Business News Round Up (15/02/2022)
ONS figures: unemployment stable in Scotland but alarm raised over wages
Unemployment figures in Scotland have remained largely stable for about half a year, but wages have continued to lag behind soaring inflation.The statistics have prompted demands for the UK Government to step up support for struggling families amid the cost of living crisis. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the unemployment rate for those aged 16 and over was 4.1% between October and December last year, which is the same figure as the previous quarter. There was a slight decrease in the employment rate for those aged 16 to 64, which was 74.1% in the latest data, down 0.5% on the period of August to October. This was lower than the UK employment figure for the same age group, which remained at 75.5%, while the unemployment rate for over-16s was the same level – 4.1% (up from 4.2% on the previous quarter). Overall, total pay growth in the UK rose to 4.3% for the quarter to December – from 4.2% for the three months to November – but continued to lag behind inflation, which soared to a near 30-year high of 5.4% in December.
Major government department to create hundreds of jobs with new Northern bases
Hundreds of jobs are set to be created after a major government department opened a large base in Manchester. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) has taken space in Marble Street, with the new hub accommodating up to 400 staff. The move is part of DCMS’s wider expansion across the UK with staff based to be in Cardiff, Belfast, Edinburgh, Loughborough, and Darlington. The Darlington Economic Campus, a new shared site in the North East for the Treasury, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Department for Education, will have almost 200 DCMS staff based there. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “The days of London-centric decision making belong in the past. It’s an exciting time for DCMS as we expand our regional offices and tap into a more diverse talent pool.
UK businesses embrace remote working – but bigger mindset shift needed
New findings from Deel, the leading global hiring, compliance, and payroll platform, show that UK businesses are embracing the shift to remote working following the pandemic and ‘great resignation’. However, they also reveal the need for more employers to follow suit and adopt global hiring policies or risk missing out on new opportunities to access talent anywhere. Deel lets businesses hire people in another country, and handles all associated onboarding, compliance, and payroll activity. According to data from its customer base, the UK is second only to the US globally when it comes to the number of overseas worker hires over the last six months. Canada, Germany, and France make up the top five. However, research conducted by Deel finds a potential missed opportunity for the wider business community as they rethink their hiring strategies. Three in four UK adults under 35 (74%) say they are open to the idea of working for a company based overseas, if they can do so remotely i.e., from home*. But this is in stark contrast to the outlook of UK business leaders, 79% of whom do not currently believe that hiring remote workers will be a central part of their future hiring strategy.
Two green freeports to be established in Scotland
The Scottish and UK governments have agreed to establish two green freeports in Scotland.
The special economic zones, offering tax breaks and lower business tariffs, are being promoted by the UK government as part of its “levelling-up” agenda. The Scottish Greens, the SNP’s Scottish government partners, criticised the plans as “greenwashing” and said it was a “corporate giveaway”. The deal comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Scotland. A bidding process will begin in the spring, and it is hoped the new sites will open in 2023. Ministers from both the Scottish and UK governments will have a say in the assessment and selection process. The governments were previously unable to agree plans to establish freeports north of the border, after a number of sites were announced for England. Scottish ministers later said they would pursue an alternative “green freeport” model, with additional standards around jobs and climate targets. Scotland’s Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “We have been able to reach an agreement on a joint approach that enshrines the Scottish government’s commitment to achieving net zero and embedding fair work practices through public investment. The establishment of green freeports will help us create new green jobs, deliver a just transition and support our economic transformation.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-60368377