EDITION 933
22 AUGUST 2022

There is no escaping it: too much news is bad for you. It should come with a government health warning: “This intellectual diet is fine taken in small doses, and preferably in weekly instalments, via a well-balanced newsletter, such as 10 things from William Montgomery."

So, as another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. Please feel free to share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can also subscribe, learn and engage. I would be very grateful if you did.

William Montgomery
Editor and CEO of TEN

1. How to discuss a sudden job loss. Being asked why you were laid off from a job can release a wave of anxiety. How should you handle the question in a job interview? Best to approach the conversation with honesty by sharing the circumstances that led to the decision. The key is to use positive framing, emphasising how you will bring the skills and experience you have gained to the new position and, rather than dwelling on the past, focus on how you will add value moving forward. READ MORE >>

2. MPs ‘binned’ 2.6m dinners. “Pampered” MPs and Lords have “binned” 2.6m dinners as ordinary people struggle to feed their families. The tabloid reported that “mounds of heavily subsidised grub” went to landfill in a “waste scandal” that has angered food poverty campaigners. Noting the “stomach-churning figures” it said that over six years the dumped food would fill 153 eight-ton skips and weighed 1.23million kilos – or 1,230 tons. In contrast, said the tabloid, more than two million hard-up adults admit often going without food for an entire day. The Mirror.

3. How many days do people WFH? Returning to the office is a minority pursuit, global research shows. According to the ONS, UK workers are going to the office 1.5 days a week on average, slightly ahead of the global average, with Wednesday the most popular day to go in. Pre-pandemic, workers averaged four days a week in the office. The strength of the shift adds to concerns for the office real estate sector, which faces pressures including rising interest rates, demand for greener space and debt servicing costs. Cost of living concerns are one reason some want to WFH: at the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, staff have asked for a maximum of two days in per week to minimise commuting costs. BBC 

4. Will rising costs put an end to working from home? Energy prices are forecast to top £5,000 in April, making it more costly to heat and power homes. City of London workers could save £50 per week in January 2023 if they walked, ran or cycled to work. These savings are largely due to not having to heat a household for an entire working day. Elsewhere, research by Blackhawk Network, a UK Cycle to Work scheme, found that commuting by bicycle could save workers in the West Midlands up to £760 per year. Additionally, the data showed 62% of employees were concerned about traveling to work as a result of rising fuel costs. Will rising energy prices push you to return to the office this winter? Bloomberg

5. First double-digit inflation in four decades. The UK’s rate of inflation jumped to 10.1% in July – the highest in the G7 and the first time it has registered a double-digit annual increase in more than four decades. The rise from 9.4% in June exceeded economists’ expectations. The largest contributor to rising prices, according to the ONS, was food, but energy and transport costs also contributed, as did the spiralling price of package holidays. The inflationary squeeze on household finances was rammed home by statistics showing that real wages have suffered their sharpest fall since comparable records began. The Financial Times

6. Most households to be pushed into fuel poverty. Two-thirds of UK households will be in fuel poverty by January, according to a new study by the University of York. The research suggested that 18m families, the equivalent of 45m people, will be left trying to make ends meet after further predicted rises in the energy price cap in October and January. Some 86.4% of pensioner couples are expected to fall into fuel poverty and 90.4% of lone parents with two or more children. Fuel poverty is generally defined as when energy costs exceed 10% of a household’s net income. The Guardian

7. UK approves dual Covid jab. The UK has become the first country to approve a dual vaccine that tackles both the original Covid virus and the Omicron variant. The bivalent vaccine, known as “Spikevax bivalent Original/Omicron”, has been given the green light for use as a booster for people over the age of 18. Ministers say the vaccine will now form part of the autumn booster campaign. All over-50s are likely to be offered an updated coronavirus vaccine in a booster rollout due to begin within a month. CNBC

8. Will we pay to get lawyers’ attention. Lawyers in the future may bill by “attention units” and not hours worked if neurotechnology is adopted by the profession. The technology includes chips that can be implanted in a person’s brain to monitor how much they are working. Proponents say it could speed up complex legal work, meaning fewer lawyers could work on big cases, resulting in lower bills for clients. The report, commissioned by the Law Society, Neurotechnology, Law and the Legal Profession, highlights some of the issues which such an implant could present, including those around mental and medical privacy, and how information collected from a person’s brain could be used. Law Gazette

9. Navy to stop patrolling Channel. The Royal Navy is planning to relinquish its role of dealing with migrants crossing illegally to the UK on 31 January next year. Just months after Boris Johnson brought in the first Navy vessels to patrol the Channel, government sources said the Navy is planning to hand back control to the Border Force. The news comes after MPs complained that policing the Channel had turned the Navy into a “super taxi service” for migrants. The next PM will be presented with a dilemma over whether to overrule military advisers. The Telegraph

10. The bottom line. Just one in every 20 transactions will be made using cash by 2031, said banks. UK Finance, the banking trade body, said that in 2010 56% of all payments were made using cash, whereas that figure fell to 15% last year. There were 23.1m people in Britain who paid in cash only once a month or not at all but there are still 1.1m people who use cash as their primary form of payment. The Telegraph