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30th May 2023
 
THE HOT STORY
Young people shun trade unions
Trade union membership rates among young people have reached a record low. Department for Business data shows that just 4% of employees aged 16 to 24 were in a union last year. This is down from 7% in 1995. For workers aged 25 to 34, the rate dropped five percentage points to 21%. A Trades Union Congress spokesman said: “Young workers tend to disproportionately feature in sectors and jobs which have traditionally been more difficult to organise, such as hospitality, accommodation and food, as well as be in low-paid, insecure work.” Manuela Galetto, associate professor of employment relations at Warwick Business School, said: “The decline reflects a steady increase in non-unionised occupations linked to the growth of e-commerce,” while also noting “an increase in the number of careers where there is a high concentration of precarious and short-term contracts, notoriously less likely to unionise.”
TECHNOLOGY
UK government acknowledges 'existential' risk of AI
The UK government has acknowledged the "existential" risk of artificial intelligence (AI) development for the first time. Prime minister Rishi Sunak and Chloe Smith, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, met with the CEOs of Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Anthropic AI to discuss safety and regulation measures. “They discussed safety measures, voluntary actions that labs are considering to manage the risks, and the possible avenues for international collaboration on AI safety and regulation,” the participants said in a joint statement. “The lab leaders agreed to work with the UK government to ensure our approach responds to the speed of innovations in this technology both in the UK and around the globe . . . The PM and CEOs discussed the risks of the technology, ranging from disinformation and national security, to existential threats . . . The PM set out how the approach to AI regulation will need to keep pace with the fast-moving advances in this technology.”
AI will turbocharge the end of working from home - Kevin Ellis
The chairman of PwC contends that the rise of artificial intelligence will prompt more people to return to the office as they strive to stand out from bots. Kevin Ellis said: "The latest wave of AI will likely bring people back to the office. People are going to want to learn from others face to face, and the best way a human can differentiate themselves from a robot is in person." Ellis told staff last week: "For professional services, where researching and summarising data is a key part of junior roles, AI has the potential to fast-track year one trainees to year three. You're freeing people up to do more." He added that the acceleration came with challenges: "This will in turn require more coaching to equip people for more responsibility sooner, and impart knowledge that would typically be acquired over a longer period."
HYBRID WORKING
Investec to increase office attendance requirement
Investment bank Investec is increasing its office attendance requirement to four days a week, up from its previous policy of three. The new policy will come into effect in July and will not apply to Investec's wealth management arm, which is being merged with rival Rathbones. Other companies, including Lloyds Banking Group, JP Morgan, and BlackRock, are also requiring their employees to return to the workplace more frequently. Investec's CEO, Ruth Leas, said that the company believes its culture and people's career growth are best enabled face-to-face. The company's current policy of three days a week in the office has been in place since the end of 2021. Last month, JP Morgan told senior bankers to return to the workplace full-time, while Lloyds was accused of inflicting "unnecessary disruption" on employees after telling them to return to the office for just two days a week.
Almost half of civil servants work from home
Around 44% of civil servants in the UK primarily work from home, according to analysis of Office for National Statistics data by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. This is the highest proportion of employees predominantly working from home at any type of organisation. The figure has also risen since last summer, indicating a further shift towards flexible working among civil servants. Ministers are being urged to "show leadership" and get government workers back into the office, as experts warn that Britain's productivity could fall if employees do not return to the workplace.
HEALTH & WELLBEING
More than 500m days have been lost to sickness since 2019 election
The number of working days lost to sickness hit 185.6m in 2022 - the highest since records began in 1995, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. Long-term sickness has hit a record 2.5m, with the number of working-age adults no longer in employment or looking for a job due to long-term sickness hitting 2.55m in the first three months of this year. Meanwhile research by Labour alleges that more than half a billion working days have been lost to sickness since the last general election.
Stress and anxiety dominate working women during menstruation
New research by WaterAid reveals that eight in 10 women feel held back in their careers by taboos around periods, with stress and anxiety dominating the lives of working women when they are menstruating. The survey of 2,000 British women who work onsite found that 85% reported experiencing stress or anxiety when managing their periods at work. A mere 3% of those surveyed believe employers are doing enough to support women to manage their periods at work. Flexible working, additional breaks and free period products were cited as the top three actions employers should take.
What bosses think about the right to disconnect
The FT has spoken to several managers, including Aviva chief people officer Danny Harmer, about their own work practices and their views on legislation to protect workers’ time.
WORKFORCE
Over-fifties add second jobs
Analysis of official data shows that the number of people aged 50 and older with a second job has increased by more than 100,000 since 2013. The study by Rest Less, which offers advice to older workers, shows that the total hit 440,000 in Q1. This means that of the 1.27m people in the UK with a second job, over a third are 50 and older. Stuart Lewis, chief executive of Rest Less, warned that some over-50s who are unable to find secure and stable work due to age discrimination and a lack of flexible working opportunities are forced to take unsecure, low-paid jobs “and find themselves needing to juggle a number of part-time jobs in order to make ends meet.” This trend, he added, “will have been exacerbated by high inflation and the current cost-of-living crisis.”
Only a third of employees have financial wellbeing support, says survey
Only 36% of employees say their employer has initiatives in place to support their financial wellbeing, according to a survey by Mintago. The survey also found that workers earning lower incomes were less likely to have financial wellbeing support available. Only 26% of workers earning less than £30,000 said their employer offered meaningful financial wellbeing support. Nearly two-thirds of respondents who described themselves as "very stressed" or "somewhat stressed" said increasing living costs were a contributing factor. Chieu Cao, CEO of Mintago, said employers must deliver "robust, complete, and impactful financial wellbeing support" that fits the unique needs of each individual member of staff.
EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
CMA tells staff to spend half a day each week on diversity and inclusion
The Sunday Telegraph reveals that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been urging its 900 officials to spend half a day each week taking part in internal equality, diversity and inclusivity activities. The watchdog has published internal guidelines encouraging staff to use one tenth of their working time taking part in groups and activities that promote “an inclusive culture and working environment in which everyone can thrive and bring their whole selves to work.”
CYBERSECURITY
Almost 100 firms report Capita data breaches
Almost 100 organisations have reported breaches of personal data held by outsourcing firm Capita. The Information Commissioner's Office, the privacy and data watchdog, said that around 90 organisations had been in contact regarding Capita. The firm, which was hit by a cyber-attack in March, was recently found to have left a batch of files unsecured online. Capita is used by a large number of public and private organisations and many company pension schemes administer payments through the firm. The Pensions Regulator has written to over 300 pension funds asking them to check if their data had been put at risk.
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
NHS considers shortening doctors' training
The NHS is considering plans to shorten doctors' training by a year and fast-track nursing students to be qualified in two-and-a-half years. Critics warn that the move could put patient safety at risk and drive potential recruits away from the NHS. The proposals may form part of the much-anticipated NHS workforce plan, which is also expected to give approval to doctor apprenticeships. The Royal College of Nursing has called for investment in nurse education and a fully funded plan to recruit and retain the nurses needed to safeguard the future of the NHS.
STRATEGY
Rolls-Royce undertakes streamlining operation
The new chief executive of Rolls-Royce, Tufan Erginbilgic, is expected to cut thousands of jobs in the company’s latest round of restructuring. McKinsey has been brought in to advise on streamlining. One source says plans to merge departments could cut 10% of the company’s approximately 30,000 non-manufacturing staff.
INTERNATIONAL
Record-breaking summer travel prompts companies to rethink return-to-office rules
With over 42 million Americans expecting to travel this summer, US companies are adopting hybrid work schedules with "Work from Anywhere" (WFA) weeks to accommodate employees' desire for flexibility while maintaining return-to-office mandates. WFA weeks are still relatively uncommon, but big-name companies like American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and Google have adopted the policy. Employees typically have the option to use their WFA weeks when it's most convenient for them throughout the year. Offering a set number of WFA weeks may allow companies to accommodate the desire for flexibility without committing to a fully remote future. For Suzanne Rosnowski, founder and CEO of public relations firm Relevance International, two WFA weeks alongside a three-day-a-week hybrid schedule emerged as a logical compromise with her team on how to transition back into the office after the pandemic. "We demonstrated work-from-home can be productive, but we also demonstrated too much work-from-home can be counterproductive, at least for our agency," she said.
PwC suspends nine partners over Australian scandal
PwC has suspended nine partners in Australia over the scandal involving the leaking of confidential government information about changes to tax laws. Nine partners - including members of PwC’s executive and governance board - have been told to “go on leave effective immediately” pending the outcome of an investigation. PwC has pledged to publish the findings of an internal review later this year. Separately, Kristin Stubbins, acting chief executive of PwC Australia, has published an open letter in which she said the leak had highlighted a “failure of leadership and governance,” as well as a “culture of aggressive marketing in our tax business” in Australia. Meanwhile, senator Deborah O’Neill says that PwC must name all 53 partners involved in the tax advice scandal, arguing that a failure to do so would amount to a “continued obfuscation and cover-up.”
 


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