EDITION 806
24 FEBRUARY 2020

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. This newsletter is sent to 50,000+ subscribers each Monday. Please share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can subscribe, learn and engage. I'd be very grateful if you did.

1.  How to get the better of stress. We can have a healthier relationship with stress as we form a better understanding of what is stressful for each of us, how we respond and how we can navigate the process more gently and skilfully. It is empowering to work on creating the mental space and inner strength to choose whether a trigger for stress deserves our immediate attention and action, or not; and to be able to bring a sense of calm and balance, even in the tough times. Here are five tips to help you "flip" stress. READ MORE >>

2.  Wages reach highest level since 2008. The number of people in employment in the UK has hit a record high and average weekly wages have reached their highest levels since before the financial crash, data from the ONS shows. However, while more than 32.9 million people are now in work, a record number (an estimated 974,000 people) are on zero-hour contracts. This is an increase of 130,000 over the course of just a year. Weekly pay climbed to £512 in the three months to December, which - taking into account inflation - is the highest since March 2008. BBC

3. Youth job aspirations mismatched. An OECD survey across 41 countries suggests 15-year-olds' career aspirations lie mainly in traditional roles such as doctors, teachers, business managers or lawyers. In other words, they have "unrealistic expectations" about what work will be available. Some of the fastest-growing occupations, such as user support technician, are rarely mentioned by young people. Also of note, a gender gap is apparent: More boys than girls expect to work in science or engineering - with the average gap being more than 10 percentage points. The Economist.

4.  What’s pushing up UK inflation? A rise in petrol prices and the cost of gas and electricity has pushed up the UK rate of inflation, surprising analysts and bringing the consumer price index (CPI) to 1.8%. Rising energy prices drove up household heating costs, particularly compared to last year’s drop when the government introduced an energy price cap. The rise in inflation means interest rates are likely to hold steady, easing pressure on the Bank of England to lower the rate. The Guardian

5.  Have laptops killed the work/life balance? The office used to be a thing you went to for a certain number of hours a day; now, work is an entire plane of existence. The culprit behind this dissolving work-life balance is not your smartphone, at least not that alone. Over the past decade, employers have bought more laptop computers than the previously preferred desktop version. Beyond the quick after-hours email checks now common on smartphones, laptops have allowed employees to dive into more complex work at all hours of the day, turning many people’s whole life into an office. For a better work/life balance, CLICK on the image below.

6.  First woman passes brutal Paras entry course. Since the 1990s, several female soldiers have tried and failed to pass the British Army’s gruelling Parachute Regiment P Company entry course. Now a 28-year-old, Captain Rosie Wild, has won one of the regiment’s coveted maroon berets after successfully tackling the brutal test of strength and courage, which is failed by many men. BBC

7.  What’s in a colour? The first blue British passports for nearly 30 years will be issued next month. Blue passports were introduced in 1921 and phased out after 1988 when members of the then European Economic Community agreed to harmonise designs. According to the Passport Index, 81 countries have blue passports, including Australia, the United States, Canada, India and Hong Kong. Several Caribbean countries also favour them along with Israel, Iraq, Syria and North Korea. BBC

8.  The world’s most secretive financial systems. The UK has climbed the world ranking of tax havens and is nearing the top 10 most secretive financial systems. The Tax Justice Network (TJN) said the UK had become a more desirable place for businesses and super-rich individuals to hide their finances from the law, raising serious concerns about Britain’s post-Brexit strategy. The Guardian

9.  Men still won’t grasp the vacuum. Our traditional view of who does chores at home remains stagnant. Younger opposite-sex couples in the UK are just as likely as their older peers to be in relationships where women do more work out of the office, according to a new survey from Gallup. Despite widespread support for women to pursue ambitious careers, women spend about two hours more a day than men on housework and childcare. The Times

10. The bottom line. The House of Lords is facing criticism after it emerged that a soaring expenses bill meant peers received tax-free payments worth more than the average British worker’s salary. Peers’ expenses and daily attendance allowance claims rocketed to £23m in the year to last March, an increase of 29 per cent on the previous year. The Sunday Times