80% Of Those Claiming Jobseekers' Allowance Are Women

via Management Today

Having hit a 17-year high, yesterday's unemployment figures painted a grim picture of what it's like on the jobs market. But what's worrying is that joblessness seems to be hitting women disproportionately: according to figures by the Office for National Statistics, the number of women claiming Jobseekers' Allowance rose to 531,000 between November and January, while unemployment among women went up to 1.13m between November and January.

It's not just the number of women signing on that's worrying: women are also being affected by the number of badly-paid part-time roles on offer. According to a study by the Joseph Rowntree foundation and Women Like Us, the majority of part-time posts on offer are low-skilled and low-paid: only 3% of part-time jobs advertised had a salary of more than £20,000 - which puts mothers who want to spend time with their kids at a serious disadvantage.

GREGGS Pre-tax profits are up by 15%

This profit increase does not surprise us at Vane Recruitment. We consume a rather large amount of supplies from our local Greggs! The cupcakes are a birthday treat favourite, as too are the decorated donuts.

Tesco Workers To Check Out At 67

If the move goes ahead, Tesco will be the first major British company to raise the retirement age. More than 170,000 staff will need to graft for an extra two years in order to receive their full pension. They will be able to retire, as normal, at 65 if they choose, but they will see a reduction in their pension pot.


Tesco is also planning to make another significant change: it will increase staff pensions in line with the consumer price index (CPI) instead of the retail price index (RPI). This could, potentially, leave workers worse off (according to current CPI vs. RPI rates).

But the supermarket giant, which is also Britain's largest private sector employer, insists that its staff are still getting a good deal. For one, it is one of only four FTSE 100 companies to have such benefits still in place, it says. And it is still open to new workers, unlike Unilever and Shell, for example.

'We are keeping one of the best pension schemes in Britain and making some essential changes to ensure it is sustainable for the future,' read Tesco's statement.

UK Unemployment At 17 Year High

Unemployment rises again to 8.4%, with young people continuing to feel the brunt.

via Management Today

Following months of steady rises, the unemployment rate is now 8.4%. Almost 2.7m people are out of work, after another 28,000 people were unemployed in the three months to January. This pushed the unemployment rate up by a percentage point from 8.3% in the previous quarter, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

It means unemployment in the UK is now at a 17-year high. And young people are finding the recruitment squeeze the hardest to crack, as employers put more value on skills and experience. The number of 18-24 year olds unemployed rose by 16,000 in the quarter to 1.04m, meaning more than one in five are out of work.

It’s not all rosy for those people in work either, who are facing pay squeezes. Wages increased by an average of 1.4% in the year to January, down by 0.5% on the previous month. With inflation at 3.6%, people are finding their take-home pay is falling in real terms.

But there is something to be positive about. The rise in unemployment is the slowest it’s been in almost a year. There has also been a rise in the number of people in work, which increased by 9,000 to 29.1m. And compared to our European neighbours, we’re holding up rather well. The unemployment rate is 10% in France, 19.2% in Greece and 23.3% in Spain.

Britain’s private sector is also bearing fruit, other ONS figures show. Employment in the private sector increased by 45,000 to 23m in the last quarter of 2011. The squeeze in the public sector continued, however: public sector employment fell by 37,000 to 5.94m. In the last year, 270,000 jobs have been lost as the government cuts public-sector spending.

So all hopes for a job market recovery are now pinned on the private sector. Although if public sector job cuts continue steaming ahead at the rate they did last year, the private sector will have quite a job of its own keeping up.

My Challenge - The 3 Peaks Yacht Race

One of the oldest extreme multi-sport endurance races “IN THE WORLD” is about to be conquered by 5 average lads, from one average place and on one perfectly built boat!

The 3 Peaks Yacht Race consists of 3 mountains, a number of yachts and a number of mad/committed men and women wanting to not only win the races but test themselves.
In short – this race consists of racing a yacht from Barmouth in Wales to Fort William in Scotland stopping off at Caernafon to send two runners off on a 27 mile run up and down Mount Snowdon, then sailing/racing off again to Whitehaven in Cumbria to send another two runners off to conquer Scarfell Pike, then sail/race off to Fort William where two of the onboard runners tackle and conquer Ben Nevis!

I am one of those average men, from an average place onboard the perfectly built boat!

This will be the 2nd time I have taken part in this race; my role consists of sailing/racing the yacht, jumping off at Caernafon and running to the top of Snowdon and back. This is swiftly followed by sailing/racing the yacht through the Irish Channel to the two other drop off/collection points.

It’s a non stop race, we will be mentally & physically drained due to battling the elements, the seas, the mountains and sleep and food deprivation!

I am taking part in this race as a (crew/runner) with Simon West (Skipper), Mark Rogers (Crew/Runner), Colin Bennett (Crew/Runner) and one other person.

I have decided that before and during this race I would like to raise money for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) and hope you could help – the pain and punishment I have to put myself through is nothing compared to these children and what lies ahead for them.

My reason for raising money for the JDRF is that I personally know a 4 year old girl called Morgan. She has type 1 diabetes and has to have 4 shots of insulin on a daily basis.

For more information please visit my Just Giving page – http://www.justgiving.com/Roy-Baker

I will try to keep this page updated with training runs and pictures of the journey.

The race is also covered by live race streaming so – you can see where we are at all times of the day/night!

I hope you can help me raise some money for this truly life saving cause.

Roy Baker, the average man!

5 Tell-Tale Signs That Your Co-Workers Are Dating

A little bit of Friday fun.....


That “will they or won’t they” tension can be palpable in the workplace. Although Jim Halpert and Pam Beesley of the hit series, The Office have done their best to bring the co-worker-with-benefits scenario to the mainstream, many companies (and fellow workers) still frown upon interoffice romances.



That doesn’t mean co-workers aren’t swapping spit in the supply closet when you aren’t paying attention. According to career website Vault.com, in its 2011 Office Romance Survey, more than half of respondents fessed up to having a fling with a colleague.


Not all office mating signs are so obvious, but sometimes even the stealthiest of hook-ups slip-up. Here are five tell-tale signs that your co-worker may be making a move on the hottie down the hall.


Sign #1 – Hyper-attention


Kayt Sukel, author of Dirty Minds: How Our Brains Influence Love, Sex, and Relationships (Free Press, 2012) says that people who are romantically involved get a little obsessed with their intended, especially initially. “Just the sound of that special someone’s name can change their focus and behavior, to the point where you can see physical changes in the brain,” says Sukel. “If your cubicle mate suddenly has to join in every conversation mentioning that one cute guy, seems very aware of where he is, what he says and what he’s doing, and makes a point of bringing him up whenever she can, there’s a good chance there is a romance on the horizon.”


Sign #2 – Hanging out


Sophia Lam, 30, crossed paths with her now-husband, Roger when they both worked as customer service representatives at eBay in Burnaby, B.C. Initially, they didn’t feel any attraction until they started to hang out in the same circle of co-workers about a year and a half later. “We (the group) would go to the same birthday parties, work functions, and dinners,” says Lam. “Our co-workers told us we would make a great couple, but we didn't think anything of it until he drove me home one day.” The couple decided to come clean with their closest colleagues, who initially made some jokes. But they weren’t lovey-dovey in the workplace, so co-workers respected their space and professionalism.


Sign #3 – Touching


Relationship expert and author, Roland Hines, age 45, has been on both side of the co-worker dating fence as an employer and employee. As an employer, the Angeleno included a non-fraternization clause in his new hire paperwork, but remembers the tell-tale signs of attraction well. “Employees would frequently schedule lunch time or breaks together, but the biggest giveaway was flirtatious touching,” says Hines. “A woman would place her hand on a man’s chest or he would grasp her hand with familiarity – they tried to make it appear as if there was no connection, but clearly there was.”


Sign #4 – Digital evidence


Between email, Facebook, texting and Twitter, technology can make flirting in the workplace oh so convenient, but it can also be a fast track for disaster. Stephanie Losee and Healine Olen, authors of Office Mate: Your Employee Handbook for Romance on the Job say that sending sexy texts from your company issued mobile or computer is an easy way to leave a traceable trail of your tryst. Nosy or not, it’s not impossible for your cubicle mate to sneak a peek of a love note if you accidentally leave it on your computer screen.


Sign #5 – Timing is everything


Morgan Phillips is a manager at Oddfellow’s Café in Seattle. With more than two decades of experience in the restaurant industry, he’s seen his fair share of workplace sparks fly. “You can tell when workers are dating by their timing – they stop talking when people are around, never can be found at the same place at the same time, and show up at work two minutes apart,” says Phillips. “In the food and beverage industry, the end of work often marks the beginning of play without a change of venue. Couple that with a few post-shift cocktails and things happen.”

Careers Open Day @ Novatech 11.02.12

Careers Open Day

Saturday 11th February 2012

10am to 2pm

**SALES SUPERSTARS** 
 

NOVATECH
Castle Trading Estate, Portchester. PO6 4PU
Novatech the home of ‘Worry Free Computing’ are seeking the VERY BEST sales people to work within their successful business to business sales team.

“Our value is a combined measure of price, quality, performance and service. Our aim is to provide our customers with the best value IT products with total customer satisfaction, first time, every time. We aim to deliver this by working as one team confidently, helpfully and honestly. By achieving our aspirations we will sustain our long term financial stability to the benefit of both our employees and our customers.”
~ David Furby, Managing Director.


The Open Day will give you a great insight into the product which you will be selling and give you the opportunity to chat to our consultants about the amazing available opportunities and other employees about their roles.

*** EXCITING CAREER OPPORTUNITY***

Vane have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Business to Business Sales Professional to join our clients award winning business and become part of their successful team.

In this role you will be generating new business opportunities within IT sales, for an amazing products that have huge dominance in the market place.
You will be dynamic, motivated and professional and a high over achiever.

It is important that you can demonstrate a strong and impressive Sales portfolio and background with excellent decision maker conversions/closing.


This role comes with a competitive basic of £17.5-20K basic, but more importantly, a fantastic OTE of £40k for the hungry ones out there as well as career opportunities.


We are interested in hearing from outgoing individuals who are achievement driven, are comfortable working in a target orientated environment and are interested in an award winning training scheme to help with that first step on the recruitment career ladder.



Bring along your CV and show us your skills and achievements.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
If you require more details prior to the day please call the Vane Recruitment office 023 9236 1115