Human Times

UK Edition

14th July 2025

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THE HOT STORY

Labour market shows signs of cooling

The UK labour market is experiencing a significant slowdown, with the supply of available workers increasing at the fastest rate in nearly five years. According to analysis by KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), there has been a decline in permanent vacancies and reduced demand for employees. Consequently, wage growth in the private sector has slowed from 5.5% to 5.3%, marking the slowest pace in four months. Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, noted that companies are hesitant to hire due to "the scar tissue left by the spring tax hikes and fear of further business tax rises." Jon Holt, group chief executive and UK senior partner at KPMG, said the threat of rising employment costs is contributing to a "wait and see" approach among employers. Official jobs market figures show unemployment rose to a four-year high of 4.6% in the three months to April, up from 4.5% in the previous three months.

Reuters

The Guardian

The Times

WEBINAR

Balancing the Books & the Benefits: Combating the Rise in National Insurance Contributions

Are you also struggling with budget constraints? Gartner’s latest research showed at least 65% of HR leaders anticipate a decrease in their budget for 2025.

But how do you deal with it?

That’s what two Employee Experience Experts, Ali Fitzsimons and Kate Ithell, will unpack in Reward Gateway | Edenred’s upcoming webinar: Balancing the Books & the Benefits: Combating the Rise in National Insurance Contributions on Tuesday, 22nd July at 1pm BST.

They will cover:

💥 The impact of the National Insurance increase on HR budgets and employee take-home pay
🎉 How salary sacrifice benefits can reduce costs for both employees and employers – and even fund wider HR initiatives
📣 Real-life examples of organisations using cost-effective benefits to offset rising contributions

Register Your Place

WORKFORCE

Give struggling 16-year-olds state-paid jobs, key adviser says

Government adviser Paul Gregg, a professor of economic and social policy at the University of Bath, argues that the government could take a radically different approach to tackle the rising number of 16- and 17-year-old school leavers who immediately move on to benefits, saying that young people who struggle in education should instead be offered jobs with training, with their wages supported by the government. While Prof Gregg said he was speaking in a personal capacity, not as chair of the Labour Market Advisory Board, he said the growth in "the number of people who've never worked by the age of 25" is "really scary," and that this "is what you'd call a ticking time bomb in the sense that it's been growing and it's doing a lot of damage and that damage sort of ages up."

The Sunday Times

DWP set to review pensions auto-enrolment

The Chancellor is expected to launch a review of the auto-enrolment pension scheme in a move that could see employer contributions to staff retirement pots increase. The review, led by the Department for Work and Pensions, will assess raising auto-enrolment contributions from the current level of 8% of worker earnings. Employees currently pay in 5% while the employer adds 3%. The review will also look at the state pension. The Office for Budget Responsibility has flagged inadequate pension saving as a risk for public finances, saying: "Recent studies suggest a significant proportion of the population may not be saving enough through private pensions to achieve an ‘adequate’ retirement income."

The Sunday Telegraph

The Guardian

Morrisons bans 'idling' staff from stockroom

Morrisons will restrict stockroom access to only authorised staff from August in a bid to improve customer service and shelf availability. The supermarket said the move targets "idle time" by ensuring workers are focused on the shop floor. Only specific roles including delivery and online order staff will be allowed in the backrooms. The change is part of a wider efficiency and service push under CEO Rami Baitiéh, who has led a series of shake-ups since joining in late 2023. Morrisons continues to lag rivals on customer satisfaction and has seen a dip in market share, prompting renewed efforts to win back shoppers.

The Daily Telegraph

London ranked among top AI hubs

London has been named one of the world's leading hubs for tech talent, coming second only to San Francisco in a ranking by real estate firm Colliers. The report assessed more than 200 global cities on factors such as AI hiring, venture capital flows, university output and tech productivity. The UK capital scored highly across all categories. Andrew Hallissey, global chief of occupier services at Colliers, said: "Location strategies are shifting. London’s advantage lies in the scale of its ecosystem – talent, innovation and investment all converge here."

City AM

Barristers in England and Wales struggle to pay bills after legal aid hack

Barristers across England and Wales, most of whom are self-employed, are struggling to make ends meet after a cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency has left many without a regular income.

Financial Times

HIRING

Graduates face fierce job competition

Entry-level job vacancies in the UK have dropped to their lowest level since 2018, with the number of graduate jobs advertised by employers having fallen by 33% this year. According to recruitment platform Adzuna, UK graduates faced an average of 140 applications per job in 2024, while data shows that entry-level roles at Big Four accountancy firms are down 11%-29% this year. AI is believed to have played a part: technology capable of repetitive administrative tasks is usually handed to new-starters. But while some blame AI for the decline in entry-level roles, Carl-Benedikt Frey from the Oxford Martin School suggests that inflation and economic uncertainty are more significant factors.

The Sunday Times

The Observer

STRATEGY

National Trust to cut 550 jobs

The National Trust has announced plans to cut 6% of its current workforce, with around 550 jobs set to go. The heritage and conservation charity cited "sustained cost pressures beyond our control." Increases in employer National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage have added more than £10m to its annual wage bill. The organisation has launched a 45-day consultation period with staff and is working with the union Prospect to "minimise compulsory redundancies."

BBC News

LEGAL

New rules set to expose pay gaps

The government is set to introduce the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, which will require employers with over 250 staff to disclose disability and ethnicity pay gaps. The Bill aims to establish a regulatory unit to prevent pay discrimination and may compel companies to create action plans for improving equality. The Black Equity Organisation (BEO) has advocated for whistleblower protections to ensure transparency in pay gap reporting, saying support for those who flag issues is "essential." The Trades Union Congress has called for mandatory pay gap reporting to be extended to employers with more than 50 staff, to cover lower-paid workers in smaller companies, insisting: "If the legislation is to be effective . . . it needs to apply to the majority of workplaces." Equalities Minister Seema Malhotra says the measures set out in the Bill are part of the government's "absolute" commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Guardian

Britain takes aim at office bullies and cover-ups

Regulators including the Financial Conduct Authority are reforming workplace misconduct rules to enhance safety, but critics warn of potential overreach and increased burdens on managers regarding accountability for employee behaviour.

Financial Times

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

Reform's diversity claims questioned

Reform UK's claims about potential savings from cutting diversity and equality roles at local councils it controls have been questioned. According to Freedom of Information requests, there are only 4.56 full-time equivalent jobs related to diversity across ten councils, which would yield just 0.003% of their combined budget if eliminated.

The Guardian

REMUNERATION

Ofwat warns firms over bonus ban

Water industry watchdog Ofwat has warned suppliers not to hike directors' salaries in an effort to bypass a bonus ban. Ofwat has barred United Utilities, Thames Water, Wessex Water, Anglian Water, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water from making performance-related payouts this year due to a number of failings. The regulator said it would be "very damaging to public trust in the sector" if the response to the bonus ban was "to greatly inflate base salaries." Ofwat added that it will be "closely watching companies' behaviour on executive remuneration in response to the changes, including on base pay." Ofwat's chief executive, David Black, said: "At a time when remuneration in the water sector is under significant public scrutiny, we expect water companies to be proactive and transparent."

Mail on Sunday

INTERNATIONAL

Deal reached in Finnish aviation labour dispute

A prolonged labour dispute in Finland's aviation sector has concluded with a new collective agreement between the Finnish Aviation Union (IAU) and Service Sector Employers Palta. The agreement, which is expected to last approximately 1.5 years, comes after over six months of negotiations that led to Finnair cancelling more than 1,200 flights, affecting around 100,000 passengers. Palta's Director of Labour Market Affairs, Minna Ääri, said: "After prolonged negotiations, it's good that we were able to reach a mutually acceptable deal." Ääri did however express disappointment over the lack of broader working condition improvements. Wage increases under the new deal are expected to follow Finland's general line, with an estimated rise of around 7.8% over the next three years.

YLE Uutiset

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