EDITION 849
21 DECEMBER 2020

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. So grab a brew and find out what's new.

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1. How to reflect on 2020. It has been a difficult year that many might want to put behind them as quickly as possible, but now might be a good opportunity for reflecting and readying for the new year and a fresh decade. So add some self-reflection to your resolutions and get ready to dive into 2020 with a whole new perspective. [MORE]

2. Virus mutations tightens UK lockdown. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the government will do what it can to support jobs and businesses, after a surge in a “new variant” of the coronavirus forced the government to perform a dramatic U-turn on plans to allow five-day household bubbles and announce new tier 4 areas. On Sunday, daily cases across the UK were the highest on record, with 35,928 cases – a jump of 51% in one week. The Telegraph

3. Labour is gaining ground on the Tories. Labour has won more Leave voters from the Tories than Remain voters. In the 2019 election, the Tories had the support of 70% of Leave voters and 20% of Remain voters. Labour won just 16% of Leave voters and 49% of Remain voters. Now, though, Labour has 20% of Leave voters and 53% of Remain voters, leaving the Tories with 63% of Leavers, and 21% of Remainers. The Observer

4. The future of employee training. Reskilling seems to have become a buzz word amid the coronavirus pandemic and online learning courses are booming. But the crisis - alongside the drastic shift to remote work - has also forced many corporations to re-examine how they train and educate their own employees through leveraging new technologies. According to the ONS, the pandemic is accelerating the adaptation flexible online learning. projecting that twice as many learning and development leaders will utilise online learning for employee training by 2022. Our own 10/10 leadership development and mentoring programme is both flexible and adaptable, and I would commend it to you. [MORE]

5. Dealing with redundancy. With the pandemic causing huge job losses, many people are dealing with the challenges of redundancy, from money worries to motivation. In these circumstances, it’s important to remember this isn’t your fault. Taking stock of your finances early can help minimise stress down the line. Being strategic about job hunting by scheduling a few hours a day to send well-tailored applications can also help. Finally, talking to friends or former colleagues can help ease the mental burden – and could lead to new opportunities. [MORE]

6. MPs were denied a pay rise last week. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority said increasing MPs’ salaries (from £81,932 a year) would be “inconsistent” with the hardship faced by their constituents this year. In a recent poll, two-thirds of respondents said that MPs were already paid too much. The Times

7. Brave new word. Zumping is a euphemism that relates to firing employees by video. Some couples saw quarantine as the perfect time to leave listless relationships via brutal zumpings. Bosses have jumped on the bandwagon. Zumping person-to-person is just about OK in the current climate. But some firms have chosen to scale up, firing many people – sometimes thousands – in a single Zoom session. In May, a tearful Uber executive laid off 3,500 people on one call. The Economist

8. Drinking and sobriety are up. Almost one in 20 people are drinking more than 50 units of alcohol per week - about 50% more than before the Covid pandemic, when the figure was about one in 30. Data published by Public Health England reveals that record numbers of people have been drinking more than five bottles of wine a week since the first national lockdown but the proportion of people who did not drink rose from 34.7% to 41.3% between March and September. BBC

9. It’s a wonderful life. The 1940s classic It’s A Wonderful Life has been named best Christmas film in a nationwide poll of radio listeners. The movie, starring James Stewart, topped a ranking of 12 festive films of all time – with Die Hard in second place. Festive favourites The Muppet Christmas Carol, Home Alone and Elf completed the top five in the poll of BBC Radio 2 listeners. BBC

10. The bottom line. The cost per dose of Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is just £3. That compares with £25 for the US’s Moderna vaccine, £15 for the US and Germany’s Pfizer-BioNTech shot and £7.50 for the jab developed by Russia’s Gamaleya. Metro