This is the third of a series of bulletins produced by ISE to update members on key data and policy on Covid-19. We are changing the day on which we release the bulletins from Monday to Thursday. So this bulletin just covers the period 06/04/2020-08/04/2020. It may be useful to read it in tandem with Bulletin #2.

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

Data taken from Wikipedia.

• The Office for National Statistics being producing a coronavirus round up, offering key data to help to understand the situation.
• There appears to be a global slowdown in the process of Covid-19. Analysis from Danny Dorling in The Conversation.

Politics, policy and government

• Government guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. How to claim for your employees’ wages.
• The Prime Minister is in intensive care with COVID-19. Dominic Raab is now temporarily in charge.
• The new Labour shadow cabinet is announced. Rebecca Long-Bailey is Shadow Education Secretary and Ed Miliband is Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary.

Education

• Research by HEPI and YouthSight suggests that many young people do not trust their predicted grades and fear that this will impact on the qualifications that they are awarded following the decision to suspend the normal examinations.
• Student voices. Young people discuss the experience of finishing their education in the middle of the lockdown.

Economy

• Research from Ipsos MORI suggests that household debt is increasing as a result of Covid-19 and that it is hitting young people hardest.
• Research from the British Chambers of Commerce shows that businesses are experiencing cashflow issues, furloughing staff and struggling to access government support.
• Torsten Bell and Laura Gardiner from the Resolution Foundation reflect on the government’s economic approach to the crisis. They conclude that many of the right things have been done, but that there is more to do.

Labour market

• The Institute of Fiscal Studies published new analysis which shows that the lockdown is having the biggest impact on young workers, the low paid and women.
• Analysis from Indeed suggests that the volume of job postings in the UK has dropped dramatically from previous years.
• Frances O’Grady from the TUC argues that Universal Credit needs to be boosted to stop thousands of workers being ‘plunged into poverty’.
• Research from the Institute for Employment Studies suggests that homeworking during the lockdown is having a negative impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of workers.
• Getting back to work. A new paper from the Institute of Employment Studies argues that the government will have to be careful when it withdraws COVID-19 employment support and replace it with a range of other forms of employment support.

Student recruitment and development

• Managing recruitment in a crisis (ISE webinar recording from Stephen Isherwood).
• Data on student recruitment in the Retail & FMCG sectors (ISE webinar recording from Tristram Hooley)
• Will Covid-19 cause a rise in graduate unemployment (WONKHE article from Tristram Hooley).

Employer insights

The following insights are based on ISE’s interactions with employers during the period covered by this briefing.

• Recruitment and selection processes have largely moved online, with many employers continuing to recruit.
• Some firms are hoping to still run shortened versions of their summer internships (perhaps starting in mid-July).
• Firms are preparing to induct new staff virtually if they need to.
• While some firms are reducing the numbers of new hires from September, others are continuing to move ahead with planned numbers.