Latest news with #AndrewHunter
The Sun
10-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Turn a summer job into a career by applying for one of 20,000 seasonal roles available
THE number of summer jobs available has fallen to the lowest level for seven years, as cautious firms cut back on hiring. Figures from job-matching platform show seasonal vacancies down by 13 per cent on 2024, but there are still more than 20,000 roles on offer nationwide. 4 The temporary roles can boost your CV, help you learn new skills and even open up a permanent role. Adzuna's Andrew Hunter said: 'A summer job might not seem like a big deal, but it's one of the smartest moves a young jobseeker can make right now. Beyond the extra cash, these roles offer a chance to build up the kind of soft skills that AI can't replicate — emotional intelligence, communication, interpersonal skills and teamwork.' Among the roles which are seeing a surge in hiring are lifeguards, festival crew, theme park assistants and hospitality staff. Here are Sunemployment's top tips to land a summer job to supercharge your career . . . Seek out a summer role which can lead to long-term work: Not all seasonal roles end when the sunny weather does. Big firms will often have year-round opportunities. For example, start serving drinks in a beach bar, then move on to an apprenticeship or front-of-house role for a pub or restaurant chain. Try an alternative industry: They may not seem like an obvious choice, but plenty of sectors from trains, airlines, hotels and coaches to gardeners, warehouses and call centres recruit for the summer. All of these offer permanent contracts to summer staff. Use a recruiter: Fed up applying for summer roles then getting ghosted? Recruitment consultants can put your CV in front of hiring managers to speed up the whole process. Zahida Ahmed joined South Western Railway aged 21 as a temporary event supervisor through Adecco. Although the initial job only lasted a week, she continued to work through the recruiter and is now a contract consultant with the firm. Zahida, from Sunbury, Surrey, said: 'My summer job was transformative and allowed me to step confidently into the working world and discover a career path I hadn't considered before.' Neil Carberry, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said: 'Recruiters can offer people from every background a chance at a job by working at a festival, concert or sporting event this summer, or something calmer in an office, shop or construction site. 'Agency work is a fantastic way to get experience over the summer in ways that suit you — and even kick-start your career.' HOLIDAY park operator Haven has 1,200 roles on offer. There are positions in areas including food and beverage, activities and leisure, security and accommodation services. Ed Camp, 28, joined the firm in summer 2019 on a seasonal contract as a commis chef at the Littlesea park's Mash And Barrel restaurant. 4 He was later offered a permanent job and put on the Grow to Team Manager talent programme. He is now the restaurant's kitchen team leader managing 16 staff. Ed said: 'I'm excited to see where my journey takes me next.' Apply at SIX TIPS RELATIVE TO WORK THIS week saw the Gallagher brothers take to the stage together for the first time in 16 years. While working with family isn't always so stressful, it may still throw up extra challenges. Peter Duris, co-founder of said: 'A family member on your team means having a colleague you can really trust. 'But, as in the case of Oasis, it can also mean spending too much time together or making big, stressful decisions with someone who knows how to push your buttons.' Here, he shares his advice. 1. Set clear boundaries between your work and personal life: If your co-workers are family, it's a necessity. You might choose to use email only for work-related communication, while using your phone's messaging apps for things like planning your dad's birthday party. 2. Make sure the fact that you're family doesn't shape how you treat each other at work, so you don't favour family members over others. 3. Keep your professional expectations the same: Never expect more or less because someone is family. Expecting more might make things more stressful and harm your personal relationship. 4. Be mindful of your past: Working with someone who knows you really well can be stressful, especially if there is already some tension between you. For instance, if you've always had a bit of a competitive relationship with your sibling, or maybe grew up feeling like you were compared to each other, working together can be very tricky. If you find yourself getting wound up, it might help to stop and think, 'What am I really annoyed about?' When working on a project together, focus on your shared goals. 5. Consider your policies: Many UK companies have policies relating to family members, such as banning direct relatives being line managers over each other. These help you prevent a conflict of interest when it comes to issues like pay rises or performance reviews. 6. Sort your succession planning: If you work for a family business where multiple generations are involved, take professional advice on succession planning to avoid damage down the line. YOU TOP TRADIE? MOVE from the building site to the spotlight as the UK's top tradie. Entries are open for the annual Screwfix Top Tradesperson competition, which aims to find the best trade talent across the UK and Ireland. Open to roles including electricians, roofers, carpenters and plumbers, the winner scoops a bundle of tech, tools and training worth £20,000. London plumber Mohammed Rahman claimed the title in 2024. He said: 'It took a bit of courage to nominate myself, but it was one of the best decisions.' Jack Wallace, Screwfix Marketing Director, said: 'We're so proud of our Top Tradesperson – it highlights the skill and passion of exceptional people.' Apply by Sunday at MAKE FAST 'BUCKS 4 Starbucks has opened applications for its accelerated leadership programme – a fast track for future store managers. The course offers a Level 3 management qualification which usually takes three years to achieve – but 20 trainees will be able to get it in 13 months. Positions are available in major cities including London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow. No previous hospitality or work experience is required. Alex Rayner, general manager of Starbucks UK, said: 'Whether you're leaving school or exploring a fresh start, Starbucks is a place where you can work with great people.' Apply by July 21 at
The Independent
29-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
These are the most sought-after workers in the UK right now
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Healthcare support workers are currently the most sought-after professionals in the UK job market, new research reveals, signalling key areas of demand within the economy. Data from jobs site Adzuna indicates that social care workers, sales assistants, and warehouse staff are also experiencing high demand from employers. Other roles attracting significant interest include software developers, cleaners, healthcare assistants, labourers, and project managers. Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said: "May reinforced the sense that the job market in the UK is gradually regaining its footing." He highlighted a positive shift, noting: "While overall vacancies dipped slightly, we've now seen three straight months of annual vacancy growth – a clear shift after more than a year of decline." Mr Hunter also pointed to rising remuneration. 'Advertised salaries continue to climb, too, with average pay up nearly 9 per cent compared to last year, comfortably outpacing inflation,' he said. Software developers, sales assistants, cleaners, and project managers are all in high demand (Getty Images) Despite the overall positive outlook, Mr Hunter expressed a watchful concern for specific sectors. "While certain sectors remain in strong demand and provide a backbone of stability, we will be keeping a close eye on the decline in roles for the previously steady healthcare and nursing sector, and how that may play out over the coming months." The research also found that the average time to fill a job stands at approximately 35 days, with a ratio of two jobseekers for every available vacancy. Business activity picks up Activity across the UK's private sector has grown in June as some easing of US tariff policy helped lift business sentiment, data from a separate survey shows. The volume of new business returned to growth in June, ending a six-month period of contraction, the survey found. This was primarily driven by the service sector – the largest part of the UK's economy, spanning industries including hospitality, entertainment and culture, finance and real estate. A further slight expansion of activity in the sector was contrasted by another drop in production for manufacturers, led by a decline in overseas export orders. Concerns over the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs on US imports were partly behind the slump, despite some businesses saying confidence had improved as a result of the president striking new trade deals with countries including the UK.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Don't Get Conned By Trump's Big, Beautiful Air Force One Boondoggle
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM's Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. Before jumping ahead to the constitutionality of President Trump accepting as a 'gift' from Qatar a $400 million 747 jumbo jet as short-term replacement for Air Force One and the legality of then transferring the plane to his corrupt presidential library foundation for him to use post-presidency – before ALL of that – can we discuss whether this can even be accomplished as a practical matter? Much of the coverage treats it as a foregone conclusion that the Air Force can simply retrofit the Qatari plane and Trump can be soaring in luxury by the end of the year. It was that timeline, reported by the NYT, that caught my eye. First off, the Air Force doesn't have this capability; it has to contract out the work. The WSJ reported on some aspects of this a couple of weeks ago, suggesting that L3Harris had already been commissioned to retrofit a Qatari plane for use as Air Force One (but the NYT reported yesterday that no agreement on a contract has been reached yet). The plane in the WSJ story seems to be the same plane Trump is talking about now, with delivery on a similarly unrealistic timeline. 'Trump wants to have the plane available for use as early as the fall,' the WSJ reported. It's clear though a bit buried in the reporting that retrofitting a 747 (Boeing stopped 747 production in 2022) is not some clever workaround to the challenges Boeing has faced in producing a new generation Air Force One. The array of capabilities that Air Force One currently has are the nut of the contracting problem. There's nothing to suggest that you can solve that problem merely by starting with a lux 747. Here's how the WSJ described it in a May 1 story: Building out an interim airplane by the end of this year poses its own challenges. The plane might not be a true VC-25A that is as capable as the current jets. A quick turnaround would likely limit modifications, said Andrew Hunter, the Air Force's acquisition chief during the Biden administration, who wasn't familiar with the new plans. 'You could do some paint, you could do some communications upgrades, and I suspect it would be hard to do too much beyond that on that timeline,' he said. So the best case is that Trump would end up an Air Force One Lite? What features and capabilities exactly would be sacrificed for an Air Force One Lite? Its complex communications systems? Its elaborate defense systems? Its intense security protections? These do not seems like the kinds of tradeoffs anyone would – or necessarily could as a practical matter – make to get a plane in service quickly, let alone to preserve continuity of government in an attack or other crisis. 'We're talking years, not months,' an anonymous Defense Department official told the NYT. This whole episode has all the trademarks of another Trump boondoggle. While the apparent lawlessness of such an arrangement is alarming, there's an emperor has no clothes aspect to the whole thing. Trump wants what he wants, and no one wants to tell him no. And so everyone pretends it's possible, even to the point of entertaining wildly corrupt scenarios to make it happen. But in the end, the whole thing collapses under the weight of its own ridiculousness. Every utterance by Stephen Miller needs to be caveated with 'Not a lawyer; never a lawyer': But CNN reports it's not just Miller who's toying with unlawfully suspending habeas corpus: 'President Donald Trump has been personally involved in discussions inside the administration over potentially suspending habeas corpus, a legal procedure that allows people to challenge their detention in court.' For a deeper dive on habeas corpus and why suspending it for migrants means suspending it for everyone, Steve Vladeck has you covered. Politico's Kyle Cheney: Judges warn Trump's mass deportations could lay groundwork to ensnare Americans Early Friday afternoon, U.S. District Judge William Sessions of Vermont ordered the immediate release of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk from federal detention while her case is pending. When the Trump administration did not immediately comply with his order – delaying her release while it fitted her with an ankle monitor – Sessions issued a follow-up order late in the afternoon that she was to be released unconditionally without any monitoring devices or travel restrictions. Following the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for alleged trespassing during an ICE detention center protest in his city, the Trump administration sent not-so-subtle signals that Democratic members of Congress who were present at the protest may also face arrest. The NYT's Charlie Savage unpacks President Trump's attempt to install Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for D.C. and bypass the Senate confirmation proess. Jay Bratt, who as a top deputy to Special Counsel Jack Smith led the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation, appears to be the first member of Smith's team hauled before Congress by House Republicans for a deposition, scheduled for Wednesday, The Guardian reports. The Daily Beast: Pam Bondi Spilled Epstein Secrets to Bogus 'Nanny' at Brunch In perhaps the most sweeping order by any judge confronted with Trump II lawlessness, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco blocked a wide range of administration layoffs and agency dismantlings. In the case brought by labor unions, nonprofit organizations, and local governments, Illston ordered a two-week pause in the Trump administration's rampage through the federal government. 'It is the prerogative of presidents to pursue new policy priorities and to imprint their stamp on the federal government,' Illston wrote. 'But to make large-scale overhauls of federal agencies, any president must enlist the help of his coequal branch and partner, the Congress.' Responding Judge Illston's order above, Roger Parloff explores how slowly and reluctantly most federal judges have been to confront the DOGE-driven Trump II rampage: CPSC: President Trump purported to fire the three Democrats on the five-member Consumer Product Safety Commission. U.S. Copyright Office: President Trump fired Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, who was appointed head of the U.S. Copyright Office by the Librarian of Congress, whom Trump fired last week. Most of the focus on book bans and stifled academic freedom has involved the U.S. Naval Academy, but the Pentagon is launching a broad attack against the service academies: AP: ' The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues by May 21, according to a memo issued to the force on Friday.' NYT: The Pentagon's Culture Wars Strike West Point Graham Parsons, a tenured professor of philosophy at West Point who is resigning at the end of this semester in protest of the Trump-led attack on the U.S. Military Academy: Academic freedom is important at any institution of higher learning, but it has an additional importance at a military academy. The health of our democratic system depends on the military being politically neutral. Protecting freedom of thought and speech in the academic curriculum at West Point is an important way to avoid political partisanship. By allowing the government to impose an ideological orthodoxy on its classrooms, West Point is abandoning its neutrality and jeopardizing a critical component of the very constitutional order that the military exists to protect. On the occasion of former Supreme Court Justice David Souter's death, Adam Liptak revives a 2012 pre-Trump warning from Souter: 'I don't believe there is any problem of American politics and American public life which is more significant today than the pervasive civic ignorance of the Constitution of the United States and the structure of government.' A portion of his warning
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
F-47 Fighter Program Could See Multiple Versions Built In Increments
Boeing's F-47 sixth-generation stealth fighter may just be 'Increment 1' of the Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) manned combat jet initiative. This is according to the former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, Andrew Hunter, who had a major hand in the program up until the end of the Biden administration. Alongside the former Secretary of the Air Force, Frank Kendall, Hunter spoke on the latest edition of the Defense & Aerospace Report's Air Power Podcast. You can also read our previous run-down of the main revelations that came to pass in what was a wide-ranging discussion on the F-47 and the related NGAD initiative, here. Stressing that the competition for the NGAD manned combat jet, won by Boeing, was 'structured in a way to encourage […] creativity,' Hunter remarked that the F-47, now under contract for development, represents 'Increment 1,' noting that the program is based around the concept of there being future increments beyond this. As a result, the competition for the NGAD combat jet wasn't designed to be 'all or nothing,' rather, the winner will likely receive an eventual production contract for 'roughly' 100 aircraft, after which 'there will be other orders coming down the pike.' In the past, Kendall had repeatedly stated that the crewed component of NGAD will be made up of around 200 aircraft. Intriguingly, a very similar concept is already taking shape for the Air Force's CCA program. Anduril and General Atomics are currently developing designs as part of Increment 1, with these now designated as the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, respectively. Service officials have said they could ultimately buy between 100 and 150 Increment 1 CCAs, and multiple thousands of drones across all of the program's eventual increments. Increment II is already on the horizon, for instance. Hunter's words seem to suggest that all might not be lost for Lockheed Martin, which was beaten to the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract by Boeing's F-47 design. Perhaps there could even be a way back into the program in a leading position for Northrop Grumman, which announced what it described as a voluntary withdrawal from the NGAD combat jet competition in 2023. On the other hand, Hunter also indicated that Northrop Grumman was in line to be ejected from competition before that point, which might well adversely impact its future prospects here. Of course, whether either of these companies could take on a central role in the manned NGAD initiative via future increments involving different designs is questionable, with further developments of the F-47 looking to be a more realistic path to achieving the kinds of goals that Hunter refers to. It's also worth noting that these companies can still become (and likely will, at least to some degree) subcontractors to the prime contractor on the program. Clearly, however, Hunter sees different increments as being a part of the program for the NGAD combat jet, although 'time will tell how many increments ever get built.' As for how those future increments may look, Hunter didn't reveal any more details. Although he noted that 'both designs were quite creative,' it seems that Boeing's one for the F-47 may have been somewhat bolder and more innovative than that from rival Lockheed Martin. Hunter said that, in general, incumbent contractors (in this case, Lockheed Martin, already building the F-35) can often appear more risk-averse than challengers. The 'incentives may have been stronger for Boeing. In some ways, they needed to win this one more than Lockheed did,' Hunter added. Between them, Hunter and Kendall did give a few impressions of what the F-47 will likely consist of, which could help provide an idea of how it might be adapted for further increments in the future. Overall, it seems the F-47 follows the basic philosophy of the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. As Kendall explained it, the F-47 will primarily be an 'F-22-like long-range air superiority focused aircraft, designed for power projection, and designed to go against the most stressing threats that we have.' On top of this, the F-47 will, from the outset, be equipped for the 'quarterback role,' in which it will control uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs). Further iterations of the NGAD combat jet could still have these qualities, but they might yet add more. Alternatively, the future iterations might emerge as less complex, cheaper designs, intended to maximize 'combat mass,' rather than offer the very highest level of penetrating air superiority capabilities. The ramifications of a lower-cost NGAD combat jet are something that we explored in depth when this same topic was brought up by Kendall last summer. Interestingly, this latter option would also seem to chime with the idea of an export-configured F-47, something that President Donald Trump referred to when he announced Boeing's win. Trump said that U.S. allies 'are calling constantly' with a view to obtaining an export version of the NGAD fighter. He said that the United States would be selling them to 'certain allies … perhaps toned-down versions. We'd like to tone them down about 10 percent, which probably makes sense, because someday, maybe they're not our allies, right?' As we pointed out at the time, getting the F-47 cleared for export, even in a downgraded version, could be a challenge, even more so than it was for the F-22. Kendall was generally circumspect about the chances of an F-47 export version. 'I would be very surprised if any of our partners were prepared to pay that unit cost for a new aircraft,' he said, in reference to the price tag of the basic F-47. Kendall says the F-47's unit cost is expected to be at least twice that of an F-35, or in the $160 million to $180 million range, based on publicly available information. In the past he has mentioned this new aircraft costing up to around three times that of existing designs, or upwards of $300 million. It's not clear what changed that would result in lowering his original estimate. 'Another factor right now, of course, is that the attitude we've taken towards our allies is driving a lot of them to rethink their degree of cooperation and commitment and reliance on us sources for equipment,' Kendall added. He was referring to the growing schisms between the United States and certain NATO allies, increasingly worried about Washington's commitment to mutual defense and its overall reliability as a strategic partner. Kendall also raised a question about the viability of a 'toned-down version' of the F-47, based on the requirements of prospective customers: 'I think, going forward, there are a number of things that will make it problematic for international sales of the F-47. One of them is going to be the statement that was made about lowering capability. You know, we basically have very close allies traditionally, and we share some of the best of our capabilities with them, because we have a lot of trust in them. This administration doesn't seem to be taking that point of view.' On the other hand, U.S. allies might be more willing to buy a somewhat downgraded NGAD crewed fighter if it were to be notably cheaper. Different future iterations of the NGAD combat jet could offer one way of achieving that. For now, we don't know what 'Increment 2' and beyond might look like, or even if the Air Force will find space and funds for them. However, it's worth noting that this is not the first time that fielding multiple variations of the NGAD fighter has been proposed. Back in 2021, TWZ reported on how the Air Force was apparently looking at fielding long- and shorter-range versions of the NGAD combat jet, optimized for operations in the Indo-Pacific and European theaters, respectively. At a House Armed Services Committee hearing regarding the Air Force's Fiscal Year 2022 budget request, Gen. James M. Holmes, the former head of Air Combat Command, brought up the idea of two distinct versions of the NGAD fighter component, an 'Indo-Pacific version' optimized for long-range/heavy-payload missions and one with shorter range sufficient for the European theater of operations. At the very least, it would appear that a different wing planform would be required for each jet to meet these goals. These different configurations could make the 'European version' a bit cheaper to buy, although savings might be offset by the need for different support infrastructure, with a knock-on effect on concepts of deployment and operation. It was later said that this concept had been dropped from where the Air Force was headed with the NGAD fighter program. But nevertheless, an iterative approach to the NGAD fighter jet could revive such an idea and make it a reality. At the same time, there would still be some significant commonality between different NGAD fighter increments regardless of the base airframe configuration. Having the aircraft's subsystems and software identical across different increments would help reduce risk, increase commonality, and drive down costs. Furthermore, the broader NGAD family of systems — radars, infrared search and track systems (IRST), electronic support measures, electronic warfare capabilities, engines, communications architecture, weapons, and more — would be the same. The Navy NGAD program, too, features a lot of commonality with the Air Force equivalent, especially when it comes to the elements mentioned here. In the past, TWZ considered whether the Air Force might choose a highly modular design to achieve different versions of the fighter, although Hunter's more recent words would seem to suggest at least the possibility of more distinct iterations, which might not even be from the same manufacturer. Even before this point, there was a broader discussion about a more rapid development of new fighter designs, something that now seems to be reflected in Hunter's outline of NGAD combat jet iterations. Most prominently, Hunter's predecessor as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, Will Roper, championed the so-called 'Digital Century Series.' Under this approach, new fighters were to be developed at increments of up to one every five years. Limiting service life to reduce cost and increase iterative production was also a major potential component of such a vision. The idea was always highly ambitious, as we have discussed before, but it was also always expected to play a central part in the NGAD program. Hunter's words could imply that, at least in some small part, this may now be the case. But it still seems highly unlikely that we will ever see all-new crewed fighter designs being churned out at such a prodigious rate. Overall, from what we know so far about the F-47, this component of the NGAD 'family of systems' does sound like it will be primarily a Raptor successor for the high-end fight, albeit one that is superior across its capabilities and which adds new functions such as drone-controller. However, the words of the former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics do at least point to thinking around additional versions of the NGAD combat jet. Perhaps the most likely scenario will involve successive production batches of the same basic F-47 design, but incorporating certain changes. Whether such designs will actually be realized remains to be seen, but for now, this is another tantalizing potential aspect of a program that is slowly starting to emerge from the shadows. Contact the author: thomas@
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK firms seek fewer staff but offer higher salaries, Adzuna says
LONDON (Reuters) - British employers advertised the fewest jobs for the month of January in four years last month but salaries continued to rise strongly, according to figures published on Monday that illustrate the challenge facing the Bank of England. Job search company Adzuna said the number of vacancies on offer fell by 4.5% compared with January last year to just under 828,500, the lowest January figures since 2021, Adzuna said. However, the average advertised salary increased by 7.0% compared with a year earlier, keeping up a strong run of gains. "This reflects the increasing competition for talent in key sectors, even as overall hiring slows," Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said. The biggest wage increases were offered in the maintenance, manufacturing and retail sectors. The BoE expects a slowdown in the labour market in 2025 which could help reduce inflationary pressures in the economy and allow the central bank to continue reducing interest rates to help an economy that is barely growing. Official data released last week showed the labour market held up better than expected in the final quarter of 2024 with pay rising by 6%, although the number of job vacancies on offer was also the lowest for a January since 2021 at 759,000. A survey of purchasing managers suggested private-sector employers cut back on staff in February. (Writing by William Schomberg; editing by David Milliken) Sign in to access your portfolio
