Human Times

UK Edition

21st September 2026

Together with

THE HOT STORY

UK job market stabilised in August

The UK labour market stabilised in August, with total job postings rising to almost 1.7m, up 10% year on year, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). New postings reached 712,781, although the wider labour market remains subdued, with falling vacancies, weak private-sector wage growth and youth unemployment above 16%. The REC has urged the government to reverse the lower employer National Insurance threshold to support hiring and growth. Maxine Bligh, interim chief executive of the REC, said: "The latest job figures are a clear sign for the Chancellor that the labour market is resilient but needs stimulating to really kick on."

The Times

CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE

Inside the Candidate Experience 2026 - AI can’t fix candidate experience, but communication can

AI is top of mind for talent leaders, yet communication remains the breakdown almost no one is addressing. Despite widespread hiring technology investments, candidate experience across EMEA has barely improved. PeopleScout’s 2026 Inside the Candidate Experience EMEA report reveals that 63% of candidates are ghosted in more than half of their applications, while post-application engagement scores sit at a staggeringly low 9 out of 100.

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LEGAL

UK contends with rise in workplace disputes about disability discrimination

Acas chair Baroness Maggie Jones says disability discrimination disputes are surging, straining the tribunal system and increasing costs for employers, as many struggle to understand necessary adjustments for neurodiverse staff.

Financial Times

REMUNERATION

UK female workers 'still get lower bonuses than males'

Payroll records analysed by human resources data firm ‌Brightmine indicate the UK's female workers continue to receive substantially lower bonus payments than their male peers. Payroll data for almost 1.5 million employees at 1,190 organisations as of July showed male workers received average annual bonuses of £5,442 ($7,300) compared with £3,062 for women. Sheila Attwood, Brightmine's HR insights and data lead, said the analysis suggests differences in progression, seniority and access to higher-value incentive ⁠schemes

Reuters

WORKFORCE

University staff vote on strike

Staff at the University of Birmingham are to vote on whether to strike in a dispute over planned redundancies affecting translation and interpreting staff. The University and College Union (UCU) said the five staff had been at risk of compulsory redundancy since May when the university announced it planned to cut programmes. Consultation ran from June to August and proposals were to be considered in October, but the university brought the decision forward and considered the outcome on 10 August, with a recommendation sent by written circulation to the university's council, its supreme governing body, the union said. It added that more than a month later, staff and the UCU had not been told in writing the decision of the council.

BBC News

Support staff step in for teachers

A Unison survey of more than 8,000 school support staff in England has found that almost 39% had been asked to cover lessons in place of teachers: the figure rose to 67% among teaching assistants. The union warned that pupils are missing out on vital support as staff are diverted from their usual roles to address staffing shortages. Among teaching assistants providing classroom cover, 38% said pupils missed scheduled support sessions, while 36% said children they would normally support missed essential classroom help. Almost a third (29%) said pupils with education, health and care plans missed one-to-one support, while 73% believed specialist sessions such as therapy were unlikely or impossible to reschedule. Unison said most support staff received no additional pay for covering lessons and has called for a review of their roles.

Sunday Mirror

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Milburn calls for Neets to be tracked until 24

Young people who leave education or work should be tracked until age 24 through a unified data system, the former cabinet minister Alan Milburn is set to recommend. The database would allow schools, colleges, councils, job centres and youth services to identify when individuals disengage and trigger immediate support. Current monitoring generally ends at 18. The proposal draws on the Netherlands, where local authorities intervene when young people without basic qualifications stop attending education or training. Milburn said fragmented responsibilities and poor data sharing were contributing to the UK’s Neets crisis: almost one million young people are currently outside education, employment or training.

The Observer

Government's flagship apprentice scheme has enrolled just 160 people

The government's "skills revolution" to combat youth unemployment is in jeopardy: only 160 young people have enrolled in its foundation apprenticeship scheme within the first eight months. A report from the Fabian Society details how the government's target of 30,000 starts by the end of this parliament is far from being met. Joe Dromey, general secretary of the Fabian Society, said: "The commitment to reform technical routes from 14 is an important step, but ministers now need to make sure these routes actually lead somewhere." Ministers await recommendations from Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister who is leading a review into youth worklessness.

The Guardian

TAX

Foreign Office faces £15m HMRC bill

The Foreign Office is under investigation by HMRC after officials found that 42 workers had been wrongly classified as contractors rather than employees under IR35 rules. FCDO Services, which manages the Foreign Office’s diplomatic bag system, has already set aside £14.8m for the error, saying this sum "reflects management’s best estimate of the liability following a detailed review of contractor arrangements and ongoing engagement with HMRC." The Foreign Office classifies 88% of its workers as "inside" IR35, meaning that they are not treated as contractors for tax purposes.

The Sunday Telegraph

ECONOMY

Mid-sized firms more optimistic

A BDO survey suggests growing optimism among medium-sized businesses, with 80% of executives saying they are more willing to invest over the past three months. Firms with revenues of £10m-£300m identified leisure and retail, financial services and manufacturing as areas with the greatest growth potential, while investment plans were spread across London, the South East and the Midlands. Businesses said they want Chancellor John Healey's first Budget to improve access to finance and credit for the private sector.

The Times

INTERNATIONAL

Unilever 'won't discuss blanket two-year global worker guarantee'

A memo ‌seen by Reuters indicates that Unilever "refuses to engage" with union body IUF over a request that a two-year employment guarantee agreed with workers in Europe under its planned merger with McCormick be applied to all staff worldwide. "The company refuses to engage ⁠on this at an international level," the IUF stated in the memo, adding: "(Unilever) has indicated that, outside of Europe, unions should negotiate locally or regionally over the two years' protection." A Unilever spokesperson said: "We continue to engage constructively with our works councils and other employee representatives and have made good progress . . . As a global company, we engage with a range of representatives around the world."

Reuters

Singapore firms 'must plan for workers amid transformation'

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has highlighted the need for businesses to consider their workforce during operational transformations. He said that workforce issues should not be an afterthought for HR departments. Wong outlined three key shifts for Singapore: aligning learning with jobs, simplifying the employment support system, and ensuring that workforce development is integrated with business transformation. The newly formed SkillsFuture Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) will seek to facilitate these changes through its centre, Connect by SWDA, which aims to provide tailored support for both workers and employers. “Our workers cannot be an afterthought in business transformation,” Wong said. “When a company transforms, its workers should have the chance to transform with it. So the two must go hand in hand . . . We want businesses to become more productive and competitive. But we also want workers to benefit – through better skills, better jobs and better prospects,” he added.

Straits Times

Russia employs North Koreans to build drones for Ukraine war

Russia is employing North Korean workers to manufacture military drones, according to a report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team. The strategy provides North Korea with vital revenue for its weapons programmes in the face of international sanctions. An estimated 25,000 North Koreans are involved in Russia's drone industry, each earning around US$7,500 annually, although much of this is seized by the Kim regime. Monthly wages earned by North Koreans working in Russia may be up to five times higher than what they can earn in China. Russia had an estimated 15,000-30,000 North Korean workers as of the end of 2025. "Despite the 2019 repatriation deadline mandated by [a UN Security Council resolution], at least 17 countries are suspected of continuing to host labourers, generating between $450m and $800m in 2025 to fund the [North Korea's] unlawful nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes," the report said.

The Korea Times

South China Morning Post

Iran hesitant to enforce mandatory headscarf law

The enforcement of hijab rules in Iran has relaxed significantly since the protests that followed the widely-publicised death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, a politician and father-in-law of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, recently acknowledged the regime's current reluctance to enforce strict hijab laws, saying: "We can't enter into that front as we ought to because of wartime conditions." Three women in Tehran contacted by Associated Press said security forces hadn't commented on their lack of a hijab while going through street checkpoints.

The Times of Israel

OTHER

Bill looks to deliver outdoor education

Caroline Voaden MP has introduced the Outdoor Education Bill, which calls on schools to provide at least one outdoor lesson weekly. Research indicates that children's time spent in nature has halved over a generation. Voaden warned: "If [children] spend all their time indoors looking at a screen, they're going to have poorer mental health outcomes." The Bill calls for a minimum of one outside lesson each week, a minimum of 30 minutes spent a day outdoors during school hours, and at least one residential trip.

Daily Express

Daily Mirror

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