We hope you had a great Christmas and enjoyed a relaxing festive period.
There have been several changes across the business and accountancy sectors this month, so here is the latest news from December.
Strikes Take Hold
Workers across the UK, in sectors ranging from the NHS to the rail industry, have been striking as they demand better pay from the government.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the government would not change its position on pay. On 12 December, he said: While the government will do all we can to minimise disruption, the only way we can stop it completely is by unions going back around the table and calling off these strikes.
The industrial action has caused widespread disruption, particularly to postal services over the Christmas period.
Strikes took place throughout November and December, with further action planned for the New Year as the government continued to stand by its existing pay proposals.
PwC Closes Offices for Christmas
PwC, one of the UKs largest accountancy firms, closed the majority of its offices over Christmas and New Year to save on energy costs.
The companys main London office was closed from 23 December until 3 January, with several smaller offices also set to close.
PwC Chairman Kevin Ellis said that opening the offices doesnt make sense at a time of energy scarcity and that he wanted the company to do our bit to reduce energy consumption.
UK Economy Expected to Worsen
UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that the economy would worsen before it began to improve.
As rising prices affected businesses and households across the country, the UK was forecast to be heading towards a potential recession.
He said: These figures confirm that this is a very challenging economic situation here and across the world, and it will get worse before it gets better.
A recession could place further strain on businessesparticularly small businesses that were beginning to recover after several difficult years following the coronavirus pandemic.
Four-Day Working Week Trial Leads to Permanent Changes
The four-day working week trial has come to an end, but some participating businesses are considering making the arrangement permanent.
Under the trial, employees received 100% of their salary while working 80% of their usual hours, with the aim of maintaining or improving productivity.
Sam Smith, co-founder of Pressure Drop Brewery, decided to continue trialling a four-day working week for another year.
He said: Were happy with how its gone. The main issue weve had is that we havent really been able to stress-test it properly in a full-pelt environment because the last six months havent been great economically.
Were anticipating a difficult year next year, and that, frankly, is occupying our thoughts and attention a lot more than the four-day week.
The 4 Day Week Campaign announced that it had signed up more than 100 companies and organisations to adopt a four-day working week without reducing employees pay since launching in 2021.
Researchers from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and Boston College, working alongside the think tank Autonomy, were due to publish the results of the trial in early 2023.
Scottish Employment Rate for Women Reaches Record High
The employment rate for working-age women in Scotland reached a record high.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, 75.6% of women aged between 16 and 64 were in employmentthe highest rate recorded since 1992.
Scotlands overall employment rate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 76%.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: The UK government is committed to helping people find and progress in work, and to driving sustainable economic growth.
The Chancellor set out a number of measures in the Autumn Statement to put public finances on a secure footing and promote economic growthsteps that are already making a positive contribution to tackling inflationary pressures.
Looking Ahead to 2023
As we head into the New Year, we will need to watch for any changes to the economy that could affect businesses and accountancy firms.
We hope you have a healthy and prosperous 2023!