Surveys
Accounts reveal funding improvement
Source: Occupational Pensions
Date: 01/10/2007
On the basis of disclosures in company accounts for 2006 that it has updated, actuarial consultancy Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) estimates that the pension schemes of FTSE 100 companies had a net surplus of £12 billion as at mid-July 2007.
Moscow is world's most costly city
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 22/09/2006
Moscow tops the list as the most expensive city in the world, according to the latest annual cost-of-living survey from Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
Communication breakdown
Source: Personnel Today
Date: 22/11/2005
The failure to communicate with and 'engage' employees not only makes work life a bit of a yawn, but is seriously affecting the UK's ability to compete on the global stage.
Data briefing: International comparisons of productivity
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 14/10/2005
New data from National Statistics shows that UK productivity, measured as GDP per worker, is lower than that of France and the USA, similar to that of Germany and higher than that of Japan.
UK seventh in IT pay league
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 30/09/2005
The UK is the seventh highest paying country for IT managers, according to research by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
Highest pay rises forecast for employees in Lithuania
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 28/01/2005
With pay rises of 11.4%, employees in India are expected to enjoy the highest pay increase in 2005, according to the latest annual global compensation survey from Mercer.
City forces fathers to learn childcare
Source: Personnel Today
Date: 18/01/2005
A Japanese city where no male municipal worker has ever taken a day of paternity leave is to force employees who become fathers to take time off and familiarise themselves with childcare.
International: Comparative labour costs in 2002
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/01/2004
Hourly labour costs in western German manufacturing industry in 2002 were 28% above the average among its competitor countries, according to the most recent annual report issued by the Institute of the German Economy. In eastern Germany, however, the hourly rate was on a level with that in Italy. Overall, the report noted that since 1980, in all the countries surveyed, non-wage labour costs increased more steeply than wages.
2004 pay rises to outstrip inflation
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 19/12/2003
Pay rises in most countries are likely to exceed national inflation rates by between one and 3.5 percentage points next year, according to the latest annual global compensation report from Mercer HR.
International: OECD publishes Employment Outlook report 2003
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/12/2003
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recently published its annual Employment Outlook report. The overall message of the 2003 report to policymakers is that the workforce must expand through the integration of under-represented groups. Crucially, there must be investment in skills. Without progress in these areas, the prospects for economic growth in many countries will be undermined as the population ages.
More losses in 2002 for segregated funds
Source: Occupational Pensions
Date: 01/04/2003
Last year marked the third consecutive year of negative performance for most segregated pension funds. Although they outperformed market indices, longer-term real returns relative to earnings and prices are now under threat. We look at how funds are adapting their investment strategies to hard times.
Third year of losses for pooled funds
Source: Occupational Pensions
Date: 01/03/2003
Pooled pension funds have now produced negative returns for three years in a row. Once again their results have suffered as a consequence of abysmal performance in equity markets worldwide.
International: Labour costs in 2001
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/10/2002
Hourly labour costs in manufacturing industry are still highest in western Germany, according to the latest annual study issued by the Institute of the German Economy.
Absence makes the heart grow stronger
Source: Occupational Health Review
Date: 01/09/2002
Working long hours and not getting enough sleep can double your risk of suffering a heart attack, Japanese researchers have found.
International: Decline in industrial action
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/09/2002
A report recently published in Germany examines strike activity in 22 OECD countries. It shows that strike activity was high in Iceland, Italy, Spain, Greece and Canada, and low in Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany.
