Careers news

QHotels sets up chef academy

QHotels has launched its own chef academy, aimed at 16- to 24-year-olds, in a bid to attract new talent to its 21 hotels and improve the skills of existing employees. In addition to on-site training, the apprentices will take part in a number of workshops. The scheme was set up in association with VT Training and is sponsored by Platinum Recruitment.

â- Snowed-in staff warning

Snowed-in workers should not be forced to take holiday by "scrooge" employers because they were kept away from work by the recent bad weather, unions have warned. The TUC said it would be bad practice for organisations not to pay staff or to force them to take annual leave for any time they've spent away from the workplace.

â- Vacancies hit 12-year low

Demand for staff has slumped dramatically in the past month, hitting a 12-year low, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and KPMG. The Report on Jobs found permanent staff vacancies fell to a new low in January, decreasing at the fastest pace since the survey was first published in 1997.

The number 73%
… of employers expect to cut jobs in 2009

Source: Pay specialist and Caterer sister title IRS