EDITION 968
8 MAY 2023

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 weave behavioural economics into your wellness programme. Organisational wellness programmes often rely on education to encourage people to lose weight, stop smoking, or manage health conditions. But educating people about what they already know but don’t do can only go so far. Instead, try behavioural economics approaches, which can help us overcome the psychological barriers that undercut our goals. READ MORE >>

2. The fastest growing jobs. These five roles are expected to expand fastest in the next five years as automation and energy transition transform the way we work. [5] Fintech engineer [31% growth]; [4] Information security analyst [31% growth]; [3] Business intelligence analyst [32% growth]; [2] Sustainability specialist [33% growth]; [1] AI and machine learning specialist [39% growth].Meanwhile, these five jobs are expected to decline the swiftest. [5] Administrative and executive secretary [34% decline], [4] Data entry clerk [36% decline], [3] Cashier and ticket clerk [37% decline], Postal service clerk [40% decline], [1] Bank cashiers and related clerks [40% decline]. These figures cover 673 million workers, a subset of the International Labour Organisation dataset, and not the 3.3 billion people in work globally. Future of Jobs Report 2023

3. Prisoners ‘to plug job gaps’. Thousands of prisoners will be allowed out on day release to “plug labour shortages”. After March’s budget identified labour shortages as a major threat to economic growth, ministers want to accelerate efforts to get former inmates into work by enhancing vocational training and allowing more prisoners out on licence to take up apprenticeships in sectors such as construction, haulage and hospitality. The paper noted that only 25% of those leaving prison have a job within six months. The Times

4. Food prices rise again. Food prices in the UK continued to rise last month despite a fall in wholesale costs, exacerbating the ongoing cost-of-living crisis in the UK. The British Retail Consortium found that food inflation jumped to 15.7% last month compared with April in 2022, up from 15% in March. However, said the trade body, the cost of a food shop “should start” to come down in the next few months. Meanwhile, the Institute of Directors has reported a fifth consecutive monthly rise in confidence among its members, returning to its level immediately before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Reuters

5. Families missing out on benefits. UK households are collectively missing out on at least £19bn a year in unclaimed welfare benefits, according to a study by the consultancy Policy in Practice. With lower income households failing to claim benefits to which they are entitled, some families could be relinquishing as much as £4,000 a year. The analysis found that “the sheer complexity of the benefits system, lack of public awareness of what support is available”, and “fear of being perceived by others as ‘benefit scroungers’” contribute to the high level of unclaimed or underclaimed benefits. The Guardian

6. Business optimism adds inflation risk. Business confidence in the UK is on the rise, two different indicators show. The Institute of Directors’ nudged up in a significant improvement since November 2022, though only 25% of company directors believe that inflation has peaked. Elsewhere Lloyds Banking Group found business confidence rose to an 11-month high in April, with 61% of firms intending to raise prices in the next year. Paul Gordon, managing director for relationship management at Lloyds Bank Business & Commercial Banking, said that while rising confidence levels will boost businesses ahead of the King's coronation and during summer, most businesses intending to increase prices could contribute to existing inflationary pressures. The Guardian

7. Labour ‘wins back Brexit voters’. Labour is making “dramatic progress” in “winning back pro-Brexit voters across the country. While the Tories were down 2.5 points in the most pro-remain wards, their vote was down even more – by 5.5 points – in the most pro-leave wards, as the “coalition of support for the Tories built by Boris Johnson collapses”, said the paper. Labour strategists believe they can take back seats across the “red wall” and are on course to win the next general election. The Observer

8. Support for the Monarchy is in long-term decline. 62% of British adults have a positive view of King Charles, up from 54% this time last year when he was still Prince of Wales (YouGov). However, only 55% of UK adults think it’s very or quite important for Britain to continue to have a monarchy (the National Centre for Social Research); 25% think it’s not important at all or want the monarchy abolished. In 1994, 66% deemed the monarchy very or quite important, and 15% thought it not important at all or supported abolition. CNN

9. Mobiles linked to blood pressure rise. A study has found that spending hours talking on mobile phones is bad for your blood pressure. When a team from the Southern Medical University in China followed 212,000 British adults, with an average age of 54, over a 12-year period, the risk of developing high blood pressure was found to increase the more time people spent on mobile phone calls. The researchers speculated that exposure to the low levels of radiofrequency energy emitted by mobile phones may raise blood pressure. Daily Record

10. The bottom line. The annual average cost of powering an integrated fridge-freezer went from £62.19 in October 2021 to £139.90 in April this year. Which?