Flexible working, continuous personal development and maintaining a work-life balance are top of the list for the next generation of business, according to a report by East Midlands Chamber’s network for young professionals. A healthy work-life balance was ranked as the most important aspect of a job by employees aged 18 to 35 in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, with 34% citing this as being above all other considerations in a survey by the Generation Next network. This was followed by salary (30%), entrepreneurial freedom (20%), benefits (10%) and innovation (7%). When asked how important hybrid and remote working is to securing a role, respondents gave it an average score of 7.3 out of 10. Generation Next, which runs professional development events and mentoring services for 18 to 35-year-olds, carried out its first-ever Young professionals in the East Midlands survey, with the aim to help businesses and other key stakeholders in the region understand the development needs and preferences of the future and existing workforce, as well as to align the network’s offering to members. The findings, which also covered challenges encountered by young employees and the type of learning they desire, will be discussed at the inaugural Generation Next Conference, held at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground stadium, on Friday 12 January. Lucy Robinson, director of resources at East Midlands Chamber and Generation Next lead, said: “Undertaking this survey has been a really important piece of work for us, not only to help the wider East Midlands business community to retain and attract young talent, but also to ensure our services are still relevant in developing the region’s skills. “Our Generation Next board of champions, chaired by Daniel Nikolla and featuring young professionals representing a broad range of sectors across the region, have spearheaded this work as they felt it was integral to giving a voice to young people working in our businesses, while enabling the network to stay committed to our mission of helping the young business community in the East Midlands to thrive.” Other key findings in the survey, which was completed by 116 participants, included: · While four in 10 of respondents use to LinkedIn for career development opportunities, 22% look to their own organisation, with local business groups and education institutions also accessed. Some 77% said a company’s training policy is an important driver for recruitment. · Continuous learning was valued by 82% of respondents throughout their careers, with 32% interested in accredited learning. · Networking was found to be either a somewhat or incredibly significant driver of career development for 98% of respondents, and 82% expected their employers to finance a subscription to a membership organisation, such as the Chamber or Generation Next, to support their skills development. · Thirty-six people said they had been mistreated for being young or inexperienced, with other challenges reported including a lack of resource, disrespectful behaviour, a lack of self-confidence, resistance to change from their employer and restricted flexibility. Generation Next chair Daniel Nikolla added: “I’m delighted to launch the results of our first survey, and I’d like to thank everyone who took part in the study. It is important to give young professionals a voice among our community to ensure we are retaining the top talent for the future of business.” Daniel commissioned the survey as part of his goals during his first year heading up the board. Fellow board member Harsh Shah, who is a data analytics manager at East Midlands Chamber, created the survey.

The uncertainty surrounding when a General Election takes place must not get in the way of businesses’ ability to drive forward the growth that will bring down inflation and boost wages. This was the view of business leaders speaking at East Midlands Chamber’s Annual State of the Economy Conference, held at the University of Leicester School of Business yesterday (Thursday 14 December). On the day the Bank of England kept the base rate at 5.25%, the highest point in 15 years, and 24 hours after the latest economic data showed the UK’s GDP shrank more than expected by 0.3% in October, speakers made the case for cross-party consensus on key economic issues such as skills, productivity, and research and development – which they said are crucial to raising business investment from its current low bar. Among the business leaders and economists were Institute of Directors director-general Jonathan Geldart, Barclays global head of transactional FX sales Sat Khuntia, PwC East Midlands partner Alex Hudson, Freeths Leicester managing partner Lisa Gilligan, Future Life Wealth Management founder and divisional director Jillian Thomas, and Mukesh Bulsara, partner at business advisory services firm Coadax and vice-chair of Leicestershire Business Voice. Data from the Chamber’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey, run in partnership with the University of Leicester School of Business, was presented to give a snapshot of the past year. It showed how after a general improvement in activity and sentiment throughout the first half of 2023 there has been an overall slowdown towards the end of this year. Historical trends show activity often slows ahead of a General Election East Midlands Chamber director of policy and insight Chris Hobson said: “Our Quarterly Economic Survey results for 2023 can be viewed as a game of two halves, with the recent slowdown underpinned by a decrease in advanced orders – both at home and overseas – along with a weakening labour market, flat investment intentions and a decline in cashflow performance. “Driving this has been, firstly, fiscal pressures from 14 consecutive increases in the base rate by the Bank of England. It may be the lag time between rate hikes and subdued consumer demand has now passed and we are experiencing the full impact of that prolonged, proverbial belt-tightening. “Away from this, we’re also experiencing an unpredictable political environment, with multiple ‘resets’ as the country gears up for a General Election. This has meant an increase in policy announcements, arguably with more of an eye on positioning as opposed to meaningful growth strategies for UK plc. “Looking at historical trends via our State of the Economy Index, it’s not unusual to see things slow down ahead of an election, but the concern is that continued uncertainty about when this might take place could act to lengthen the duration of this for businesses. “Sentiment is an incredibly powerful – and often underestimated – factor in economic activity. As businesses seek surety over the environment into which they’ll be investing over the coming 12 months, it’s incumbent on all parties to ensure we don’t allow the nature of our political cycles to mean we are found wanting. “But one note of confidence – this time 12 months ago, many were predicting a recession in 2023 that never materialised. And when talking to individual businesses, the big picture trends we see are hiding many, many positive stories of growth and success.” East Midlands Chamber Quarterly Economic Survey Q4 2023 findings Key findings from the Quarterly Economic Survey Q4 2023 for the East Midlands, which was completed by 370 organisations between 6 and 30 November 2023, included: · UK and overseas sales have each remained steady throughout the year, increasing by a net 2% between the third and fourth quarters, but there were declines in advanced orders for a net 9% and 10% for UK and overseas respectively · Recruitment has slowed with a net 8% drop in businesses that added to their headcount in the prior three months compared to the previous quarter, although there was a net 1% rise in firms expecting to increase their workforce in the next three months · Many employers continue to face challenges with filling job vacancies – 55% of organisations attempted to recruit and, of those, more than seven in 10 (72%) experienced problems in finding suitable staff. Skilled manual and technical, and professional and managerial roles were the most difficult to fill · After easing throughout the year, price rises are back on the agenda. In Q1, 54% of businesses had expected to increase their prices due to cost pressures from energy, raw materials, people and fuel. This fell to 30% in Q3 before rising again to 40% in the final quarter of the year, with increased labour costs the main driver · A net 7% of firms reported cashflow was down in Q4, a 6% rise from the previous quarter · There was no difference in intentions to invest in plant and equipment between the third and fourth quarters, but investment intentions for training increased by 5%. Both indicators have remained very low throughout 2023, with the total proportion of firms intending to increase their investment never climbing above 20% · Business confidence shows a mixed picture, with confidence in profitability prospects down by 2% compared to the previous quarter but up by 4% for turnover expectations.