In a written statement to Parliament, defence personnel minister Andrew Robathan said he regretted the uncertainty and anxiety caused to staff involved but said the Government “can and will” make changes in guarding and civil policing. Under the measures, the MoD Police is to downsize from a current strength of just under 3,100 to about … Continue reading
Apprenticeships face ‘identity crisis’, according to Forum of Private Business writes HR Magazine The Forum of Private Business yesterday warned a group of MPs that apprenticeships are facing an ‘identity crisis’, with business owners in certain sectors concerned that shorter schemes do not provide the same value as longer courses. The Forum’s senior policy adviser Alex … Continue reading
Boots says it is withdrawing from the government’s scheme to help the long-term unemployed find work. It comes on the same day that ministers had to drop sanctions from a separate scheme that offers work experience to younger jobseekers. Boots said that it would no longer be offering any new placements on the work programme, … Continue reading
For the first time, Britain is breaking the link between the number of years a migrant spends in the country and permanent settlement, by introducing a 35,000-pound annual salary threshold for those seeking to avail the privilege, a move that is likely to affect Indians. Until now, permanent settlement was automatic: if a migrant spends … Continue reading
The National Guidance Research Forum (NGRF) website, launched in 2004 for careers guidance practitioners and researchers as a collaborative project between the Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER), University of Warwick, the International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby and KnowNet, a specialist software company, has posted a summary of the main trends for … Continue reading
The report proposes ways to close the gender skills gap. According to the report, this would: increase the gross domestic product (GDP) by between £15 and £23 billion annually reduce the pay and opportunity gap between men and women increase the number of women training and working in science, engineering and technology (SET) alleviate the … Continue reading
It is one thing for the Conservatives to let the Liberal Democrats make the political weather. It is quite another to cede the terrain to the Socialist Workers Party. Yet this week, SWP activists have managed to whip up a storm of protest over the Goverment’s flagship work experience scheme, claiming – absurdly – that … Continue reading
David Cameron once said that “fairness means giving people what they deserve”. It’s not a million miles away from the old slogan of “A fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work”. This week a Tesco store caused outrage when it advertised a permanent unpaid position on its night shift for applicants to the government’s … Continue reading
Amid the bleak economic outlook, women in the UK had a little something to smile about just before the festive season got under way. This was owing to the Office of National Statistics’ (ONS) revelation that the gender pay gap had narrowed markedly. Figures showed it had dropped below 10% for the first time after … Continue reading
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is warning that recent headlines, which associate voluntary unpaid work experience with slave labour, are in danger of discouraging employers from offering placements and denying young people a route into permanent employment. Good quality work experience provides an invaluable way for young people to build key skills … Continue reading
Almost 1 million young people are not in school, work or training, according to official figures which underline the extent to which the economic slowdown is hurting school-leavers. One in six 16- to 24-year-olds was a “neet” (not in education, employment or training) in the last three months of 2011, according to statistics published by … Continue reading
Graduates leaving university found it harder to get jobs in 2011 than students finishing A-level courses, as youth unemployment hit its highest level since the 1980s, official data shows. In 2011, 20% of 18-year-olds who left school with A-levels were unemployed compared with 25% of 21-year-olds who left university with a degree, according to figures … Continue reading
If they become unemployed, low-paid workers such as cleaners, catering assistants and machine operators are most likely to be on the dole for more than six months, according to a new TUC analysis published today (Monday) ahead of the latest unemployment statistics this week. The TUC analysis shows that as unemployment rises and the number … Continue reading