Four Glastos, nine Wembleys and 9,000 London buses: Here’s how many people have lost their jobs in 2020 December 1, 2020 Since March 2020, the number of payroll employees has fallen by 782,000 in the UK. Stats from the Office of National Statistics show the unemployment rate now hovering around 5 per cent. That’s hard to visualise – but what’s the scale of the economic carnage wrought on the UK economy? Those numbers are equivalent to… [...]
Exclusive: Coronavirus sees boost in internal hiring November 19, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has spurred firms to look inwards when it comes to hiring for new roles, City A.M. can reveal. New data from LinkedIn shows that internal hiring at UK firms rose 20 per cent compared to last year between April and August. Other countries around the world are experiencing a similar surge in [...]
IMF: UK economy to shrink more than 10 per cent amid second wave October 29, 2020 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its growth forecasts for the UK economy today, and urged the government to keep spending record amounts to support a recovery. UK GDP will shrink by 10.4 per cent in 2020, the Fund said. The new figure was a considerable from the prediction of a 9.6 per cent fall [...]
UK economy: Experts cut forecast as coronavirus cases surge October 29, 2020 Analysts have become significantly more pessimistic about the UK economy, saying the surge in coronavirus cases and new restrictions will weigh on the recovery as the year runs into 2021. Economists say chancellor Rishi Sunak’s more generous employment support scheme will help limit some damage in the jobs market. But they warn that new lockdowns [...]
Criminal gangs steal £2bn through furlough fraud October 23, 2020 Criminal gangs have scooped up almost £2bn of government cash intended for furloughed workers, according to official tax estimates. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said that between 5 and 10 per cent of the £39bn sum handed out by chancellor Rishi Sunak to support workers during the pandemic had been claimed fraudulently. A report published [...]
London jobs market shows signs of recovery after 50 per cent hike in listings October 21, 2020 London has begun to recover from a swathe of redundancies handed out during the pandemic, with job listings in the capital hiking more than 50 per cent over the last three months, according to new research. Adverts for jobs based in London jumped 52 per cent between July and September, data from independent job board [...]
City law firms repay furlough cash following strong business during pandemic October 14, 2020 Several large British law firms have handed back government furlough cash after seeing stronger-than-expected business during the pandemic. Square Mile-based firms Norton Rose Fulbright, Osborne Clarke and Herbert Smith Freehills have all paid back wage subsidies handed out by the chancellor, following strong demand for their legal services during the coronavirus crisis. Chancellor Rishi Sunak [...]
Pandemic hysteria is blinding us to the virus’s real risks August 31, 2020 I have long held off writing this column, as I well know it will lead to some hysterical responses. Nevertheless, the credo of any good opinion writer surely must be to be fearless, to fly in the face of received opinion if the cause is just. And there has rarely been a greater need for [...]
Charity sector to suffer 60,000 job losses due to coronavirus August 19, 2020 The charity sector has lost more than 25,000 jobs since the coronavirus pandemic began and a further 35,000 could go, according to new data. Analysis of a survey of 455 charities has revealed that there are an estimated five times as many redundancies as the official 5,400 that have been announced. The research from Pro Bono [...]
UK firms cut more than 106,000 jobs amid coronavirus pandemic August 19, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has battered the UK economy since it arrived in early 2020 – and no sector has remained unscathed, with more than 100,000 job cuts planned during the pandemic. The government’s furlough scheme has allowed millions of people to keep getting a paycheck, but fears are growing that when this is phased out [...]