This is the 55th of a series of bulletins produced by ISE to update members on key data and policy related to Covid-19. This bulletin covers the period 20th May – 2nd June 2021.

You can access all of the Covid-19 bulletins on ISE insights.

Latest Covid-19 data

Data taken from Wikipedia and from the government’s Covid-19 dashboard.

The UK has now had over 4.4 million identified Covid-19 cases and 152,000 deaths (with Covid on the death certificate).

The number of cases have now been rising for three week leading to warnings that we may be in the early stages of a new wave. Deaths are low, but rose slightly last week. Although the last week also saw the first day in which there had been zero deaths from Covid-19 in the UK since the start of the pandemic.

Covid news

Data from the government’s Covid-19 dashboard.

• The Indian variant is spreading across the UK. 

Education

• Plans for school catch up have been announced. But what do students really want?
• The Student Futures Commission explores students’ experience of the pandemic and their hopes for the future. 

The economy

• The forecast of growth in the UK economy has been upgraded by the OECD. But concerns remain about the long-term prospects for the UK economy. 

The labour market

• In some sectors of the economy there are insufficient candidates to meet the needs of employers. This has been exacerbated by Brexit.
• Young people have been disproportionately badly hit by the pandemic. And the government’s Kickstart scheme does not seem to be working well. This has led a group of MPs to call for the government to do more for young people.
• The pandemic has also hit disabled people’s job prospects badly.  

Changing patterns of work

• During the pandemic many of us have been working longer hours. But Zofia Bajorek, argues that the research is pretty clear that this isn’t healthy.
• On the other hand there have been some advantages to our changed working arrangements. Bethany Teachman argues that we should be careful not to go back to ‘normal’.But, making a success of hybrid working will not be easy for employers. 

Student recruitment and development

• ISE has been exploring whether firms should focus on graduates or apprentices. Simon Reichwald sets out his thoughts on the issue while Tristram offers some stats to help you think this through.
• Engaging students is critical to recruitment. Donna Mason offers some tips for employers trying to engage with school students. While RMP ask what students really think about virtual events.
• Despite the challenges of the last year, some organisations are still having trouble filling their vacancies. Tom Freeman sets out what to do about this.