Job location matters more than money
Location is the most important reason that UK employees stay in their job (57%), ahead of salary (52%) and job security (33%). These are the findings of a survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of ClickSoftware. It also found that 20% of respondents believe their productivity at work has been negatively affected by the location of their employment and 67% said they had considered or actually left a job, in part, for a change in scenery. The most popular place to work, according to the survey, is at home.
Small firms slow to get ready for auto-enrolment
Many small businesses are still leaving it late to start the process of complying with auto-enrolment, according to NOW: Pensions. Its figures show that in the first quarter of 2015, 32% of firms signed up six months or more ahead of their staging date but 26% completed their application either very close to their staging date or after the deadline had passed. And its poll of firms yet to stage shows that 27% haven't given any thought to how they'll find a pension provider, down from 44% in 2014. Morten Nilsson, ceo of NOW: Pensions, said: "So far this year an encouraging proportion of employers are listening to advice and planning ahead for auto enrolment. But a significant number are still coming on board late or missing the deadline altogether."
Better broadband tops SME wish list
With all the main political parties pledging to improve UK broadband infrastructure, a new study of over 1,000 British small and medium-sized businesses by Citrix and YouGov has found that "access to fast and reliable internet" is the biggest factor that is important to most SMEs for business growth, cited by 55%. Andrew Millard, senior director, international marketing at Citrix, said: "Small and medium businesses want to know the where and how – what parties will do to tackle rural not-spots, not simply that it's coming."
Employers call for support on staff wellbeing
Almost one in five (19%) employers want the next government to take more action on staff wellbeing, according to new research from Group Risk Development (GRiD). Employers highlighted managing stress (38%), promoting a healthy work/life balance (64%) and introducing more flexible working initiatives (47%) as key issues in the run-up to the election. In addition, 20% of employers want income tax and national insurance to be merged to create a simplified system.