Employment Trends 2011

2011 sees more women in the UK Board room but more needs to be done to readdress the balance claims the UK’s Minister for Equalities.   FTSE 100 companies were praised by the Minister, Lynne Featherstone for some progress in adding women to their board level positions but highlighted that more needed to be done to embrace diversity in order to improve their business performance and help to boost the UK economy. Featherstone said “The Government’s priority is to get the economy back into shape. That means dealing with the deficit and stimulating growth. Better use of women could be worth between £15 billion & £23 billion each year, and research shows that companies with higher proportions of women on their boards perform better than their rivals”.

Nevertheless, the gender imbalance has improved in 2011 with 22.5% of new FTSE100 directorship appointments going to women.

A study has been commissioned to research the numbers of American and European executives moving to Asia.  Leading Companies from both America and Europe are quickly expanding into the growth markets of APJ (Asia, Pacific, Japan) and the Bric nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and taking their top executives with them. Results of the study will be revealed early next year.

International sport continues to create jobs globally. With hosting the recent Rugby World Cup, the New Zealand labour force was provided with a boost of 7,000 more jobs in the 6 months leading up to the tournament. Although many of the roles were temporary, the NZ ministry of Social Benefit is confident that many picked up skills to help them with future job applications.

Although the final figures have yet to be calculated, the UK estimate around 30,000 new jobs will have been created between being awarded the London Olympic Games and the opening ceremony, providing a much needed boost to a flagging economy.