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We know that our higher education sector is under strain. Complicated caps on student numbers, changes in tuition fees and the ‘impact’ agenda have created a baffling mix of institutional and individual incentives across the sector. In this context Sir Tim Wilson today published his review setting out over 50 recommendations for how to improve university-business collaboration.

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The Work Foundation

‘Job snob’ rhetoric is muddying the debate about work experience

Posted By Lizzie Crowley and Dr Paul Sissons

24 February 2012

There has been a huge amount of debate (and confusion) about the Work Experience placements offered to unemployed 16-24 year olds through the government’s Get Britain Working initiative

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Andreea Moise

How Social Media can open organisations to innovation?

Posted By Andreea Moise

24 February 2012

Yesterday, The Work Foundation hosted a roundtable discussion of 15 business leaders from both the public and private sector discussing the implications of open innovation for people management - and potential strategies for building effective workforces through open innovation.

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Ksenia Zheltoukhova

How much is too much work?

Posted By Ksenia Zheltoukhova

24 February 2012

We know that work is good for our health. However, with too much work, the productivity value may in fact decrease with each extra hour, as working overtime regularly leads to burnout.

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For those who can work, secure and lasting employment is surely one of the best routes out of homelessness and poverty. Even if they are given somewhere to live, homeless families and individuals who fail to find work will remain vulnerable - at risk of losing their home again and, at best, reliant on benefits.

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Dr Paul Sissons

A NEET solution?

Posted By Dr Paul Sissons

22 February 2012

Yesterday Nick Clegg announced further details of the NEET prevention strand of the Youth Contract. The £126 million scheme, which will be in England only, will focus on those 16 and 17 year olds with poor qualifications (without a GCSE at grade C or above) who are outside education, employment and training.

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Ian Brinkley

How many people are really available for work?

Posted By Ian Brinkley

16 February 2012

Yesterday’s unemployment figures made grim reading with 2.7 million unemployed on the international standardised measure used by the International Labour Office (ILO). This includes all those who said they had looked for work in the past 4 weeks and were able to start a job in 2 weeks time.

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Dr Neil Lee

Labour market not delivering for young people

Posted By Dr Neil Lee

15 February 2012

Today’s labour market statistics are grim reading for young people: 1.04 million young people aged 16 to 24 are now unemployed, an increase of 22,000 from September 2011. The unemployment rate amongst young people is 22.2%, compared to 8.4% overall.

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Yesterday the government announced a £4.5 million City Skills Fund to help England’s largest cities and colleges work together to boost the provision of skills needed by employers.

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Yesterday (10 February), Prime Minister David Cameron was in Stockholm for the second day of the Northern Future Forum Summit. The summit, which brings together Nordic-Baltic and UK governments, aims to join up leaders with experts, entrepreneurs and academics to common social and economic issues. High on this year’s agenda is the question of how to get more women into top positions and encourage more female entrepreneurs.

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Tuesday’s (07 February) roundtable discussion on school to work transitions, held at The Work Foundation, marked the start of our new research consortium for ‘The Missing Million’, a two year solution focused project aimed at increasing the employment prospects for young people.

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Andrew  Sissons

The curious case of complex manufacturing

Posted By Andrew Sissons

07 February 2012

British manufacturing is in a very delicate place at the moment. The last three months of 2011 saw a contraction in the sector, dashing hopes that manufacturing would lead the UK out of recession. Part of this gloom is a direct product of the Eurozone crisis, because manufacturing depends on exports, and Europe is our biggest trading partner.

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Andrew  Sissons

Will Facebook’s flotation leave it in the stratosphere?

Posted By Andrew Sissons

02 February 2012

Facebook’s stock market flotation is a big deal. The social network is one of the world’s most iconic companies, and it plays a prominent role in many of our lives, but up until now we’ve known precious little about how successful Facebook is as a business. Last night’s announcement changed all that.

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