EDITION 958
27 FEBRUARY 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 increase productivity. Any successful business requires a great plan and talented, hardworking people to make it happen. But workplace productivity, the ultimate effectiveness of your efforts, greatly influences how far and fast you can go. Without a clear blueprint for success, no company can keep its employees consistently productive. READ MORE >>

2. Breakthrough for four-day week trial. In a "major breakthrough" for the world’s largest trial of a four-day working week, nearly all of the participating UK firms will stick with the new working pattern past the experiment's end-date. Of the 61 companies taking part in the six-month trial, 56 have extended the four-day week, including 18 who have made it permanent. A report from 4 Day Week Global, who organised the trial, revealed "extensive benefits" from shorter working hours, including reduced stress levels. Work-life balance improved for staff, according to the report, while employers found little difference in productivity across different industries and sectors. Wall Street Journal

3. Female-founded firms reach record high. Female entrepreneurs in the UK launched a record number of new businesses last year. Despite a challenging environment for fundraising, women created 151,603 companies in 2022, up from 145,271 in 2021 and more than double the number in 2018. While the landscape for female founders has improved over the years, the study pointed to significant remaining barriers, including a need for more funding. Half of the female business leaders and entrepreneurs reported difficulty finding access to financing and investment, compared to 40% of males. Men also remain three times more likely to start a new business than women. Financial Times

4. Gen Z workers are burnt out. Employee stress levels are on the rise, with the younger generation feeling the greatest impact, according to the Cigna 360 Global Well-Being Survey 2022. It surveyed nearly 12,000 employees across 15 countries – including the UK, Australia and the US – saying that 91% of Gen Z participants between the ages of 18 and 24 feel stressed, compared to 84% on average. The report said that unmanageable stress impacts almost a quarter (23%) of Gen Z-ers, with 98% experiencing symptoms of work burnout. Meanwhile, Millennials between 25 and 34 were not far off behind, with 87% saying they were stressed. BBC

5. Should schools teach tax? Tax is something that we all have to deal with in our lives, but many Brits struggle to understand the system, especially when it comes to personal tax. The rules can be even harder to get to grips with for self-employed people, digital nomads and online earners. According to the Financial Times, HM Revenue & Customs is currently writing to thousands of gamers, traders and social media "creators" that may not have paid the right tax for money earned online. HMRC also plans to contact people who make money from selling goods and services through online marketplaces like eBay, Facebook and Etsy. Should schools teach tax? Let us know in our latest poll. VOTE HERE >>

6. Labour ‘set for landslide’. Labour is on course for a 1997-scale landslide victory at the next general election, according to a new poll. The research shows Labour is preferred to the Tories on practically every policy area. Around 46% would vote for Sir Keir Starmer’s party with 29% backing the Conservatives, 9% voting for the Liberal Democrats, 6% supporting Reform UK and 4% opting for the Greens. The results “suggest that Rishi Sunak is currently failing to close the gap with Labour”. iPaper

7. Apple nears healthcare breakthrough. Apple has spent the last 12 years developing a non-invasive blood sugar monitoring system for Apple Watches that could change care for millions of people with diabetes. With over 10% of the U.S. population with diabetes, Apple’s moonshot system could help people avoid pricking their skin for blood samples and make the tech giant a major healthcare player. The project, housed under Apple’s secretive Exploratory Design Group, uses laser-emitting chips to estimate a person’s blood glucose level. Many companies have attempted to make similar devices which are currently under development, but so far none have succeeded. Bloomberg

8. Young women ‘not settling down’. Younger women are “shunning marriage” after new census figures showed that more than half of women aged 34 or under are now unmarried. The data revealed that the number of women aged 30-34 who have never married or been in a civil partnership rose to 54.2% in 2021 from 43.7% in 2011 and 18.3% in 1991. The number of unmarried women aged 25 to 29 was also up from 67.8% in the 2011 census to 80.5% in 2021. “Young women are clearly not settling down,” said a family law expert. The Times

9. ‘Shocking’ figures show police crimes. Roughly one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced criminal charges, including for sexual offences, last year. The “shocking figures” showed that the Police Federation received 1,387 claims for legal support from members facing criminal charges in 2022. The data also suggested that the number of officers facing criminal charges has “skyrocketed” by 590% since 2012. A spokesperson for police reform campaign group StopWatch said: “We would not be surprised if the figures are an underestimate.” The Observer

10. The bottom line. House prices in the UK now stand at more than nine times the average salary, a ratio not seen since 1876. Daily Telegraph