Economy, Employment and Growth

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the 1st quarter of 2016 showed that there are over 31.6M people employed and unemployment is at 5.1%; more people are in work than ever before. Considering women, the employment rate hit a record high of 69.2%, their wages increased over 2% …

Dr. Anna Akbari, a sociologist contests that not all workplace trends improve performance. From co-working spaces to collaboration, the “best work” environment is contested, along with the eight-hour workday, the 9-to-5 time frame, the one-hour lunch, the 15-minute break — these being merely social constructs, and not “natural” operational modes …

A new global study, ‘Mobility, Performance and Engagement’ sponsored by Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company,and executed by the Economist Intelligent Unit (EIU) has established a measurable link between ‘more mobile-first’ working environments, and an increase in employee engagement, proving that CIOs can drive increased business performance through well developed …

The head of people for Big Easy discusses how the NLW will be felt differently by large and small organisations The introduction of the National Living Wage could provide benefits in terms of happier, more engaged employees, according to Steve Rockey, head of people at restaurant chain Big Easy. Speaking …

55% of UK Businesses suffering Skills Shortage Research finds that most companies are suffering a skills shortage. Around the world, governments are predicting serious employment challenges relating to a pending shortage of key skills. The UK Commission for Education and Skills (UKCES) contributes to policy and research on employment and …

According to Theodore Kinni,  IDC is forecasting that the global robotics market will rise from $71 billion in 2015 to $135 billion in 2019. Robotics have reached their tipping point, according to International Data Corp. In a newly-released research report, the firm forecasts a near doubling of the worldwide robotics …

Theodore Kinni comments on Pedro Domingos’s new book, The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for Machine Learning Will Remake our World (Basic Books, 2015). Domingos is a professor at the University of Washington, Domingos is a leading expert in the fields of machine learning and data mining. His master algorithm …

As nations continue to emerge from the Great Recession, they face similar challenges in the effort to rebuild and strengthen their economies. But successful transformation does not come without growing pains: As they look to what worked in the past, businesses and governments face the future knowing that some things …

By Tom McTague – politico.eu David Cameron’s battle to keep Britain in the European Union rests on convincing voters that the risks to the economy from leaving far outweigh any benefits to public services that could be won by reducing immigration from the Continent. That, at any rate, is the …