Economics, government & business

The UK's biggest water company Thames Water has announced plans to axe up to a quarter of its workforce as part of a major cost-cutting drive.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is reportedly reconsidering the government's position on globalisation as unemployment continues to rise and more industries become vulnerable to offshoring

Three-quarters of funding received by the Labour party now comes from trade unions, it has emerged

Northern Foods plans to axe almost 700 jobs when it shuts its bakery in Manchester later this year

The education system – and not employers – is squarely to blame for the rapidly falling number of science and engineering graduates in the UK, the CBI has insisted

The UK's position on the Working Time Directive (WTD) is said to be "in safe hands" following the appointment of a new civil servant to build a European consensus on the controversial legislation

Employers are placing much more emphasis on the soft skills of school leavers such as communication skills and work ethic than on literacy and numeracy, according to new research

The number of City jobs created in July was almost 20% higher than the previous month, according to recruitment consultancy Morgan McKinley.

The number of unemployed people in the UK has risen to 1.68 million between April and June, according to government figures

Latest government figures show slight upward trend.

The government has begun a £3.8m push to increase the number of police community support officers (PCSOs) by 10,000.

The number of employers reporting IT skills shortages has gone up and the business consequences of the skills gap are worsening.

Personnel Today is supporting an employer-led campaign to introduce tax breaks for employees who support older relatives. As a part of the campaign Personnel Today is asking HR professionals to sign our petition to urge the government to include tax breaks for carers in its next comprehensive spending review, to be announced in Spring 2007.

Too many young people are turning their backs on science and technology because of faults in the education system, Britain's biggest business group warned today

The drive to improve workplace safety will be hit by potential job losses at the Health and Safety Executive, the Prospect union has warned.