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Hydrogen sees net fee income rise

Global specialist recruitment group Hydrogen Group has seen net fee income increase 4% year-on-year despite challenging conditions in Asia and continued Brexit uncertainty, according to unaudited results for the half-year ended 30 June 2019.

The results, released this morning, reveal NFI rose to £15.3m from £14.8m in H1 2018, with profit before tax up 19% to £1.4m from £1.2m over the same period. The group posted a decline in group revenue of 9% in constant currency to £64.1m from £68.6m in H1 2018.

NFI for EMEA – which includes the UK – was broadly flat at £8.6m  from £8.7m in H1 2018, while in Asia Pacific NFI fell 16% to £4.9m from £5.5m over the same period  amid challenging market conditions in Hong Kong and Singapore.

However, US NFI grew 233% in constant currency to £1.9m from £500,000 in H1 2018, driven by the group’s life sciences and technology practices.

CEO Ian Temple commented: “The performance is a testament to both the operating model that we have developed and our agile business model that has allowed us to pivot investment into higher-growth markets, particularly in the US.”

Read More – www.recruiter.co.uk

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The best UK cities for graduates to live and work in

New analysis from the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, reveals the best UK cities for graduates to live and work in, based on a number of circumstances regarding pay, living costs and future prospects.

The findings reveal the following:

  • If you want a high starting salary: Glasgow and London command the highest graduate salaries (£26,195 and £25,909 per year) – the lowest salaries were for jobs in Birmingham (£21,823) and Newcastle (£20,757)
  • If you want a substantial pay rise in the future: While Birmingham has the second lowest starting salaries for graduates (£21,823), you can expect this to rise by 53.9% in the future. London and Newcastle also offer great prospects, with average pay in these cities being 52.8% and 50.2% higher than graduate salaries
  • If you want cheap rent: Sheffield and Newcastle are the cheapest cities for graduates to live in, with rent costing professionals £368 and £375 per month respectively. Unsurprisingly, London is the most expensive city to rent in (£698 per month), with Cardiff coming in second (£593)
  • If you want to buy a house in five years’ time: You only need to save 17.9% of your monthly salary if you live in Glasgow, which equates to £201.67 a month. In comparison, Londoners have to save 80.5% of their pay packet each month (£799.66!)
  • If you want more disposable income: After bills and rent, you can expect to have £1,158.37 leftover to spend each month if you live and work in Sheffield! That’s followed by Glasgow (£1,129.51) and Southampton £1,095.41). Professionals in Bristol have some of the lowest amounts of disposable income (£986.74)

Read More – https://recruitingtimes.org

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Pension age should rise to 75, Tory think tank report says

The state pension age should be raised to 75 within the next 16 years to help boost the UK economy, according to a Tory think tank.

In a new report, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has proposed an increase of the pension age to 70 by 2028 and 75 by 2035.

The pension age is already set to increase to 67 by 2028 and to 68 by 2046 – but the organisation, co-founded by former Conservative leader and work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan-Smith, wants to see a faster increase.

The CSJ’s latest report said evidence suggested the UK was “not responding to the needs and potential” of an ageing workforce, with hundreds of thousands of people aged 50 to 64 seen as “economically inactive”.

It recommended helping older people “access the benefits of work” by giving support to them and employers, such as increased access to flexible working and training opportunities.

The organisation proposes that the pension age should be increased once this support is in place.

In 2017 the government announced plans to increase the state pension age to 68 between 2037 and 2039.

However the CSJ wants to see faster increases, and believes the cost of benefits would be reduced by employing more older people while it would boost the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Read More – www.independent.co.uk

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Why Britain’s record jobs and pay miracle is not what it seems

Britain has witnessed a remarkable period of high employment, with the number of people in work at its highest since the 1970s.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the unemployment holding steady at 3.8%, its lowest rate on record.

Wages have also increased at their fastest rate in more than a decade, data published on Tuesday shows.

But the reality of Britain’s labour market is a lot less rosy and a lot more complex than some of the headline figures suggest.

Half the new jobs are in self-employed, insecure work

Half of the past year’s employment growth has been in self-employment, which is typically far more insecure and often less well-paid than staff roles, according to the Resolution Foundation.

“One of the big changes in the job market over the past year has been the return of growing self-employment. The number of self-employed workers has increased by 167,000,” the think tank said.

It is part of a growing trend over the past decade, with increased numbers of young people employed in the gig economy and rising numbers of over-65s continuing to work on a freelance basis.

 

Read More – www.msn.com

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Worried UK employees call for changes to proposed immigration reform

A coalition of British industry groups and education bodies, worried by the prospect of Brexit worsening skills and labour shortages, has called for the next prime minister to relax proposed reforms of the immigration system.

The #FullStrength campaign said on Wednesday it had written to both Boris Johnson, frontrunner to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister, and his rival, foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, calling for the government they would lead to lower the salary threshold proposed in draft immigration legislation from 30,000 pounds to 20,000.

In December, Britain set out in a policy paper the biggest overhaul of its immigration policy in decades, ending special treatment for European Union nationals.

Concern about the social and economic impact of immigration helped drive Britain’s 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU.

#FullStrength brings together bodies including London First, techUK, the British Retail Consortium, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, UKHospitality, the Federation of Master Builders and Universities UK. Collectively they represent tens of thousands of businesses and employ millions of workers across all sectors and regions of Britain.

Their joint letter said more than 60% of all jobs in the UK currently fall under the proposed 30,000-pound salary threshold, highlighting the risk in setting the future level too high for vital services such as health and social care.

Read More – www.msn.com