Job market

Four in 10 European doctors are considering leaving Britain following the Brexit vote, new research suggests. A British Medical Association (BMA) survey found that 42% are thinking of quitting the UK, with a further 23% still unsure if they will stay. The BMA warned it could spell “disaster” as the National Health Service (NHS) was already facing “crippling staff shortages”.

Among NHS staff in England, 59,796 are from the European Union, according to NHS Digital, including 10,267 doctors – around 6.6% of the UK medical workforce. “Diseases know no country borders, and medicine is an international profession, with global co-operation in research, drug development, standards of patient care, and free movement of doctors around the world.”

Using smartphones, laptops and other technology to work from home may help you do away with rush hour traffic, but also lead to longer working hours, higher stress and sleeping problems, according to a new UN study in 15 countries.

“This report shows that the use of modern communication technologies facilitates a better overall work-life balance,” said Jon Messenger, co-author of the joint report by the UN International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Eurofund. The study, Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work is based on interviews with workers and experts in 10 European Union member states, Argentina, Brazil, India, Japan and the United States.

Swiss unemployment rose in January to 3.7%, compared with 3.5% in December. This was stated this morning by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), according to which in late January the amount of unemployed people registered at the regional offices of placement was 164’466 , 5’094 more than in the previous month and 822 more than in January 2016 .

Among young people (15-24 years) the number of unemployed increased by 566 units (+ 2.9%) to reach a total of 19’782, which still corresponds to 1,398 persons less (-6, 6%) compared to 12 months ago. People who are looking for employment were 226’861, 3’448 more compared with December and 4’110 more with January 2016).

Switzerland’s consumer sentiment improved strongly in the three months to January to its highest level in two-and-a-half years, survey results from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed Tuesday.

The consumer confidence index climbed to -3 from -13 in October, marking its highest level since July 2014, the survey conducted among roughly 1,200 consumers revealed. The reading is above its long-term average, after six below-average quarters.

"Consumers are clearly more optimistic about where they feel the economy is going as well as being less gloomy about the future development of unemployment and their own financial situation. This is thus the first time that consumers have rated the outlook in many areas as positively as they did shortly before the Swiss franc shock in early 2015" SECO said.

Benoit Hamon secured the French Socialist Party’s presidential nomination on Sunday, beating rival Manuel Valls. Initial results gave Hamon 58 percent of the vote and Valls only 42.

Hamon was the more left-wing choice of the two politicians. He supports a universal basic income and wants to reduce the traditional work week to 35 hours. He has also spoken in support of legalizing cannabis and increased investment in renewable energy. Valls, on the other hand, has called himself a more "Clintonite" leftist with a strong belief in pragmatism and individual responsibility.

Swiss Life company Zurich will cut 240 jobs in the UK as part of a business restructure. The company said it will remove 240 jobs from the UK business after plans were announced last year to merge the life and general insurance departments. The new structure will be effective immediately but the firm will consult on the job cuts before making any decisions.

Zurich said the jobs cuts would not be in ‘market facing’ roles and were likely to be from back office positions. It said cuts would be made where there was overlap between life and general insurance positions.

UK’s powerhouse financial sector would face heightened risk and an exodus of 232,000 jobs without certainty over Britain’s Brexit deal, MPs in the House of Commons have heard. Xavier Rolet, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), said two thirds of the job losses would be felt outside Greater London, with the blow coming as soon as the euro clearing operation leaves Britain’s shores.

Speaking to MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Rolet said the jobs figure came from a report produced by professional services firm EY for the LSE, which not only took into account the “few thousand” jobs lost from euro clearing itself, but the entire impact on financial services if the operation was moved outside the UK.

The government is seriously considering imposing a £1,000-a-year levy on every European Union skilled worker recruited by British employers after Brexit.

Home Office minister Robert Goodwill told peers that the “immigration skills levy” could be introduced for EU migrants and would “be helpful to British workers who feel they are overlooked” in favour of migrants.

He went on: “I don’t think many people are aware that in April of this year we are bringing for non-EU workers coming into the UK an immigration skills charge.