RSUKSteve

So a week ago Rachel Reeves delivered her second Budget. There were manifesto promises last year of a pro-business labour party. I can’t recall anything the current government have done that has been good for business or that encouraged effort and achievement. The housing market will probably slump next year (or is it already?) which we know in the UK always puts the brakes on spending as people feel less wealthy. Taxes have risen but what ‘Rachel from Accounts’ has taken from the working classes she has, in part, given back to those on benefits. Sure some of those people [...]

I received a notification today that employers will now have to pay more, considerably more, to get a sponsor’s licence to bring in a skilled worker for a role which is on the Government’s own Skills Shortage list.Why do we need this increase? I understand that there may be home-grown talent for these roles but if an employer has jumped through the necessary hoops to prove the need to hire a foreign worker then why burden that employer with a charge of £1,320 (per worker) on top of the fees they have already paid to get a Sponsor’s Licence?Like some many [...]

It took me years to understand that your co-workers are not necessarily a wise choice for adding to your circle of friends. I learnt this the Hard Way, Here Is Why… The moment you overshare, your words become office gossip. That "cool coworker" will throw you under the bus when things go south. What you think is bonding, they see as leverage. Most people at work are friendly to your face, but compete with you behind closed doors. Your wins? They envy them. Your losses? They secretly celebrate. Office loyalty disappears the moment promotions are on the line. The less [...]

The Government, who now seem totally lost on many many issues, announced a new immigration policy which was unveiled in May. This meant sweeping measures to reform the problematic immigration system, including raising the threshold for skilled worker visas. Under new rules released this week, 111 jobs will be no longer qualify for skilled worker visas, with foreigners only able to take up employment that is graduate-level or above. A temporary skill shortage list will be introduced until the end of 2026 for jobs below degree level that ministers claim are key to building critical infrastructure or industrial strategy. [...]

The UK and European Union have announced plans to develop a new “youth experience scheme”, as part of broader efforts to rebuild post-Brexit cooperation in areas such as trade, security and people-to-people exchange. Although full details of the youth scheme have yet to be finalised, both sides have confirmed their intention to negotiate a formal arrangement that would give young people opportunities to live, work, travel, study or volunteer in each other’s countries for a limited period of time. For UK employers, the scheme could offer some welcome relief, as many brace for tighter restrictions on overseas recruitment following last [...]

So we have a pledge from Kier Starmer to bring down net migration to the UK. But is he going to achieve what the country actually needs? We need highly skilled, motivated workers who come here for a career. Applicants need to be healthy and not have a criminal record. Anything that puts off or restricts such ‘high quality’ migrants will be detrimental to UK PLC. I fear that this is all just a knee-jerk reaction to the very understandable rise of Reform as the only significant opposition to the Red/Blue uniparty. We need to be encouraging quality applicants from [...]

We don’t make much ‘stuff’ in the United Kingdom. For more than two centuries we were the world’s principal manufacturer of textiles, steel, machinery, building materials and then through to engineering products like steam trains, machinery and eventually cars and aeroplanes. From about the 1960’s onwards manufacturing in the UK was in decline and we became largely a service based economy. The UK exports a lot of services and lots of revenue is earned from these exports which is good but we need to manufacture things as well. ‘Made in Britain’ used to be a symbol of quality and national [...]

Rachel Reeves Budget back in October (it seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?) needed to be fiscally astute whilst encouraging growth. The UK, like most of the Western World, has an ageing population, huge debts and the desperate need for more young migrants and more wealth creators. The most notable changes which affect employment are the increases in Employers National Insurance Contributions (the ‘Tax on jobs’) and the lowering of the threshold where Employers start having to pay this tax from £175 per week down to £100 a week. I think these increases will backfire and have a [...]

The effect of Donald Trump's policies on the UK jobs market would largely depend on a variety of factors, including his trade and foreign policy decisions, economic strategies, and global diplomatic positioning. However, given the specifics of Trump's previous presidency and ongoing influence, here are some potential impacts: Trade Relations and Economic Growth - Post-Brexit UK-US Trade: Under Trump, the US was keen on negotiating bilateral trade deals, especially after the UK left the European Union. A trade deal between the UK and the US could provide new opportunities for British businesses, especially in sectors such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and [...]

There is a lot of news about regarding what Starmer and Reeves have in store for us when they announce their Budget measures in October. It seems that there will be some tax rises and cuts to Public Spending. Neither are going to help the economy and neither are in the Labour manifesto that got them elected. But, we have to see the positives! If there is a new raft of employment-related legislation, which has often been discussed, such as the end of ‘fire and re-hire’, the end of Zero-hours contracts, day one Employment Rights etc then we could see [...]