Last week it was reported that there’s been signs of Britain’s long employment boom coming to an end, as official figures showed a drop in the number of people in work. The Office of National Statistics said that although this year has seen an 0.5% increase (325,000 people) in the number of people employed, however, this has fallen by 14,000 in the three months to September totaling just over 32 million.
The employment rate was cut from 75.4% to 75.1%. This news comes after the latest ‘real living wage’ announcement, committing to a minimum wage of as much as £10.20 per hour. Additionally, this week has seen headlines stating that it will cost the UK £40 billion for the UK to leave the European Union.
Further evidence of a weaker labour market came from a fall in job vacancies, a 29,000 decline in the number of full-time jobs.
With pressure mounting on businesses looking to manage the increasing cost of their workforce, it is becoming essential to find cost effective solutions without reducing the number of employees. Retail, Leisure and Hospitality are the largest industries to be affected by staff on minimum wage, with many businesses having to tighten their payroll in next year’s budget.
“These are industries that recognise a firm must become truly digital – in culture, value and technology – if it is to stand a chance of surviving and thriving.”
Pete Redshaw, Managing Vice President of Gartner
ShopWorks is a Workforce Management provider that offers bespoke solutions to improve Workforce Management and staff scheduling. It is reported that 75% of businesses in the three sectors are still relying on manual processes or spreadsheet based schedules, requiring lengthy human intervention and increasing the chances of human error when dealing with payroll.
Bespoke providers of Workforce Management help businesses take the necessary steps into digital transformation and help save up to 11% on direct staffing costs. By organising staff into one platform, businesses are able to collectively monitor: hours worked, lateness, budgets, employee eligibility and holiday management.
