22 Dec 2014
According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 50% of British businesses are planning to hire extra workers in the new year.
The CBI employment trends survey shows that, providing there are adequate skills to fill the places, employees may also see an average pay rise in line with the retail price index, and more permanent jobs would be created.
Katja Hall, Deputy Director-General of the CBI, said: ‘It’s a concern that the UK’s growing skills gap is now seen as the number one workforce threat to the long-term health of its economy’.
Meanwhile, an analysis by Radius Equity shows that the gender pay gap has narrowed in 2014, to its smallest since records began. More than 1.2 million women are now in the upper tax bracket, an increase of 17% on last year, beating a 13% increase in the number of men.
However, the figures do show that the number of men earning more than women remains more than double, a total of 3.18 million.