Latest Articles By Simon Collyer

THREAT OF UNION ACTION - PCS (Public & Commercial Services Union) has condemned the decision to fully reopen jobcentres today warning that it will increase the likelihood of avoidable Covid-19 infections. Pre-lo...

OUR CONDOLENCES - Prince Philip Has Died Aged 99. He had a long and satisfying life and was unswerving in his loyalty to the Queen. He could be cantankerous and impatient and he frequently said what he thought regardless of the consequences. His bone...

RECRUITMENT - Hiring veterans is good for business. Military personnel are highly trained, disciplined and make excellent instructors. What they frequently lack - as you would expect, is the experience of working in a civilian environment.  ...

DWP TRAINING HELP - Millions of jobseekers will be able to access longer work-related training while in receipt of benefits to boost their chances of finding employment. Later this month, DWP Train and Progress (TaP), a new DWP initiative aimed at in...

SPECIAL PAYMENT - If you are part of a working household that receives tax credits, you may be eligible for a new one-off payment of £500. The new payment is being introduced to provide extra support when the temporary increase in Working Tax Cr...

US EMPLOYMENT - Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 916,000 in March, and the unemployment rate edged down to 6.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported. These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resump...

UNEMPLOYMENT -  is 1,703,000 and has fallen by 41,000 from last month’s published figure (quarterly headline has risen by 11,000) and the unemployment rate 5.0%, decreased by 0.1 percentage points on last month and has risen by 0.1 percentage po...

DEBT - One in four UK adults said the pandemic pushed them into debt.  Almost £10 billion of personal debt directly caused by furlough reducing incomes.  Furloughed employees saw debts rise by £1,050 on average as a result of loss of s...

JOBCENTRE PLUS - While jobcentres have remained open and fully operational throughout the pandemic for those who really need it, and Work Coaches have continued to support all their customers virtually – opening hours were temporarily shortened...

EASTER PAYMENTS - On Friday 2 April and Monday 5 April Jobcentre Plus offices and phone lines will be closed. To make sure people receive their payments on a day when Jobcentre Plus offices are open, arrangements have been made to make some paym...