German carmaker, Volkswagen (VW), has today announced it will increase headcount by around 50,000 in the medium-term due to considerably high sales growth in numerous markets. VW’s Personnel Director, Horst Neumann, told the German newspaper, Handelsblatt: “We have around 400,000 workers around the world today. With pursued growth in many markets, we could reach a [...]
The US dollar has fallen to a fresh 15-year low today against the Japanese yen and also fell against the euro. Many are calling this week “the busiest week in decades” as interest rate decisions are expected across the globe. US central bank, the Federal Reserve, could be set to provide extra stimulus to strengthen [...]
Pfizer has announced plans to reduce its global headcount by 6,000 over the next five years as part of a major restructure. The company, which is the world’s largest drug maker, said the jobs represent almost a fifth of its workforce and said it will also close manufacturing sites in Ireland and scale back operations [...]
One in five of the world’s workforce are dipping into savings to pay off debt, a new study has revealed. Over 20% of workers have raided the piggybank in the last year to lighten their burden of debt, whilst 13% have stopped saving entirely. In the UK, China, the US, and India, savings have been [...]
Property researchers the Global Property Guide have revealed the extent to which house prices have affected countries around the world during the year to 31 March 2009. Among the 32 countries studied in the survey, 27 experienced price falls over the period with Latvian capital, Riga, seeing average apartment prices falling by a staggering 50% [...]
HSBC, the UK’s largest bank, is shedding around 1,100 jobs worldwide across its global banking and markets division, as it comes under pressure due to the current financial turmoil. The jobs represent around 4% of its total workforce with nearly half of the job cuts to go at the bank’s Canary Wharf office in London, [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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