The government might force employers to own up about racial pay disparity
It’s awful some people’s salaries still depend on their ethnicity. Indeed, something needs to be done given how the first ever Race Disparity Audit published last October showed white Britons are likely to earn more and get employed than other ethnicities. Luckily, the government aims to fix the issue.
In a collaboration between the government and Business in the Community (BITC), the outreach charity, prime minister Theresa May proposed the Race at Work Charter – a set of rules committing businesses to change the hiring and promotion of ethnic minority workers. To get the ball rolling, the government’s launched a consultation period ending in January 2019, to scope what bosses think about ethnic pay reporting and what information they should disclose.
Here’s hoping this will be a push in the right direction.
85% of SMEs face difficulties attracting talent
For job hunters, it’s fantastic employment rates are through the roof. However, new research shows just how much of a nightmare it’s putting SMEs through.
Quizzing a grand total of 2,600 CFOs, CIOs, hiring managers and professionals, Robert Half International, the HR consultancy firm, found four out of five SMEs struggle to bring in talent. It makes offering bigger paychecks a common remedy for 43%, compared to just 35% of large businesses that have been forced to do so.
Unfortunately, it seems it’s difficult to get skilled talent given 53% of CEOs said they can’t find applicants with the digital knowhow for increasingly digital businesses. Moreover, when hiring a candidate, companies fork out an average of £30,000 in recruitment, onboarding, training and remuneration costs, making overturns risky.
But in this war for talent, it may be the case that beggars can’t be choosers.
British workers are more likely to feign illness than Europeans
Viruses like flu are rampant this time of year. In most cases they are perfectly acceptable excuses to ditch work. However, if your employee hails from the UK, it’s more likely they’re pulling a fast one.
That’s because 27% of British employees admit it’s alright to pull a sickie, according to a survey of 2,518 worldwide workers by ADP, the HR management provider. That’s above the European average of 21%. Moreover, out of the Brits thinking it’s acceptable, 85% do so two or more times per year. The attitude is hardly surprising, considering at least several times a month 28% of Brits resent the thought of clocking into work, compared to merely 15% in the Netherlands and 20% in Italy.
Rather than trying to sniff out the fakes, it’s probably easier for bosses to make the workplace a more enjoyable place.
Startup making salespeople’s lives easier secured $10m
Considering the fast pace and tight quotas salespeople work to, it’s understandable they’d love to cut bureaucracy and streamline paperwork. Which is why this startup’s solution just received an eight-figure investment.
Pipedrive, the sales software provider, secured a $10m series C round backed by Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP), Insight Venture Partners and previous investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico and Rembrandt Venture Partners, tallying a total capital of $60m.
With cash in hand and German investor DTCP behind the helm, the startup eyes expansion into Germany to make the most of its valuable markets. It’s a move that stays true to Pipedrive’s worldwide customer base and adds to its list of global HQs in Tallinn, Tartu, New York, Lisbon and London.
It seems selling to salespeople is a lucrative business.
OpenBionics turns amputees into real life superheroes
We spoke with Open Bionics about how the Dalai Lama loves its 3D-printed prosthetic arms decked out with Disney’s graphics.
Edge:CTP destroys labyrinthian paperwork for SMEs going global
Bureaucratic red tape can strangle SMEs looking to ship overseas. Fortunately, Edge:CTP has the scissors.
We tracked down 20 of the worst cybersecurity fails of all time
Earlier in October Google+ shut down for good after Alphabet revealed that 500,000 users data may have been compromised. However, Alphabet is hardly the only business to suffer a digital defence kerfuffle.
How employers can easily improve their staff’s mental health
Considering employees spend most of their week in the workplace, their mental health can be significantly altered by their job. So for World Mental Health Day, we found the top measures bosses should implement to do their part.
Google unveiled its new gadgets
Just weeks after Apple announced its latest lineup of gadgets and gizmos, Google showed that Steve Jobs’ old stomping grounds ain’t the only one that got game. From Pixel 3 to Chromecast, we’ve got the lowdown on all Google’s serious contenders to Apple’s devices.
Unveiling the funding gap
It’s hardly a secret female founders struggle to find funding. Fortunately, some people are trying to change it. For instance, Forward Partner, the early-stage venture capital firm, claims to be the first UK VC to reveal how many of its startups are spearheaded by women.
