Reward news
Brexit just another workforce disruption ACCORDING TO a recent survey by Willis Towers Watson, more than half (59%) of United Kingdom (UK) human resources (HR) executives say Brexit is just another disruption to be navigated as part of the normal course of business, while only 26% see it as a fundamental challenge to the way they operate. Companies in financial services and leisure, retail and distribution are most likely to see the change as fundamental. The survey, which is based on responses from senior HR and reward executives from 86 mainly large multinational companies, highlights that – at the point when the UK government invoked process for leaving the European Union (EU) – concern about the impact on talent retention and workforce planning remained high. More than half of HR leaders at UK-headquartered organisations (58%) said they expect the impact to their business in the UK to be significant, similar to the proportion in a previous survey conducted in July 2016 immediately following the referendum. Concern among firms elsewhere in the EU has eased: only 45% expect a significant Brexit impact compared with 71% last year. For 36% of companies, attracting and retaining EU nationals with specific skills in the UK has become more of a priority. A growing concern is
the need to attract and retain a sufficient number of staff within the UK to meet business needs, expressed by 32% this time versus 20% last July. Tamsin Sridhara, director of Willis Towers Watson’s Talent and Rewards practice GB, comments: “Attracting and retaining specific talent groups remains a key issue for companies post Brexit [affecting] not only high- profile categories such as scientists and technologists but also operational workers where demand outstrips supply such as HGV drivers in the retail sector and multilingual staff in customer service centres. The increased anxiety around the ability to attract and retain staff has coincided with the government’s renewed commitment to exercise greater control over immigration, post-Brexit, which may have contributed to this change … There are some, particularly in financial services and leisure, retail and distribution, who see the challenge as more fundamental and it is here that contingency planning is more advanced.” EU workers
THE APPETITE of EU workers for the UK’s jobs market is cooling dramatically, according to new data from global job site Indeed (www. indeed.co.uk). Since the start of 2017 the number of people in other EU countries searching online for UK jobs has slumped by 18%, which is the sharpest recorded since the UK voted for Brexit in June 2016. Meanwhile traffic in the opposite direction is increasing, with the number of UK residents looking for work in other EU countries ticking up since the start of January. Mariano Mamertino, economist at Indeed, comments: “As Brexit moves from rhetoric to reality, the strain on Britain’s strong but tight labour market will worsen. For better or worse, a British labour market with fewer EU workers will be immediately confronted with a range of complex questions that will need to be resolved quickly to prevent major disruption. Even with free access to EU workers, Britain’s labour market is stretched tight. If Brexit turns off the tap of European workers it could be stretched to breaking point.” Separate analysis by Indeed of data from the Office of National Statistics reveals one million jobs (44.3% of all new jobs) created in Britain since 2008 were filled by people born in another EU country. The dependence is most acute in the manufacturing and hospitality sectors, which together account for a quarter (26%) of all EU nationals employed in the UK. Employees want childcare vouchers NEW RESEARCH from Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services (‘Sodexo’) has revealed that 41% of employees in the UK want their employer to provide childcare vouchers as part of their benefits scheme. When asked which employee benefit individuals would like to receive from their employer, childcare vouchers were the second most popular choice after pensions. (36% chose discounted shopping and 20% chose car financing options.) The research, which surveyed over 1,000 working adults, also found that the cost of childcare has increased by more than 10% for nearly a third (32%) of parents since they started raising their child, and 22% of parents have had to borrow money from friends and family to pay for childcare James Malia, director of employee benefits, Sodexo, said: “With just a matter of weeks to go until the new tax-free childcare scheme is introduced by the government, our research highlights that employees still view childcare vouchers as a highly valuable and sought after employee benefit. With vouchers soon to disappear from the employee benefits world, businesses are going to have to think about other ways they can support families in order to remain competitive when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent.” Parents are being urged to sign up for childcare vouchers now, before they are closed to new entrants on 28 April 2018 as this will give them the power of choice in the long-term to select the scheme which leaves them financially better off.
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Issue 30 | May 2017
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
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