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A lack of affordable childcare in the UK is forcing women out of work and hampering career progression, causing the UK to fall five places in a global index of women’s employment outcomes.

According to PwC’s annual women in work index, which looked at data from 2021, the UK ranked 14th for women’s employment outcomes among OECD countries, down from 9th in 2020.

The UK’s gender pay gap widened by 2.4 percentage points to 14.4% in 2021, four times the average increase across the OECD as a whole. This, coupled with a 0.4 percentage point decline in the female labour force participation rate, led to the UK slipping down PwC’s list.

The average OECD gender pay gap was 14%, based on median hourly earnings.

An increasing number of employees are engaging in ‘side hustles’ as part of a portfolio career, a trend driven by the cost of living crisis, and a desire – perhaps triggered during the Covid-19 pandemic – among employees to engage in monetised activities they enjoy.

From an employer’s perspective, such outside activities can deliver both risks and benefits.

Some employers may decide that side jobs will not be acceptable as a general rule, while others may allow their staff to undertake side hustles, subject to the employer being notified for awareness.

It is therefore crucial that employers consider how they will respond to employees who have side hustles, so that all parties can be clear how these should be treated.

What upcoming legislation does HR need to know about? Audrey Williams reports.

Rather than new employment legislation coming from government, changes to the law are likely to be the result of private members’ bills that have government support. The exceptions are the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill and the Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which are aimed at the transport sector to address the ongoing industrial action.

Why Big Tech’s glory days are coming to a close.

A wave of significant layoffs is crashing across Silicon Valley.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg cut 11,000 employees, or 13 percent of Facebook. Amazon has confirmed plans to slash as many as 10,000 corporate and tech jobs. Lyft. Robinhood. Stripe. Netflix. Coinbase. They’re all downsizing. And they’re not just axing jobs — they’re also doing away with some of the perks that have become synonymous with working in tech.

The “longest wage squeeze since Napoleonic times” has left UK families at breaking point, the head of the Trades Union Congress has said.

Workers are facing two decades with no real wage growth, Frances O’Grady told the TUC conference in Brighton.

Prices have risen faster than wages since the financial crisis in 2008.

In response, the government said it was “determined to make work pay” and said it had already increased the minimum wage.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook says there are still “not enough women at the table” at the world’s tech firms – including his own.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Mr Cook said technology “will not achieve nearly what it could achieve” without a more diverse workforce.

He said there were “no good excuses” for the lack of women in the sector.

He also said he thought Augmented Reality (AR), and the concept of the Metaverse, were “profound.”

“In the future people will wonder how we lived without AR,” he says. “We’re investing a tonne in that space.”

Since so few companies invest time or effort in writing compelling job descriptions, you have an enormous opportunity to stand out. Job postings can be so much more than a list of requirements — they can strengthen your employer brand and inspire the right candidates to take action. 

All of your candidates — whether passive or active — will read your job descriptions at some point in the hiring process. Why not use them strategically to grab and keep the attention of the candidates you’re really after?

When remote work became widespread, it created new opportunities for a variety of people, from working parents to employees living far from employment hubs. But one group that has particularly benefited is workers who are neurodivergent — those with dyslexia, ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or other atypical neurological conditions. 

For people who are neurodivergent, in-person office culture has traditionally been a tough fit. The sounds, bright lights, and even strong smells can cause some to experience sensory overload. Team meetings pose challenges, as workers with cognitive differences can struggle to interpret social cues and subtle communication styles. And commutes are often fraught with unpredictability and change, which can be taxing for people with ASD. 

A year ago, remote work may have seemed like a passing phase.

Not anymore. In a first for LinkedIn, remote jobs received 50% of all applications in February 2022 — despite representing less than 20% of all jobs posted.

In other words, candidates are showing far more interest in remote jobs than onsite opportunities. 

Why it matters

As many companies seem eager to return workers to the office, candidates are sending a strong message that many of them would prefer to work remotely. 

At the same time, hiring demand is rising sharply for jobs that must be done in-person, as companies struggle to fill frontline positions — another sign that candidates aren’t keen to return to prepandemic norms.