Business News Round Up (13/08/2024)
Female representation in tech increases by 1% in four years – DEI
Research by global data and AI recruitment specialists Harnham Group, demonstrates how badly diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) has stalled in the tech industry. The survey of over 3,500 data and AI professionals globally revealed that 31% of data professionals are female – a 2% increase from 2023. But marking a mere 1% increase over the last four years – up from 30% in 2020. Further, on average, male respondents earned 18% more than their female counterparts. Just 8% of respondents report working for a company with diversity initiatives – 65% of respondents were white and 6% identified as disabled. Waseem Ali, CEO of Rockborne, believes that this is a clear reflection of firms shelving DEI, commenting: “Not only is the industry facing a debilitating talent crisis but in a field so reliant on innovation, a lack of diverse perspectives could be disastrous to its future.”
https://www.digit.fyi/tech-dei-gender-pay-gap/
UK unemployment falls slightly as pay growth slows
The UK’s unemployment rate has fallen slightly, official figures show. Unemployment was 4.2% in the three months to the end of June, down from 4.4% over the previous quarter. Meanwhile, wage growth continued to slow, rising at an annual rate of 5.4% – the weakest for around two years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said despite some positive news, there were signs that the jobs market was “cooling”, with job vacancies up, redundancies rising and the number of people not actively seeking work still too high. It comes as businesses face higher operating costs and may be cutting back on hiring. “Basic pay growth [excluding bonuses], while remaining relatively strong, continues to slow,” ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown told the BBC’s Today programme. “Growth in total pay slowed markedly, with last year’s one-off NHS bonuses affecting the comparison.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2l1000q4ywo
Service sector activity supports Scottish growth during July
Private sector firms across Scotland signalled a ‘solid’ rise in activity at the start of the second half of the year. The rate of increase picked up from June, supported by a renewed expansion in the inflows of new work. In line with rising business requirements, firms also raised their employment figures at a quicker pace. Price pressures intensified during July, as a sharper uptick in input costs fed through to higher charges. The latest data from the Royal Bank of Scotland showed its headline Business Activity Index registered above the 50.0 no-change threshold for a seventh month running in July. Ticking up to 52.7, from 51.9 in June, the latest reading signalled a solid start to Q3 and was broadly in line with the broader UK trend. However, the uptick in private sector activity was again centred at service firms. Meanwhile, goods producers recorded a further drop in output.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/service-sector-activity-supports-scottish-33446306
North West logistics market enjoys strong quarter with lowest vacancy rate in UK and rise in prime rents
Research from global property giant CBRE has shown the North West’s logistics market enjoyed a strong second quarter – with rents rising and with its vacancy rate the lowest in the UK. In the logistics sector, CBRE’s Q2 Logistics Market report showed take-up in the North West totalled 1.2m sq ft across six deals in Q2, up 54% on H1 2023’s total. CBRE said almost half of the quarter’s take-up in the region came from second-hand buildings, followed by speculative at 37%. Some 1.4m sq ft was under offer at the end of Q2 across six units. Availability in the North West fell 12% quarter on quarter to 4.3m sq ft in Q2. Most of that available space was in newly completed speculative units, at 58%, and speculative under construction, at 32%. The North West vacancy rate decreased from 4.88% to 4.47% – the lowest in the UK.
https://www.business-live.co.uk/commercial-property/north-west-logistics-market-enjoys-29725873