UNITED KINGDOM

Impending tax rises from autumn budget fuel collapse in sentiment and rising redundancy intentions, surveys showUK employers are preparing for the biggest redundancy round in a decade amid collapsing business confidence as firms brace for tax increases from April that Rachel Reeves announced in her autumn budget.In a fresh blow for the chancellor, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which represents human resources professionals, said a survey of 2,000 employers showed redundancy intentions at their highest level in 10 years, barring the Covid pandemic. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/17/uk-firms-mull-biggest-layoffs-in-a-decade-as-business-confidence-slumps Author : Phillip Inman Publish date : 2025-02-17

Tagline has quickly become the subject of derision, with some critics likening it to a clearance sale slogan A New Zealand tourism campaign targeting Australian visitors has been ridiculed for sounding like a clearance sale slogan and for being tone-deaf amid widespread public service job cuts and record numbers of New Zealanders moving overseas.The government launched its “Everyone must go!” campaign on Sunday, in a bid to encourage Australian holiday-makers to visit New Zealand. The NZD$500,000 campaign will run on radios and social media in Australia between February and March. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/17/new-zealand-everyone-must-go-tourism-campaign-criticism-emigration Author : Eva Corlett

Resolution Foundation report says failure to reform has ‘slowly recreated the issues that undid the poll tax’Britain’s poorest households are paying an increasing share of their income on council tax, according to new analysis that likened it to the poll tax that contributed to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher.The poorest fifth of households paid 4.8% of their income on council tax in England, Wales and Scotland and on domestic rates in Northern Ireland in the 2020-21 financial year, up from 2.9% in 2002-3, according to research by the Resolution Foundation. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/17/uk-poorest-households-income-share-council-tax-resolution-foundation Author : Jasper Jolly