Thursday newspaper round-up: Staff shortages, retailers, Morrisons

by | Jul 8, 2021

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Britain’s employers are struggling with the worst staff shortages since the late 1990s, amid the rush to reopen from lockdown and a sharp drop in overseas workers due to Covid and Brexit. Sounding the alarm over the risks to economic recovery from acute labour shortages, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and the accountancy firm KPMG said the number of available workers plunged in June at the fastest rate since 1997. – Guardian
Retailers are urging the government to bring forward changes to self-isolation policies planned for August as they warn of rapidly increasing staff shortages related to Covid. Richard Walker, the boss of the Iceland grocery chain, said that staff absences linked to coronavirus were “growing exponentially”. “Within a week or two they’ll be the highest ever,” he wrote on Twitter. “Covid rules end 19 July. Self-isolation rules not eased until 16 August. This will be a shit-show for business.” – Guardian

Hedge funds are keeping their powder dry on Morrisons because they believe the market has overexaggerated the prospect of a knockout swoop from a private equity buyer. Opportunistic investors – which would ordinarily be expected to pile into Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer on hopes of a bidding war after an offer to take it private – are sitting on the sidelines because they think shares have already reached the maximum price buyout funds would be willing to pay. – Telegraph

Boris Johnson has overruled his ministers to order a review into a Chinese-backed takeover of Britain’s biggest microchip factory following an outcry over national security. The Prime Minister told MPs that he has asked the National Security Adviser, Sir Stephen Lovegrove, to assess the £65m sale of Newport Wafer Fab to Nexperia, a Dutch company owned by China’s Wingtech. – Telegraph

 
 

The City regulator is abolishing the term “Chinese wall” in its literature and rules as part of plans to foster a more inclusive culture across the finance industry, it has disclosed. The Financial Conduct Authority stopped short of calling the term racist but said that some people found it upsetting or offensive. It plans to gradually remove it from its handbook, the online compendium of rules governing all financial firms. – The Times

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