· News

Acas boss and MP take action on redundancy

Acas chief executive John Taylor (pictured) has joined forces with MP Ian Paisley Jr, with the backing of the TUC and employers, including Royal Mail and Veolia, to launch an online service for employers to transfer and share surplus or under-utilised staff and costs through intra-organisation secondment arrangements.

It is hoped this will become an alternative to redundancy.

Launching the organisation Skill Exchange UK, which looks likely to be pioneered in Northern Ireland, Taylor said: "The local hubs we want to set up will allow employers and training providers to exchange information and customise their response to it, so they can understand where the demand for staff is.

"But for this to work, we need employers to generate these hubs and turn this into a national movement talking about innovation."