After a week of hectic train strikes, the UK is seeing more disruption in the working world.

It seems that after years of living through the pandemic, the working world has realised how unjustly they have been treated in terms of their pay and working conditions.

Those in the law sector, specifically barristers, are striking in England and Wales as a result of the same issues as mentioned above.

These strikes are planned over four weeks, with walkouts starting at twice a week and increasing by a day every week until the week of 18th-22nd July with a five-day strike.

This will cause a big ripple effect on cases with more than 1,000 cases due to be impacted with every day of the strikes, according to the Criminal Bar Association (CBA).

Dominic Raab, Just Secretary, stated that these strikes would just hinder the victims though as courts already have a backlog of a huge 58,271 cases!

According to the deputy chair of the CBA, Kirsty Brimelow, the requested 15% pay rise would only come into effect at the end of 2023. Brimelow goes on to explain that by the time the raise would be applied it would not help in an effective way and would not do enough to prevent the number of junior barristers who are leaving the bar.

The junior barristers in question have been working in a field that has been running on ‘good will’ for a long time, especially throughout the pandemic - they have even been working ‘ridiculous hours’ according to Brimelow.

She believes that the daily 1,000 cases are a result of the government, not those who are striking. This seems to be the case if these overworked individuals are constantly being overlooked. Sometimes the only way to cause a change is through these big actions, otherwise workers can be easily ignored.

Despite this reality that Brimelow has brought forward, Raab still is trying to convince those barristers who are striking to accept the pay rise.

Brimelow has provided evidence for how overworked and understaffed the so called justice system is by stating how 567 criminal trials (including 60 sexual offence cases!) were unable to go ahead in 2021 as a result of too few barristers available to prosecute and defend on these cases.

Many barristers and others working in the criminal justice system have left their positions over the past decade as a result of them being unable to make a living from their pay when taking on cases which were funded by legal aid.

This is so extreme that with an amalgamation of all the extra hours worked preparing cases equates to some barristers technically earning less than minimum wage.

The chairman of CBA, Jo Sidhu QC, showed that the average barrister has suffered an average pay fall of 28% since 2006. He also stated that juniors in their first three years of practice earned a median income of £12,200 (just below minimum wage!).

Sidhu revealed that nearly 40% of junior criminal barristers left their jobs within a year, and more than a quarter of specialist criminal barristers (around 300) quit in the last five years.

It is clear that these barristers are in serious need of better wage and working conditions!

With university now wrapping up for so many students and graduation just around the corner, we thought we would look into some of the best paying sectors for Graduate Schemes.

1.Rothschilds – Private Finance – £65,000

Location: London

Positions: Global Financial Advisory and Wealth Management & Trust.

Skills desired: Good communication, drive, ambition, exceptional judgement, creative

Grade: 2:1+

2. J.P. Morgan – Investment Banking – £58,000

Location: Varied

Positions: Asset Management, Finance, IB Risk, Investment Banking, Operations, Private Banking, Sales, Trading & Research, Securities Servicing and Clearing, Technology and Treasury Services.

Desired Skills: Creative, Good Communication, Drive, Passion, Academic Prowess and Good Personality.

3.Goldman Sachs – Investment Banking – £52,000

Location: Varied

Positions: Financial Analyst (developing your skills and building a stronger professional network)

Degree: Any field of study and no previous work experience needed

Values: Client Service, Excellence, Integrity, Partnership

4. Civil Services – £45,000-£55,000

Location: Varied

Positions: Civil Services offer a range of roles, all which will provide structured learning, on-the-job coaching/mentoring, a career path to a government profession, and a chance to study for a professional qualification

Degree: 2:2+

5.RBS – Investment Banking – £54,000

Location: Varied

Positions: Business & Commercial Banking, Chief Operating Office (COO), Corporate & Institutional Banking, Global Transaction Services (GTS), GBM Banking, Operations, Marketing and Technology

Degree: 2:2+

Skills: Entrepreneurial Flair, Drive, Natural Feel for Business

6.Barclays Capital – Investment Banking – £50,000

Location: Varied

Positions: Banking, HR, Cyber & Security, Operations, Marketing, Auditing (and more!)

Aim: To help new grads to find the path that is best for them, in order to make a valued contribution to Barclays’ business.

7. White & Chase – Law – £50,000

Location: Overseas - but candidates should be mobile and ideally have experience of international travel

Positions: They have 14 ‘seats’ or sectors, you will choose 4 during the two-year scheme. These ‘seats’ are varied and include opportunities to gain experience in Dispute Resolution, Employment and Benefits, IP, or Construction and Engineering or Litigation Training.

8. BP – Oil & Energy – £49,000

Location: Varied

Positions: Engineering, Science and Business positions

Degree: 2:1, any degree specialism (but you need an MENg if you are applying for the engineering grad scheme). BP provides grads with a lot of freedom for their chosen career path

Are you thinking of changing your job over the next year?

If yes, you are not alone in thinking this way.

1 in 5 workers in the UK say they are thinking about finding a new job in the next 12 months.

The biggest reasons for this are:

- Pay (especially in the technology sector, less so in the public sector)

- Job Satisfaction

- Freedom over WFH / hybrid working

Those most likely to leave their jobs were younger, highly skilled workers.

This is already a reality for a lot of people, with a record high of people moving job-to-job as a result of resignations over dismissals. These stats rose by 4.2% but this does not yet match the increase in the cost of living.

And 60% of people asked would like to work either fully from home or mostly from home.

Whereas only 17% of people asked would choose to work fully or mostly in the office.

Workers are able to assert power over bosses as companies right now are struggling to recruit, meaning there is more job security when stating what they want.

There are fears that more workers will ‘think on their feet’ if their expectations are not being met. This is especially likely when highly skilled workers are in such high demand.

Ever since the ‘Great Resignation’ the trend has been very steady, it does not seem to be slowing soon.

This has resulted in there being more job vacancies than unemployed people in the UK since records began between January and March of this year.

In the Office for National Statistics’ newest figures, it has been found that 1 in 7 of UK working adults, or 14%, are working entirely from home.

Then a further 24% were working hybrid.

These findings take into consideration data found in late April to early May.

Though there has been a lot of talk around the topic of whether or not Work From Home ultimately makes people lose their work ethic, we have found that just under 20% of people actually agree with this stance.

Then a huge 83% of people believe that WFH has no signs of workers being less motivated to work.

A lot of people believe that lack of commute, being able to wake later, spend more quality time with their family, and be able to control their own work environment is ultimately better for their work flow

Exit fees for jobs is a topic that everybody has their own opinions on… I personally very strongly disagree with them.

First thing’s first, what are exit fees?

An exit fee is a charge a company applies if you leave your contract early.

In recent news the accountancy firm KPMG has signed up to be a new client of FDM group (a tech firm who charges graduates up to £15,000 if they leave their role in under 2 years).

This is particularly poignant considering KPMG openly states how they care for young people, it has been seen as betraying the very people it claims to want to help.

It is also particularly important to point out that KPMG made very public and bold pledges to be a ‘champion of social mobility’ in the working world and are now actively working for a company that stifles its workers and holds them in a tight grip for two years.

Not only this, but many of other FDM clients are actually pushing away from the company and their rivals are beginning to scrap exit fees completely as a result of the Stop Exit Fees Now campaign created by the company Graduate Fog.

To really show the severity of this ‘betrayal’, that is a whole group of young people who are being chained to their contracts for two whole years with the threat of a possible £15k fine hanging over their heads for the entire contract.

Graduate Fog did research into those with recent contracts with FDM and found many new hires who were suffering from physical and mental health concerns, feeling as though they were ‘trapped’ in their jobs as they wanted to leave but knew they could not afford to leave.

This is a genuinely awful practice and should never have been put in place in the first place.

This does not inspire loyalty to a company when they keep their employers in chains for the first two years working together.

If anything this kind of behaviour would create hostile employees who are just counting down their days to freedom to move on to companies that do not imprison them like this.

These exit fees put the most pressure on the young people hired who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, they do not have the luxury to give up that sort of money.

There are around 4,000 graduates stuck in these jobs with a huge debt to face if they try to leave it early. These graduates who will already have all of their student loan to immediately worry about, will now have thousands on top of that if they feel like they cannot deal with their current job they are trapped in.

This strain could result in some extremely dire consequences for two years.

If individuals choose to leave without being able to pay these fees, they are being threatened of being chased down by lawyers trying for bankruptcy.

These companies try to get away with these exit fees by claiming that these fees cover the costs of training new hires, though the training rarely ever matches these extortionate charges.

By more people being aware of these harsh realities in some of the biggest companies, it will be easier to prevent them from happening in the future.

It is time to try and stop these fees.

Since 6 April, National Insurance has increased by 1.25%. This means that instead of the 12% tax that was put onto salaries, the amount now sits at 13.25%.

However, despite this increase, salaries are not due to be following suit. This will mean that the working world will be punished for something that they have absolutely no control over.

This does not seem fair.

So why is National Insurance increasing?

This price hike all goes towards a new Health and Social Care Levy.

This may not sound like too big an increase but it can cost hundreds of pounds a year.

For example, if you were to earn £27,000 a year, you will be taxed an extra £200 a year.

This increase amounts to an £11bn tax increase for the government across the whole economy.

This increase comes at a time when the cost of living crisis in the UK is getting increasingly worse. Inflation currently sits at its highest level in 30 years (8.5% higher than a year ago), pairing awfully with the energy price cap rising at the start of April by 54%!

Unsurprisingly, people were not happy with this new increase in National Insurance and consequently pressure was put on Rishi Sunak to help the people of the UK.

As a result the National Insurance threshold has now been lifted (these numbers represent the amount of wage that goes untaxed and then anything earned on top of that will start to be taxed).

When the increase was put in place in April the threshold sat at £9,880 - this increased from March by £300.

From July the threshold will sit at £12,570 instead.

Increasing the threshold by this much will mean a tax cut of around £330 a year for workers based on these statistics alone (but not for everyone when you look at the National Insurance increase too.

Until July, however, everyone will be in a much worse boat, having to pay out more money than they previously had been.

This increase in threshold will actually mean that roughly two million people who are on a lower wage will not be taxed anything at all which is amazing news for these people especially if they

come from a lower earning family. All of their wage will actually be going to them, hopefully allowing them to live a little easier from month to month.

Overall, only those in the poorest 10% of households will actually pay less in tax as a result of these new changes. This means that 90% of the population will be paying more tax than they were before.

Those earning under £32,000 a year will reap the benefits of the new tax changes but those earning more will see less money every month.

This paired with general inflation and energy prices, it will be a hard time for many to keep up with their bills as well as tax.

Allegedly, however, the government is claiming that National Insurance will return to its old rate from April 2023.

This is hard to believe, however, when the government previously claimed in their 2019 election manifesto that the national insurance would not be raised under their ruling.

So… Bearing all of this in mind, should employers increase their worker’s salaries?

I think the clear answer here is yes.

Employers should take all of the increased taxes, bills and general rise in cost of living in mind when assessing their employees’ salaries.

This opinion is also mirrored with the opinions of TGP’s LinkedIn followers.

• 94% believe that employees should receive a pay rise.
• 6% believe that it is not the fault of companies and so they should not have to pay out more.

Some workplaces have increased wages for workers, factoring in the new conditions of the world but the majority are still yet to follow suit.

This should change and companies should put their employees first!

Last year reports of record numbers of students complained about their university courses in England and Wales - more than a third were as a direct result of the pandemic.

The total number of complaints received by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) reached 2,763.

The 2021 total number of complaints succeeded the previous year by 6%!

Though, a sizable portion of these complaints were backlogged from 2020. 

Other reasons for this astonishing number included staffing issues as well as industrial action. Some students claimed that Covid-19 meant that they were not getting the education that they would have expected from the university experience.

The issue with the staffing complaints laid more in poorly prepared substitute teachers - something that should remain completely in secondary education and is unacceptable at a higher level - and key lecturers/experts leaving the university during this time.

The most common complaint rested in how courses were being delivered. Students would not typically wish to pay out thousands for online classes unless they specifically sought out a class like this.

Some issues with online classes include the inability to access important facilities such as science students needing to use labs and the technical difficulties that came with the dependency of online learning… People had no option if their WiFi cut out or certain programmes were not working for them.

A report stated that "Some students struggled with digital literacy, especially in online timed exams [...] For others their limited typing skills affected their performance."

Another reason for complaints was the impossibility of a year studying abroad since traveling was extremely restricted.

As a result of all of the complaints, the total sum given out in compensation amounted to over £1.3m, with the highest claim being £68,000.

One possible reason that the compensation was also higher this year was because the complaints were not as easily rectified with the pandemic going on so the OIA just had to settle the complaint rather than improve the person’s situation.

Those who felt the most swindled by the effects of the pandemic were PhD and postgraduate students, amounting for just under half of the complaints despite making up only around a quarter of students.

Conversely, OIA wants to stress that these complaints still make up only a small percentage of students’ views and that the majority still are believed to have gotten amazing education.

Students with disabilities felt as though the move to remote education meant that they were better equipped to get the most out of their learning experience - they had more control over how and when they could receive their education.

Have you recently been contemplating upskilling in order to get ahead in the workplace?

Experts are saying that this is one of the most important feats the workforce needs to conquer.

Maybe you don’t even really know what upskilling is, and that’s okay!

Upskilling : the process of improving and increasing a worker’s skills, making the worker more effective.

This may sound daunting and unapproachable at first but experts reassure us that anyone can upskill and there are a lot of ways to figure out how we can best upskill. The first step is deciding that you want to learn something new and take the initiative to find out more.

The World Economic Forum states that in order to save post-Covid economy, upskilling is essential. They believe that it could boost the global GDP by over $6 trillion (£4.7 trillion) and create 5.3 million new jobs by 2030.

This is essential since studies have found that 40% of workers believe their job will be obsolete within 5 years, so upskilling is integral to keeping them from having to leave their jobs. This is particularly true because the workforce is changing so quickly so people need to adapt to keep up with the evolving world.

Upskilling can take on a range of different forms, some examples are :

Hard Skills

• Knowing how to use specific software
• Know basic graphic design
• Be skilled in making perfect presentations

Soft Skills

• Becoming an active listener
• Giving constructive feedback
• Developing your communication skills (written/oral)

Mostly just any skill which will aid them to do their job better than they were before and better than their peers.

Consequently, upskilling is different from person to person as it depends on your own role and prior knowledge. This means that there is no universal list of things a person can do to progress their career this way.

Some examples of this could be :

Marketing

Spending more time on social media, creating lists of what is popular (concepts, sounds, themes), learning about the ever changing algorithms and seeing how other people have succeeded in this field.

IT

Learning about the up and coming computer programmes that are likely to be introduced to the workplace and getting an upper hand before they come in. Do any extra courses that may come alongside these programmes.

Teaching

Keeping on top of new research about children’s mental health, hone in your active listening skills to help your students feel listened to, learn conflict resolution skills and learn the ins and outs of new technology introduced in the classroom.

Mostly you should just research what is happening in your field and try to develop your skills around that, stay ahead of the trends whenever possible.

Workplaces can offer these opportunities to an employee but if they are not, employees can find their own means of gaining this knowledge.

Some ways a person can do this is :

• Watch relevant YouTube videos
• Sign up to LinkedIn learning programmes
• Find an online certification

It can be harder for those in lower paying jobs to do this so finding any free resources like YouTube etc could be integral to a person who genuinely needs this help in order to climb the career ladder or to keep their job.

If you are unsure where exactly to start, in most situations two skills will be worthwhile no matter the job role : communication and technological know-how… This is therefore likely going to be a good start and you can then mold your journey to fit your role

Any start is good and shows how dedicated you are to your job/future. This can be the difference in how your boss views you, meaning you could be considered for more opportunities in the future as your boss now knows that you are serious about working for their company.

It is no secret that stress can have such a devastating effect on a workplace, be that a physical or mental effect…

Everyone knows this, it has been said time and time again.

But what can bosses do to help reduce this general stress, considering that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that:

- 80% of workers feel stressed whilst working

- 40% would describe their job as being very or extremely stressful

- 25% of workers class their jobs as being the biggest stressor in their lives

In order to bring these numbers down, those leading the workplace may want to consider bringing about some sort of change to how the company is being run. This should not only be changing the general work culture in the office but also the boss’ own behaviour (this is often overlooked when said bosses are the ones assessing the working conditions).

A big one here is down to emailing outside of work hours

This one can be extremely intimidating, your boss messages you outside of work hours and it can be very easy to feel obliged to respond as they are your boss and control your work stability. This can even be the case when a disclaimer is put out telling workers that they do not need to reply until their work hours start up again… Knowing there is an email you need to reply to whilst you are supposed to be relaxing can feel more taxing than quickly just responding, and thus the cycle begins.

Even if the employee does wait to respond, now they have seen the email it will be hard to take it off of their minds. This now makes it impossible for the person to truly soak up their time off between working hours and this can very easily lead to the team feeling burned out quickly. This is the worst result for a team, it will only result in slower and less efficient working.

This is easily remedied, however… The feature to schedule emails exists for a reason, use it! It is very simple to just schedule your email for 9am the following morning so that your staff know they are not expected to reply in their free time and that they do not have to worry about it overnight.

Vague Requests to Meet

This is one of the most stressful messages a person can get. There is absolutely no explanation given and you are just told to see/talk with your boss for no real reason.

‘Call me tomorrow morning at 9.’

What for?

Am I in trouble?

Did I do something wrong?

It must be bad if there is no more context…

These are just a few thoughts that can flood your mind when you receive a message like this. The endless negative possibilities take centre stage in your mind, it is rare you will think something positive in a situation like this. If it was positive you would presume your boss would include some kind of reassurance in the original request.

The psychological turmoil is strong when your brain is left to fill in the blanks

It is easy to rationalise it after the meeting, telling yourself you had done nothing wrong etc, but in the moment it is hard to think logically when panic sets in.

This is consequently such a huge stressor.

Next time you send a message like this, simply add some context to your request. Not only will this prevent stress but it will also give your employee time to think of valid points to bring to the discussion in advance, resulting in a more productive conversation.

False Sense Of Urgency

Action, results and achievement are obviously integral to a lot of companies, but the constant pushing for these above all else (including your employees’ mental wellbeing) can be extremely damaging.

Though it is important to have deadlines, they have to be realistic and attainable.

Unnecessary urgency can result in your staff having added stress for no reason at all. This can also lead to them getting more stressed over more simple tasks that they would otherwise be fine to do because there is now added pressure to everything that they are doing.

It is hard for people to clearly see the big picture here when all they can see are deadlines impending. It is important to allow your employees to take a step back and just breathe. Allow your staff to do this rather than constantly be on their toes with no time to relax and look at all of their hard work.

As the boss it is down to you to ensure the wellbeing of employees. Make sure you are actively listening to your team, if they claim this is an issue then make sure it is solved as efficiently as you can.

Have you ever wondered what companies offer the best long-term success for staff?

Wonder no more, new research has made a decisive 10 company long list, ranked from best to … still great, just not the top of the list.

This list revolves entirely around the UK market and looks at open jobs, skill enhancement, investing in talent, offering new opportunities and many more components.

Starting off the list and top of the top is…

1. Barclays

Barclays is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London.

• UK Headcount: 83,500
• Top locations: London, Northampton, Glasgow
• Most notable skills: Banking, Stakeholder Management, Financial Services
• Most common job titles: Banker, Accountant, Business Analyst
• Largest job functions: Finance, Business Development, Information Technology

2. Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group is the parent company of Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows and others.

• UK Headcount: 50,185
• Top locations: London, Edinburgh, Bristol
• Most notable skills: Banking, Stakeholder Management, Fraud Investigations
• Most common job titles: Business Analyst, Senior Account Manager, Product Owner
• Largest job functions: Finance, Sales, Information Technology

3. HSBC

HSBC Bank plc is a British multinational banking and financial services organisation.

• UK Headcount: 38,233
• Top locations: London, Birmingham, Sheffield
• Most notable skills: Banking, Financial services, Risk Management
• Most common job titles: Universal Banker, Project Manager, Relationship Director
• Largest job functions: Finance, Business Development, Information Technology

4. PwC

PricewaterhouseCoopers is a multinational professional services network of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand.

• UK Headcount: 27,211
• Top locations: London, Belfast, Birmingham
• Most notable skills: External Audit, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), UK Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
• Most common job titles: Audit Associate, Assurance Associate, Tax Associate | Largest job functions: Accounting, Finance, Information Technology

5. Deloitte

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, commonly referred to as Deloitte, is a multinational professional services network with offices in over 150 countries and territories around the world.

• UK Headcount: 25,718
• Top UK locations: London, Belfast, Cardiff
• Most notable skills: Management Consulting, External Audit, Accounting
• Most common job titles: Tax Analyst, Tax Consultant, Assistant Audit Manager
• Largest job functions: Accounting, Finance, Information Technology

6. BT

BT is the parent company of Openreach, EE and others.

• UK Headcount: 80,400
• Top locations: London, Ipswich, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Most notable skills: Telecommunications, Fiber Optics, FTTP
• Most common job titles: Project Manager, Software Engineer, Account Manager
• Largest job functions: Information Technology, Sales, Engineering

7. Amazon

Amazon is the parent company of Whole Foods, Audible and others.

• UK Headcount: 70,000
• Top locations: London, Manchester, Luton
• Most notable skills: Warehouse Operations, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Logistics Management
• Most common job titles: Fulfilment Associate, Warehouse Associate, Software Engineer
• Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Human Resources

8. EY

Ernst & Young Global Limited, doing business as EY, is a multinational professional services network with headquarters in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world.

• UK Headcount: 17,000
• Top locations: London, Birmingham, Manchester
• Most notable skills: External Audit, Accounting, Financial Reporting
• Most common job titles: Assurance Associate, Senior Auditor, Tax Consultant
• Largest job functions: Accounting, Finance, Information Technology

9. American Express

The American Express Company is an American multinational corporation specialised in payment card services headquartered in New York City.

• UK Headcount: 5,604
• Top locations: Brighton, London, Redhill
• Most notable skills: Sabre, Luxury Travel, Merchant Services
• Most common job titles: Customer Care Professional, Software Engineer, Business Development Manager
• Largest job functions: Sales, Finance, Business Development

10. KPMG

KPMG International Limited is a British-Dutch multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organisations.

• UK Headcount: 15,310
• Top locations: London, Birmingham, Manchester
• Most notable skills: External Audit, Accounting, Auditing
• Most common job titles: Audit Associate, Assistant Audit Manager, Audit Assistant
• Largest job functions: Accounting, Finance, Information Technology