This week’s news in brief
2000 graduate gains
Average graduate starting salaries are expected to rise by 4.1 per cent to
£19,000, according to figures released yesterday by the Association of Graduate
Recruiters. The study reveals that
public sector graduate trainees will earn an average salary of £19,500 and one
in 10 organisations plan to offer graduates more than £26,000. www.agr.org.uk
Pay benchmark site
The average salary for managers and administrators in the South East is
£38,375 for men working 39 hours a week and £27,321 for women working 38 hours
a week, according to the IDS pay benchmark service. HR directors can check pay
data drawn from 300 employers on 200 shopfloor and office jobs, from
accountants to word processor operators, on the web site launched last week. www.IDSPayBenchmark.co.uk
New-style balloting
Industrial balloting is now part of the employment negotiations process, a
TUC report has claimed. The Trade
Unions Trends Survey shows that although there were more ballots in the year to
May 2001 than in the previous year, industrial action followed in only just
over half of these cases. www.tuc.org.uk
IT lacks HR planning
Companies in the IT sector are exposing themselves to serious business risks
due to their lack of adequate HR planning, a report claims. The study by
Deloitte and Touche finds that the absence of defined processes, procedures and
documentation and a lack of consistency within global strategies in people
management have led to a third of the companies surveyed experiencing staffing
problems in the past five years. www.deloitte.co.uk
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Sectors vie for talent
Insurers are struggling to compete with banks and asset managers in
attracting the most talented staff. Andersen’s report The Hidden Power of
Europe’s Insurance Giants suggests that the insurance sector’s poor image is
making it difficult to recruit new staff and retain talent. www.andersen.com
