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The change means young people receiving their GCSE results can now consider train driving as a career option, with 18-year-olds eligible to apply for train driver training without a university degree. The new rules, which came into force in June 2026, allow school leavers to begin the training immediately after leaving school or college, giving them the opportunity to start a skilled career without spending several years in higher education. ALSO READ: Study: Women drive global health workforce growth, but 34.4m workers still needed The UK Department for Transport announced the change on Wednesday as students received their GCSE results, highlighting train driving as one of the career paths available to school leavers. The government said the reform is designed to tackle a shortage of train drivers while giving young people access to stable, skilled and well-paid jobs. Currently, fewer than four per cent of train drivers in the UK are under 30, while about a quarter of the existing workforce is expected to reach retirement...

Unite members are set to stage a protest outside Number 10 North in Manchester tomorrow (Friday August 21).The demonstration will take place at Heron House on Lloyd Street from 12pm to 1pm.It will highlight what the union describes as 'workforce waste' within the NHS, with a particular focus on the lack of employment opportunities for newly qualified mental health professionals.It comes amid warnings that 77 newly trained clinical psychologists in the North West could face unemployment or be forced into private practice next month, despite the NHS investing £19.25 million in their training over three years.Unite is calling for emergency funding to create NHS roles for these professionals and to ensure future cohorts have clear, funded employment pathways within the health service.Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said: "We are seeing the same crisis in the NHS year after year."Highly trained, essential workers who plan to dedicate their careers to caring for others are unable to find jobs or leave...

© Adobe Stock The latest ONS labour market data indicates that vacancies have fallen to their lowest level in normal times in more than a decade, as the UK’s jobs drought deepens. As the Government seeks to tackle persistent job insecurity, growing youth unemployment, and imbalanced regional growth, the challenge is not simply to create jobs - it’s to create the type of secure and sustainable jobs that can address the UK’s most pressing challenges. This analysis considers the sectoral dimensions...

Nigerian fintech companies and banks are pouring more than £100 million ($127 million) into the United Kingdom, driving hundreds of new jobs and marking a notable shift in capital flows from Africa’s largest economy to one of the world’s oldest financial centres. The expansions come as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wraps up a historic two-day state visit to Britain on March 18-19, the first by a Nigerian leader in nearly 37 years. Hosted by King Charles III at Windsor Castle, the visit has spotlighted deepening economic ties, with announcements timed to underscore mutual growth under the UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP). Fintech firms lead the charge. LemFi, a remittances and cross-border payments specialist, has committed £100 million over five years, establishing London as its global headquarters. The move aims to better serve the Nigerian diaspora and expand services for users across Africa and beyond. Moniepoint, which powers payments for millions of African businesses and individuals, plans to scale its London team to...

Six years ago, Ima* (27) earned ₦80k/month. Today, she’s a product manager in the UK earning £65k/year. Despite earning more than ever, her relocation has triggered an era of strict budgeting and radical money boundaries. In this story, she shares her income growth trajectory, how she’s navigating corporate UK as an immigrant, and why she is aggressively cutting down her black tax to protect her financial future. As Told To Boluwatife My career started in 2020, right after NYSC.  I studied English in university, which meant I had no clear idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was desperately broke and willing to take anything that paid. That was how I landed a role as a Business Development Executive at a jewellery company, earning ₦80k/month. It was a glorified sales role heavily tied to commission, but I still lived with my parents, so ₦80k was enough to buy myself stuff occasionally.  However, it quickly became obvious that my salary couldn’t fund the life...

What happens to your UK job rights if you move to France Her contract described her main place of work as her “home office” wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock. A woman has lost an employment tribunal claim over unfair dismissal after the UK company she worked for fired her after she moved to France and continued working remotely from her French home. Iryna Malyk worked for Teleperformance Contact Ltd as a regional finance business partner (Europe) from May 2022 until her dismissal in August 2024.  Her contract described her main place of work as her “home office”. The company’s Bristol office closed in September 2022, after which she worked entirely from home. Then, in June 2024, Ms Malyk told her manager that...

Bruce Devlin’s tech career is flourishing. He’s been promoted twice in the past four years, most recently to the role of senior quality engineer at 2i, a software testing company.  Devlin, 26, has even built his own system outage monitoring tool, and is developing his own video game. In recognition of his talent and passion, he was named a “rising star” at the 2026 ScotlandIS Digital Technology Awards. “I often introduce myself as a big nerd. I’ve always been super into tweaking and tinkering with programming and computers. Since I was a kid, I loved all things to do with video games, movies and TV shows, and I just wanted to make my own games and technology,” says Devlin, who’s based in Glasgow, Scotland. “Just being a contributing member of society is an amazing achievement,” says Devlin. Courtesy of JP Morgan Glasgow “I’ve now got a bunch of extracurricular projects that I essentially just reinvest all my salary back into, to make cool tech...

Andy Burnham will tell firms bidding for public contracts to prove they are creating jobs rather than meeting green and social targets in a bid to get more people into work.The prime minister will overhaul the £90bn public procurement system so bidders have to show they are supporting young people into work and addressing local skills shortages.It comes as the government seeks to tackle the youth unemployment crisis, with Burnham saying he wants to create "growth in every postcode".But green groups criticised the plans, arguing supporting young people into work should not come at the expense of the environment.Companies bidding for government contracts are judged on a range of measures, including value for money and the extent to which they bring benefits to the local community. Under the changes, the weighting given to the benefits brought by companies will be doubled, from 10% to 20% for contracts worth £5m or more, the Cabinet Office said. Previously, this accounted for how...

The fear of becoming surplus to requirements because of advancements in AI is one shared by millions of workers, but are AI recruitment tools posing a specific threat to women trying to return to employment?After a career spanning decades, with senior corporate roles in fashion, and a period of freelancing, 52-year-old Stacey Duguid decided to find "one last job". What followed was 16 months of sending "gazillions" of CVs, with little more than a handful of automated replies, despite never previously struggling to find work.Feeling "lonely and shameful" and wondering if it was a "me problem", she posted on social media asking whether other women her age were having the same experience. The response was overwhelming, with thousands of women saying they were facing similar struggles.Stacey, who lives in north London, believes AI-powered recruitment tools could be contributing to the problem and has "Botoxed" her CV by removing references to her age and experience."AI holds a mirror up to society....

Jamie Dimon, the boss of the US bank JP Morgan, has urged John Healey not to use his first budget as chancellor to increase taxes on banks’ bumper profits.Speculation has been growing that a windfall tax could be imposed on UK lenders to fund Andy Burnham’s cost of living agenda, with campaigners estimating such a move could raise £19bn.Dimon told Healey in a phone conversation that higher levies could hit jobs, citing a fall in finance roles in New York that he blamed on the city’s tax regime.One person familiar with the conversation said the chief executive of the world’s biggest bank’s comments on tax were not specific to the UK, adding that Dimon was the first among many bank bosses to have an introductory call with the new chancellor, with calls with other chief executives to follow.The Wall Street billionaire’s remarks, first reported by the Financial Times, were condemned by Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the Trades Union...