BITC has published a route map to help businesses understand what must be done to ensure the UK has the right skills to reach net zero by 2050.

From their research, BITC has determined that only 10% of workers think they’ll need new skills or their jobs will be adversely affected because of this transition. Of those who do think they’ll be affected, 80% did not know what their employer plans to do to upskill them for the future or didn’t feel they were doing enough.

Whilst hundreds of thousands of new jobs will be required in the energy sector alone, all sectors will need to invest in green skills for the UK to achieve its net zero ambitions and action needs to start now. BITC say businesses need to consider the risks and opportunities that this agenda presents, who will be impacted in the current and future workforce and which workers are most at risk from the transition to a green economy.

Businesses need to take urgent action on green skills now if the UK us to reach net zero by 2050, they need to:

Lead: equip leaders to empower everyone to act
Embed: make climate action everyone’s business
Include: enable upskilling for all

Read more here

This report explores the radical proposal to overhaul the current social security system for people out of work in favour of employment insurance.

Currently, income replacement policies provide financial protection when people leave a job or stop working temporarily. This includes non-means tested social security benefits, payments from employers and private insurance policies covering circumstances such as unemployment, sickness, caring for a dependant and re-training. The think tank recommends overhauling the current system in favour of an employment insurance which is loosely based on Canadian employment insurance. This would consist of a combination of paid leave from employers and state insurance benefits.

Through employment insurance, people who stop working would typically be paid half their current or recent earnings with a cap on the amount payable to high earnings. Fabian Society describe this proposal as a huge step forward for the UK and advocate that this amount be paid in tandem with Universal Credit for low-income households. In the case of those who stop working due to sickness, the think tank goes further and recommends that 80 per cent of earnings are paid. Fabian Society’s plan also suggest new employment rights including improved statutory redundancy pay, four weeks of annual carer’s leave and a new carer’s career break of up to 12 months to help the most vulnerable in the workforce.

The key Point Raised by The Fabian Society describes the current system of income replacement as inadequate falling behind the support found in other rich countries.

Read more here

459,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed in December 2022– February 2023, which is at a similar level to both the quarter and the year before.

Youth unemployment is currently at a historically low level.

Youth unemployment fell to 372,000 in June-August 2022 which was the lowest recorded level since records began in 1992.

The unemployment rate (the proportion of the economically active population who are unemployed) for 16–24-year-olds was 10.8%. This is the same as the previous quarter but down from 11.2% the year before.

Read more here

This insight discusses why young people may not be entering the workforce after leaving education. Economic inactivity, the proportion of people who are neither working nor looking for work, has risen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

This trend is evident among young people, with an increase in those who are leaving education and not entering the labour market. This Insight discusses the rise in economic inactivity among young people, and the reasons behind this.

• The rise in inactivity among young people – according to the ONS statistics between November 2022 and January 2023, 2.61 million young people (aged 16-24) were economically inactive.
• More young people are entering education – a sharp increase in the number of young people leaving the labour market to start or re-enter education since the start of the pandemic.
• NEET figures – have increased as individuals have left education but not entered work.
• Young People are leaving the labour market for health reasons – the largest increase in economic inactivity is due to long-term sickness.
• Economic inactivity is increasing among young men – main reason for young men aged 18-24 leaving the labour market is ill health, particularly poor mental health.
• Economic inactivity is decreasing among young women – two main factors behind the decrease; young women are becoming less likely to have children and the young women who do have children are more likely to be in employment.

Read more here.

This short paper summarises trends in unemployment rates and looks at how rates vary by ethnicity, age, and sex.

1.29 million people aged 16+ were unemployed in October-December 2022. Of these, 914,000 were from a White ethnic background and 380,000 were from a minority ethnic background.

The UK unemployment rate was 3.8% in October-December 2022. The rate was 3.1% for people from a White ethnic background compared to 7.5% for people from minority ethnic backgrounds, although there was substantial variation between different ethnic minority groups.

People from White ethnic backgrounds (3.1%) and Other ethnic backgrounds (5.4%) had the lowest unemployment rates, and people from Mixed/multiple ethnic background (11.3%) and a Pakistani ethnic background (8.7%) had the highest rates in October-December 2022.

The unemployment rate is lower for men from a minority ethnic background (5.8%) than for women (6.9%).

You can read more here.

New jobs and investment are set to come to Scotland as the UK Government today unveils ambitious plans to scale up affordable, clean, homegrown power and build thriving green industries in Britain.

After decades of reliance on importing expensive, foreign fossil fuels, the UK Government is delivering a radical shift in our energy system towards cleaner, more affordable energy sources to power more of Britain from Britain.

New green technologies, set to be developed and deployed here in Scotland, including carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen, will spearhead the government’s new Energy Security Plan.

Read more here

A new review designed to boost the employment prospects of autistic people has been launched by the Government to spread opportunity, close the employment gap, and grow the economy.

The review will consider how the Government can work with employers to help more autistic people realise their potential and get into work.

People with autism have particularly low employment rates – with fewer than three in 10 in work.

The Review will ask businesses, employment organisations, specialist support groups and autistic people to help identify the barriers to securing and retaining work and progressing with their careers.

Read more here.

Emergency Alerts is a UK Government service that will warn you if there is a danger to life nearby.

In an emergency, your mobile phone or tablet will receive an alert with advice about how to stay safe only where there is a risk to life, either locally or nationally.

This could include public health emergencies, severe floods, fires, and industrial incidents.

The service will be sending out a test alert on Sunday 23 April. The test alert will be sent to all compatible phones in the UK. It will clearly indicate that no action is required and that this is a test of the system.

A stakeholder toolkit for all partners, employers is available here.

Read more here.

The report explores the experiences of young disabled people who are using, or have used, apprenticeship schemes into employment. It shares what works well:

If you want to attract, support, and keep Disabled apprentices, here’s some of the things you can do.

Training providers

• Develop and change your curriculum to make it easier for Disabled apprentices to get the training they need
• Create networking opportunities for apprentices so they gain insight into other jobs and different departments
• Allocate a ‘go to’ person for the entire apprenticeship journey so individuals know who to approach for support and have someone they can confide in
• Ensure staff understand the principles and requirements of reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act (2010)
• Ensure training schedules are clear and whether learning and training sessions are online or face to face
• Familiarise yourselves with the additional learning support funding available for apprentices with learning
  difficulties or disabilities.

Employers

• Have a mentor or dedicated support person for apprentices, particularly at the start of an apprenticeship
• Offer flexible work arrangements tailored to individual needs, including part-time apprenticeships
• Be prepared to support Disabled apprentices with applications to the Access to Work scheme
• Have a streamlined process to put reasonable adjustments in place quickly, so Disabled apprentices can focus on getting on with the job
• Promote a culture where apprentices feel safe to talk about their disability and support needs, including conversations about mental health
• Make yourselves available for work experience placements to give Disabled young people an insight into
  the workplace

Read more here.

Unpaid work trials refer to the practice of asking job applicants to carry out a trial shift or other unpaid work, as part of the recruitment process. All workers are entitled to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for any hour worked, under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.

A person is only entitled to be paid the NMW if they are a ‘worker’. The concept of a work trial is not defined anywhere in statute. With work trials the question is therefore whether a person qualifies as a ‘worker’ or not, which will depend heavily on the facts of any case.

An unpaid trial lasting more than one day is highly likely to be illegal in all but very exceptional circumstances.

Read more here.