September 2022 had the highest value of construction output (£15,125m) since 2010. While inflation has no doubt played its part, the prospect of rising order books has to be set against employment figures for the sector, which, as shown in the graph, have yet to return to anything near their 2019 levels. The Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB’s) latest Construction Skills Network (CSN) report predicts that the UK construction industry…
Who is Ludwig Erhard and what has he got to do with industrial relations in the UK? Ludwig Erhard became the first Minister of Economy of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. He faced an almost impossible situation. Industrial production was around a third of what it had been in 1938, there were huge shortages of food and other essential consumer goods, the old Reichsmark was losing…
The exodus of workers during Covid and the record high numbers of economically inactive have contributed to the UK’s 1.26 million vacancies and an understandable perception that the employment market is now employee-led. The increased demand for voluntary home working, which follows the enforced experience of it during the pandemic, is contributing to employers’ perception that they must compete for talent by offering not only financial inducements, but different working…