#UK workforce

#UK workforce

The ESRI revealed in its recently published quarterly economic commentary that the fall in the number of technology workers in Ireland was concentrated almost entirely among female workers in the sector.

The UK has about 1.59GW of currently installed datacentre capacity at just under 190 sites. If we add existing capacity to that which is planned to complete by 2030 and which has planning consent, we get 4.9GW.

The UK digital entertainment sector hit £13.5 billion in revenue in 2025, reflecting a 7.1% year-over-year growth, significantly outpacing the general economy's growth rate of 1.3%.

Whole Foods has endured a bruising time on this side of the Atlantic since entering the British market in 2004. Turnover at its UK arm fell seven per cent to £86.4 million in the year to December 2024, while pre-tax losses hit £20 million.

OpenAI announced plans for its Stargate program, a global data center initiative valued at $500bn, to be established in the UK, specifically at Cobalt Park on Tyneside. The project aimed to house around 8,000 Nvidia AI processors by the first quarter of 2026, but that deadline has now passed without any construction starting.

An industry-wide survey found that 64% of firms plan to cut jobs, 42% intend to reduce trading hours, and one in seven will be forced to close.

The TechFirst Women's Programme, backed by £4 million of government funding, aims to create at least 300 paid placements in technology roles across the UK. The programme will work with businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to identify opportunities for women to gain experience in fields such as software development, digital engineering, data science and artificial intelligence.

The outbreak of war in the Middle East has already affected energy prices, amid concerns that inflation may rise in the coming months. Despite this difficult market environment, most London-based small businesses remain committed to short-term growth plans.

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), equipping employees with the latest skills and tools needs to be a priority. After all, as the competition grows, SMEs can't afford to be idle. And it's not always possible for new hires or seasoned employees to know exactly what industry demands will look like. That's why SMEs must budget for upskilling within their workforces.

If employers want to bring workers from overseas, then they must also invest in the skills of workers already in Britain, Starmer said in May. At the same time, we will wean our national economy off its reliance on cheap labour from overseas. The end result will be a reformed immigration system that no longer ignores the millions of people who want the opportunity to train and contribute.

The monthly purchasing managers' index showed employment numbers fell more sharply in January compared with December, continuing a trend that started in October 2024. The PMI survey, which is considered to be one of the most reliable indicators of how a sector is performing, said this was the longest period of job shedding in the UK services sector in 16 years, with firms also choosing not to replace voluntary leavers.

The latest official figures, released this week, documenting the number of visa applications to live and work in the UK showed a further slump in people successfully navigating the new rules. Only three years ago, annual net migration soared to almost 1 million. This year the number of people entering the UK could fall to such an extent that it drops below the number moving in the opposite direction, sending the figure for net migration below zero for the first time since 1993.