UK business group pushes for more work-from-home flexibility
BRITAIN’S biggest business group has swung its weight behind the flexible working revolution, warning executives that they should drop their opposition or risk losing the “war for talent”.
Tony Danker, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), will say in a speech on Wednesday (Mar 1) that UK companies need to strike a “New Deal” with workers to lure them back after being hamstrung by shortages. He will also call for childcare reforms and looser short-term immigration controls to resolve the UK’s labour crisis.
The comments underscore the tensions between employees and bosses over a return to the office after the pandemic transformed working practices. The majority of Britons want flexible working, but company executives are more lukewarm even though staff having stronger bargaining power.
“Flex has always had deep merits,” Danker will say at the CBI Future of Work Conference. “But given today’s shortages, and without immigration, it’s vital to growing supply because it’s likely the only way to get those who’ve left to return.”
Danker will note the difference between strong employee demand for flexible working and job adverts offering it. He will also argue that bosses need to offer younger workers “strong societal values”.
He has previously said that most companies secretly want their employees to come back to the office even though they’ve let flexible working practices continue.
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The number of people dropping out of the workforce has surged since the pandemic, driven by a wave of long-term sickness and early retirements. Students also stayed in school longer, increasing the number of people classed as economically inactive — out of work and not looking for a job.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government is drawing up plans to help resolve the UK’s worker participation problem. The CBI’s remarks coincide with signs of a turning point in inflation, which soared to a four-decade high last year.
Confidence among company executives about the outlook climbed to the highest in a year in February, according to a survey by the Institute of Directors (IOD). The group’s economic confidence index rose to minus 17 from minus 28 as political instability and Brexit trading difficulties ebbed.
“Business sentiment is improving from its historic lows, driven primarily by a growing sense that prospects for inflation are improving and the economy is proving more resilient than previously feared,” said Kitty Ussher, chief economist at the IOD.
However, a separate indicator from the CBI suggested that private sector activity slipped again in the three months to February, the seventh consecutive fall.
Its growth indicator improved to minus 6 in the three months to January from minus 16. A manufacturing output gauge fell at the fastest pace since September 2020. BLOOMBERG
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