Employers are preparing for a four-day extreme heat warning across much of the UK this week, as temperatures could soar to up to 40°C. The Met Office has today issued a rare red weather warning – the highest level of alert – for parts of southern England and Wales as temperatures rise to record levels.
Car manufacturer BMW is reported to be in talks with staff representatives as it prepares to cut up to 5% of its workforce. The German company issued a profit warning last week saying that “structural and efficiency measures are being intensified” to respond to market forces, including the impact of conflict in the Middle East
Employment lawyers have said that the government’s consultation on reforms to zero-hours contracts and agency worker protections could provide the clearest indication yet of how an Andy Burnham-led government may approach employment law and labour market regulation. The comments come in the wake of Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election. The Greater Manchester mayor is
Royal Mail has 6,500 postal workers off sick every day, out of a total of about 130,000 employees, its chief executive has warned. Martin Seidenberg, the chief executive of International Distribution Services (IDS), the Royal Mail owner, told The Times CEO Summit that the business wanted to be at the “vanguard” of efforts to tackle
As many of us swelter and watch the football and dream of holidays, some are planning Christmas parties. Meanwhile, a new World Cup hero is hailed, thanks to LinkedIn LinkedIn is a bit like a Facebook for business. Some use it to genuinely network; others to find work. Some use it … well, just to
Reports about high youth unemployment sit alongside surveys showing persistent skills shortages. Robin Adda looks at how we can solve the conundrum where young people can’t find work and employers can’t find talent. The latest report from Skills England paints a worrying picture of the UK labour market. Employers continue to report persistent skills shortages across
The UK jobs market showed signs of resilience in May despite continuing economic and political uncertainty, with the number of active job vacancies rising modestly. According to the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) Labour Market Tracker, there were 1.62 million active job postings across the UK in May, up 0.8% from April and 8%
With the World Cup finals in the USA now well under way, HR experts are continuing to warn organisations over the potential for workplace disruption because of absences and ‘banter’. Lisa Patmore, employment partner at Dorsey & Whitney, warned that many employees were now shaping their schedules according to the football schedule rather than by
Major changes in how C-suite roles are structured are needed in response to the rise of AI, the chief executive of Accenture UK and Ireland has said, with HR directors taking the lead. Matt Prebble said HR directors will have to take responsibility for managing AI agents alongside human staff in future. He told the
Businesses continue to be more cautious in recruiting new staff as official labour market figures continue to show a falling number of vacancies. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that early job vacancy estimates for March to May suggest a decrease of 19,000 (2.6%) vacancies to 707,000, compared with December to February. This is
