29 FEB 2024
This weeks FE & HR news: Colleges week, neurodiverse hiring, employee benefits and more.
A busy week of news stories, mostly dominated by Colleges Week. Here are a selection of noteworthy stories that you may have missed:
Robert Halfon MP Reflects on Colleges Week
In a rapidly advancing world where skills are the currency of success, colleges offer high-quality education to aspirational people who want to get on, no matter where they are in life. These colleges extend the ladder of opportunity to people across the country, allowing them to gain the skills needed for a good job and a great career. View article.
The Education manifesto that Britain needs - Kickstart FE
Further education, that garden of second and third chances for the more than half of students not destined for university, languishes neglected.
FE college staff have suffered real-terms pay cuts of 18%, even deeper than teachers, and a quarter of them leave the profession after one year because of lack of resources and lack of esteem. It’s here that Britain falls behind in skills. Where other countries train high-level engineers and technicians, with apprenticeships worth the name, those opportunities have fallen in the past decade. View article.
Prison Education unlocked: The system that’s failing its learners
The prison population is estimated to pass 100,000 by 2030. With re-offending rates starting to increase and new prison education contracts out to tender, FE Week explore this hidden world – and find out what needs to change. View article.
Recruitment processes are hindering the progress of neurodiverse individuals.
A new report has found that autistic individuals face difficulties due to ambiguous interview questions. This highlights the frustrating lack of support that currently exists. Current recruitment processes are built to qualify candidates out, not qualify them in, so neurodiverse individuals are put on the back foot from the outset. Given the ongoing skills gap and challenges that many UK businesses face when it comes to hiring talent, we need to broaden our approach which requires a fundamental change. View article.
New workplace menopause advice: an employer’s guide
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has set out what businesses can do – and the potential legal implications of failing to do enough. View article.
Colleges facing long delays for severance pay approvals
Colleges are waiting months longer than expected for government approval on severance payments to outgoing staff, in the latest red tape headache imposed on leaders since reclassification. Following the Office for National Statistics decision in November 2022 to class colleges as public instead of private sector bodies, the government outlined that colleges must apply for approval for special severance payments to departing employees. View article.
Inspiring ambiverts in the workplace
Are you an extrovert or an introvert? For some people the answer is clear, but for many, it’s not so black and white. You’ve probably heard of the Myers-Briggs test. Since the 40s, this assessment has helped us peer into different personality types. This and many other personality tests tend to polarise introversion and extroversion, making them seem mutually exclusive. If you never felt like you fit squarely into one category, you’re not alone. View article.
There’s no tired like teacher tired
Improving wellbeing, recruitment and retention of teaching staff must start with honest recognition of quite how exhausting the job is. View article.
Employee benefits: how to create an employee benefits package
Employee benefits are an essential part of a competitive compensation package, with our research showing that 44% of workers are willing to go without a pay rise to secure their most desired benefit. As a result, a benefits package for employees that connects with jobseeker needs and expectations can help employers gain an edge in the hiring landscape. View article.
Want to be attractive as an employer? Be sustainable
Colleges have distinct advantages – and all the incentives in place – to develop their electric vehicle infrastructure. View article.