Monday newspaper round-up: Staff layoffs, food retailers, Dutch style pensions

UK employers laid off staff in April at a faster pace than the previous month as the combination of higher employment costs and shock waves from Donald Trump’s tariff war sent boardroom confidence levels plummeting. The human resources association, CIPD, said employer confidence levels slumped to an all-time low, prompting job cuts and a widespread hiring freeze. – Guardian

Source: Sharecast

Food retailers have seen a “massive” increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, according to a leading store security firm, amid the rising cost of living. John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Services Group, has said his staff were seeing a “different sort of shoplifter now” as the cost of living “pushes people to something they’ve never done before”. – Guardian

Angela Rayner’s plan to overhaul workers’ rights has crushed business confidence to a record low, as bosses prepare to slash jobs and curb hiring. Optimism among employers has fallen to levels not seen outside of the pandemic, according to a new survey, with just 25pc of bosses claiming they expect to increase headcount over the next three months. This is the lowest level since late 2020, when Britain was still in the depths of Covid. – Telegraph

A Ministry of Defence and Border Force supplier is being prosecuted for alleged bribery, forgery and money laundering and pursued over claims it violated sanctions. Damen Shipyards, which has supplied boats used by the UK government to test military technology, monitor Britain’s borders and pick up migrants in the Channel, is being prosecuted in the Netherlands over criminal allegations related to its international sales. – The Times

More than 200 employers have expressed interest in taking part in a pioneering type of retirement scheme that proponents say could generate worker pensions 20 per cent to 50 per cent larger for the same outlay and risk. The pensions administrator TPT, which announced on May 8 that it was pressing ahead with the country’s first multi-employer collective defined contribution (CDC) scheme, said it was confident it can reach the critical mass needed to be viable. – The Times

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