Business News Round Up (15/11/2022)
Scottish businesses reveal tough attitude in new survey
THE Henderson Loggie Scottish Business Survey has revealed a resilient attitude dominates in Scottish businesses. This comes despite economic uncertainty and challenges in attracting and retaining skilled workers. The Henderson Loggie Scottish Business Survey was carried out in association with the Research Chamber, the research team at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce. When asked about their future ambitions, 59% of respondents said they have plans to grow their businesses in the year ahead, and 37% aim to strengthen their existing levels of activity. Scottish business activity is on a par with Northern Ireland and Wales, lagging three points behind the UK average. Reducing business rates is seen as the top action for both governments to support business growth. As they work to control costs there is evidence that businesses are prepared to invest in the wellbeing of employees. Two thirds (65%) of owners and managers interviewed said staff recruitment and retention is a key priority over the next two years, and over half (51%) of all respondents are prioritizing employee wellbeing and staff development. The vast majority (78%) of Scottish businesses now see mental health as a joint responsibility between employer and employee, and 12% see it as the sole responsibility of the employer. The number of people working from home has increased by seven percentage points to 29% compared to pre pandemic levels.
Record wage rises still outpaced by soaring inflation
Wages are rising at their fastest rate in more than 20 years, but still lag well behind the soaring cost of living. Regular pay rose by 5.7% in the year to September, the fastest growth since 2000 excluding the pandemic, when people got big rises returning to work from furlough. However, when adjusted for rising prices, wages fell by 2.7%. The cost of living is currently rising at its fastest rate in almost 40 years, in part due to the war in Ukraine. Energy and food prices have shot upwards, leaving many people struggling to pay their bills. ManpowerGroup, one of the UK’s biggest recruiters, told the BBC that the gap between wages and prices was “putting more and more pressure on households”. The UK unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.6% in the three months to September, up from 3.5% in August, official figures show. However, while this is near a 50-year low, the Bank of England has warned that unemployment will nearly double by 2025 as the UK goes through a tough recession.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63624996
Datacentre market in Scotland has huge potential for growth
The global pandemic has led to a massive increase in the use of online services as part of our daily lives; from the surge in online ordering of everything from food deliveries to cars, streaming services such as Netflix, Disney + and Amazon Prime replacing trips to the cinema, and video calling services enabling us to keep in touch with family and friends when we had to stay at home. The vast majority of office-based workers have also spent much of that time working from home instead of going into an office every day. As we move from recovery, Scotland has its eyes set on economic growth with strong ambitions in the tech sector to support industries such as health, space, and financial services. All this activity has led to a colossal increase in the amount of data being generated and needing to be stored, transferred, and analysed to ensure that all these services can be delivered. All this work is the job of the thousands of datacentres across the globe which provide all the services needed to run the global network of computers we refer to as “The Cloud”. Datacentres are secure facilities which contain row upon row of powerful computers used to host the websites and run the apps that we use to access services from our smartphones, tablets, and home computers and to support our growth sectors of the future. Our new-found online habits have seen their usage surge, and the number of new datacentres built across the world in recent years has skyrocketed to support such an increase in demand.
Unemployment in Scotland rises slightly
Unemployment in Scotland increased slightly last quarter, according to latest Office for National Statistics figures. Between July and September this year, the unemployment rate among those aged 16 years and over was 3.5%, which was 0.3% up on the previous quarter. Across the UK, the unemployment rate rose to 3.6% in the three months to September, up from 3.5% in the previous three months. In Scotland, the employment rate for those aged 16 to 64 years was 75.3% between July and September – 0.1% down on the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government said the employment rate for women in Scotland aged 16 to 64 was the highest since the Labour Force Survey series began in 1992, at 75.2%. Employment Minister Richard Lochhead said: “The Scottish labour market continues to show resilience in the face of ongoing challenges to the economy with marginal changes over the quarter to the employment, unemployment, and inactivity rates. The ongoing cost-of-living crisis, along with the damaging effects of the UK Government’s recent mini-budget and the continuing adverse consequences of the UK Government’s Brexit policies, are impacting on Scotland’s businesses and workforce. Ahead of the Chancellor’s statement, we are engaging with the UK Government to urge the use of its reserved powers and financial resources to help people and businesses through this cost-of-living crisis, to rule out a return to austerity, and through its devolved funding arrangements to better equip the Scottish Government to deal with these exceptional economic challenges. The Scottish Government is doing all it can to alleviate the labour shortages reported by Scottish businesses.”
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/unemployment-in-scotland-rises-slightly-28492705