Weekly Media Roundup, 2-6 September

The REC’s media activity started with a bang this week, as we kicked off the next stage of our apprenticeship levy campaign on Monday morning. The REC, CIPD, CIMA, Freight Transport Association and other business bodies wrote a joint letter to the Chancellor, Sajid Javid, urging him to broaden the apprenticeship levy and allow businesses to use those funds on a wider range of quality training courses.

Neil Carberry had an early start on Monday morning as he spoke to Radio 4’s Today programme about the letter, pointing out how the current system has failed in its objectives, and how a broader skills levy could benefit business, workers and the economy. You can listen back to his interview here, starting around 20 minutes into the programme.

The joint letter was also covered by the Daily Mail, the i newspaper, the Yorkshire Post, Staffing Industry Analysts and HR review, among others.

On Tuesday night, parliament sensationally took control of the House of Commons agenda from the government, allowing them to table a motion to delay a no-deal Brexit. Tom Hadley told Recruiter magazine that politicians must maintain stability and protect jobs, and “focus on getting a Brexit deal that reassures employers and workers alike.”

Tom also reacted to the government’s Spending Review on Tuesday, pointing out that while investment in the NHS, education and infrastructure are welcome, success is still dependent on them having the staff and skills to deliver these services and projects.

And today we published our latest Report on Jobs, which showed worrying signs for the jobs market – permanent placements by recruiters have now dropped for six months in a row, and are declining at the fastest rate since mid-2016. Tom Hadley was interviewed on BBC News about the report, and you can watch a short clip here.

Report on Jobs was also covered in The Times, Telegraph, Daily Mirror, MailOnline, City AM, Reuters, The Independent, LBC, New York Times, and a number of regional and sector titles.

That’s all folks – have a good weekend!