Student recruitment and development

Adult education and apprenticeships budget will be 25% down since 2010

IFS says cuts and inflation far outweigh £900m promised new spending, undermining levelling up ambitions.

West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) has launched a recruitment drive for nearly 500 student paramedics. The service describes it as “one of our most ambitious recruitment plans to date”. In total, WMAS is looking to recruit 484 student paramedics across the entire West Midlands region.

Tight labour market leading to unsavoury recruitment tactics in Japan Labour market. Intense competition among Japanese companies trying to recruit new graduates has led some to engage in drastic and unprofessional tactics in a desperate attempt to lock in students who previously made informal commitments but have begun to waver.

Labour Market

Morrisons raises pay as stores battle for staff. It will pay staff a minimum of £10.20 an hour, which the firm said made it the highest paying UK supermarket. Morrisons said the offer would mean a pay increase for 80,000 of its staff across the country.

Unions condemn Grant Shapps plan to ban rail strikes. The Transport Secretary said ministers want to ban strikes unless a certain number of staff continue to work.

Train drivers join strike as looming rail chaos spreads. Station staff and engineers have also balloted for industrial action as disputes grow wider.

Half of UK workers ‘frustrated their full potential is being wasted’. Many say their companies offer zero training to help them advance, and are now looking to jump ship.

Education

First post-Covid school leavers face fight for fewer university places. Parents and teachers say some students predicted to gain A* grades are being rejected after a surge in applications.

Rules to be relaxed for foreign teachers to work in schools in England. Change will allow teachers  around the world with equivalent qualifications and experience to apply for jobs.

Economy

Fears over the prospects for the UK economy have grown after it shrank again in April, with businesses feeling the impact of rising prices. The economy contracted by 0.3% in April after it shrank by 0.1% in March, the Office for National Statistics said. April’s figure was weaker than expected, and it was the first time the economy has contracted for two months in a row since Covid struck.

Lloyds Bank to hand £1,000 cost of living payment to employees. Financial award in August to cover 99.5% of staff but exclude senior management.