, with limited experience of office-based work and the informal social interactions that accompany it. (more…)

Microsoft study reveals which jobs have been most affected by Generative AI

Microsoft study reveals which jobs have been most affected by Generative AI

by • AI, News

Which jobs are most affected by Generative AI?A new large scale study from Microsoft has offered what its authors claim is one of the clearest pictures yet of how Generative AI is being used in real workplaces and which jobs are most exposed to its growing influence. Researchers from Microsoft analysed 200,000 anonymised user conversations with Bing Copilot, Microsoft’s publicly available AI assistant, to determine how AI is assisting or performing work tasks. The study focused on the types of activities people use GenAI for, how successfully AI completes them, and how these activities align with those performed across hundreds of occupations. (more…)

Lack of flexible working options drives a million people to swap jobs last year

Lack of flexible working options drives a million people to swap jobs last year

by • Flexible working, News

More than a million UK workers have quit their jobs in the past year due to a lack of flexible working, according to a new poll from the CIPD.More than a million UK workers have quit their jobs in the past year due to a lack of flexible working, according to a new poll from the CIPD. The organisation’s latest report highlights a growing tension between employer demands and employee expectations, particularly among younger workers. The survey of 2,000 employers and 5,000 employees suggests that around 3 percent of the workforce left their roles since January 2024 because they were unable to access the flexibility they needed. The findings come more than a year after UK workers gained the legal right to request flexible working from day one. (more…)

Working from home means official government stats are too flawed for economic forecasting

Working from home means official government stats are too flawed for economic forecasting

by • Flexible working, News

A new independent review has sharply criticised the Office for National Statistics (ONS), warning that widespread working from home is undermining the quality of UK economic dataA new independent review has sharply criticised the Office for National Statistics (ONS), warning that widespread working from home is undermining the quality of UK economic data, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph. The review, led by Sir Robert Devereux, a former senior civil servant, highlights how current working practices are weakening the agency’s ability to deliver accurate and timely statistics. Despite mounting concerns, many ONS staff continue to work from home full-time, with internal resistance to returning to office-based routines. (more…)

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