Bowing to public and political pressure, banks UBS and Goldman Sachs will not pay bonuses to their top executives for 2008, though other employees could still be in line to receive a bonus. At UBS their entire bonus structure has been reviewed so it is now only linked to the firm’s profitability. Other banks are expected to follow suit. A tricky one this: companies like Goldman are renowned for taking over every waking hour of their staff (and some of the sleeping ones too). That hard work seemed justified if it meant you got a bonus so big it meant you could eat swan for breakfast. Who’s going to want to sell their sole now..? Surely some will just be grateful to have a job. US bank Citigroup will have made 75,000 redundant by the time the current job cull is over. Can the last one out turn off the light. Er…and pay the electricity bill.

Tags: Banking and Finance, Graduaet careers at Goldman Sachs, UBS job opportunities

There’s a better reason than normal as to why I had a pint of Carlsberg with my breakfast this morning: It was to show my appreciation to a firm taking their staff training seriously. For Carlsberg will close its Leeds brewery for a whole 72 hours in order to teach all 170 staff about such issues as ‘elf and safety, environment, wellbeing, marketing, and the latest manufacturing technologies. Staff will also be trained on pollution prevention, hygiene, the safety aspects of asbestos and cost busting (the two go hand-in hand!). More gold stars to Leeds boss Andy Hume as this wasn’t an idea he came up with in the bath to move him closer to an MBE; this initiative was actually put forward as a suggestion from the staff themselves and if the mammoth training session proves successful the scheme will be rolled out by the firm nationwide. Cheers!

Tags: Food and Drink graduate careers, Graduate jobs at Carslberg, work-life balance at brewer

In case you didn’t know, the Spanish banks are sleeping with the wife of, and biting their thumbs at, the credit crunch at the moment. They are doing incredibly well as a rule, so its no wonder I’ve moved my adopted son Olubengu’s trust fund over to Santander, where he can’t find it. But you might want to steer your career path over to them too: Sandander own Abbey, and they have just launched some nifty work/life balance initiatives for employees – the first retail bank to do so. In partnership with My Family Care, Abbey will provide emergency childcare and immediate access to carers if needed by the employee’s family if their normal system fails them.  A breakdown in any care system is one of the most stressful (and irritating) things people have to deal with so its sombreros off to Abbey for taking this disruptive set of circumstances away from employees. And allowing them to stay at work and get on with it.

Tags: Banking and Finance graduarte careers, Charity and Non-Profit, Graduate jobs at Abbey, work life balance

The employees (or cats) at engineering firm Cougar Automation can not only opt out of projects they don’t like the sound of; they can choose their own boss and take as many days holiday a year as they feel is appropriate. As a result 78% of staff are happy with their work/life balance and 86% say their health does not suffer in any way as a result of work (that’s huge). Staff are carefully monitored and supported through monthly employee meetings and career development reviews. The idea: happier staff mean happier customers. Incidentally, “Cougar” is also the name currently applied to a sexually predatory woman of a certain age. Like Sarah Palin or Christopher Biggins. Mention it in your application letter!

Tags: Engineering jobs for graduates, Great engineering career perks, Jobs at Cougar Automation

M&S faces a mutiny as employees digest the news that the company wants to cut redundancy benefits by up to 25%, which would limit maximum payouts from 70 to 52 weeks. A member of staff due £35,000 would see that support cut by £9,000. Morale is apparently low in the firm – where a recent staff survey suggested that some employees believed that bullying was tolerated. M&S denied the claim vehemently (say my lawyers), and staff bonuses fell from last year’s record £91m to £17m after missing internal targets. M&S is continuing to consult employee groups about the new redundancy terms but it does not need their approval to implement them - of course a re-jig of the redundancy package suggests that job cuts are on the way. The Times quotes one employee who said that M&S risked losing an important part of its reputation. “M&S was seen as a great place to work,” he said. “Many now feel that is not the case.”

Tags: fashion, Food and Drink, High Street, Job security, redundancies, Retail