Revealed: How pay compares at different supermarkets

As the festive season approaches, supermarkets are gearing up for their busiest time of the year by ramping up hiring and offering competitive pay and benefits to attract workers.

Aldi is leading the charge, announcing plans to hire 3,500 people in the lead-up to Christmas, with roles including store assistants, managerial positions, and cleaners.

But Aldi isn't the only supermarket bracing for the holiday rush. Sainsbury's is also seeking thousands of people to fill 18,000 festive roles, offering staff free food during shifts and a 10% discount across stores (which rises to 15% every Friday and Saturday).

Here’s a breakdown of how staff pay compare across the major UK supermarkets (via Sky News):

• Aldi - Hourly pay: £12.40

• Lidl - Hourly pay: £12.40 + 10% staff discount

• Asda - Hourly pay: £12.04 + 10% staff discount

• Tesco - Hourly pay: £12.02 + 10% staff discount

• Co-op - Hourly pay: £12.00 + 10% staff discount (30% for own brand)

• M&S - Hourly pay: £12.00 + 20% staff discount

• Sainsbury's - Hourly pay: £12.00 + 10% staff discount

• Waitrose - Hourly pay: £11.55 + 20% staff discount

• Iceland - Hourly pay: £11.50 + 15% staff discount

• Morrisons - Hourly pay: £11.44 + 15% staff discount

Government promises huge shift in worker’s rights

📍 Top line: The UK government has unveiled an employment rights bill that aims to deliver what ministers are calling the biggest upgrade to worker protections in a generation. 

Key Provisions of the Bill:

1. Unfair Dismissal Protection from Day One: The current two-year qualifying period for protection against unfair dismissal will be scrapped.

2. Flexible Working Requests: Employers will face stricter criteria when denying requests for flexible working. 

3. Contracts Reflecting Regular Work Patterns: Workers with few guaranteed hours, such as those on zero-hour contracts, will gain the right to a contract that reflects their actual working hours. 

4. Restrictions on “Fire and Rehire” Practices: Businesses will only be able to use "fire and rehire" tactics when facing an immediate risk of going out of business.

❓ Who Will Benefit?

The bill could impact millions of UK workers, particularly those in insecure jobs. Key groups include:

• Workers in their first two years of employment: 

• Zero-hour contract workers

• Low earners

Trade unions are also set to gain from the bill, as it repeals some previous anti-union laws.

Elsewhere in the economy:

💷 Rachel Reeves is considering a significant increase in capital gains tax (CGT), with rates potentially rising to as high as 39%, according to The Guardian. This move comes as the government faces pressure to raise funds for public services, which IFS estimates state will require an additional £25 billion. CGT is currently levied on the sale of assets such as second homes and shares at rates significantly lower than income tax.

🏦 A former vice president at Goldman Sachs has filed a £3.8 million ($5 million) sex-discrimination claim against the investment bank, alleging that he was unfairly dismissed after taking six months of paternity leave. According to court filings, Jonathan Reeves claimed that his firing in 2022, shortly after returning from leave, was driven by a culture within the bank that disapproves of male employees taking extended parental leave.

TikTok suffers heavy losses in UK

📍 Top line: TikTok's UK and European arm reported a significant financial loss of $1.5 billion in 2023, largely due to setting aside $1 billion to cover legal issues, including regulatory investigations and lawsuits.

The legal costs stem from ongoing proceedings, including a mass privacy lawsuit in the Netherlands, though specific details were not disclosed.

TikTok has been under increasing scrutiny globally, particularly over concerns related to user privacy and the potential exploitation of data by the Chinese government. The social media platform, owned by China’s ByteDance, faces the threat of a potential ban in the US, as well as lawsuits from multiple US states accusing it of fostering addiction in children through its app design.

Despite these legal challenges, TikTok continues to grow its user base and revenue streams, particularly through paid advertisements and its TikTok Shop, where major brands like Asos and Zara have set up online stores.

Elsewhere in business:

🇬🇧 Waitrose has partnered with Just Eat, becoming the latest UK supermarket to offer its food and drink for delivery via the popular platform. Over the coming weeks, Waitrose products will be available from 229 locations across the UK, allowing customers to have their groceries delivered in under 30 minutes. In addition to the Just Eat collaboration, Waitrose also confirmed its plans to open 100 convenience stores across the UK over the next five years.

🗞️ The Financial Times (FT) has reported a significant rise in global profits, hitting nearly £30 million as the newspaper's subscription numbers reached an all-time high of 1.4 million. According to unaudited internal figures, the FT’s global profits climbed to £29.9 million in 2023, marking a 5% increase from the previous year. Revenues surged to £510 million, surpassing half a billion pounds for the first time, up from £458 million the previous year.

Toyota has opened applications for its 2025 PR and Social Business Student internship in Surrey. Successful applicants will assist the firm’s department in posting content to social media platforms and gain real-world experience in building and maintaining relationships between Toyota’s brands and the media. The scheme offers two places and is open to current undergraduate students. Apply now here.

Elon Musk unveils “Cybercab” Robotaxi

📍Top line: Elon Musk has unveiled Tesla's latest vision for the future of autonomous transportation with the introduction of the "Cybercab," a self-driving taxi with no steering wheels or pedals, at a highly anticipated event in Los Angeles.

Musk announced that the Cybercab could cost less than $30,000 and predicted it would transform transport into a form of "individualised mass transit." Tesla plans to begin production of the robotaxis before 2027, pending regulatory approval. Musk also revealed the concept of a 20-person autonomous vehicle, dubbed the “Robovan.”

However, despite the excitement surrounding the event, there were some notable disappointments. Musk did not provide technical details about how the self-driving technology would work or how Tesla would manage to lower the cost of production for these autonomous vehicles.

Elsewhere in tech:

📱 OnlyFans, the UK-based video streaming platform popular for adult content, has paid $20 billion to over 4 million content creators since its inception in 2016, according to Bloomberg. In 2021, OnlyFans began offering grants to musicians in an attempt to diversify its content beyond adult entertainment. Keily Blair, who became CEO in 2023, continues to steer the platform towards more mainstream and conventional content while still maintaining its core business model.

🎮 The highly anticipated Football Manager 2025 has been delayed until March next year, marking yet another setback for the popular sports franchise. Developer Sports Interactive had promised a "new era" for the series, featuring the long-awaited inclusion of women’s football and a revamped game engine. Fans will now have to wait a bit longer to experience these exciting updates.

🎾 Rafael Nadal, the legendary 38-year-old Spanish tennis player, has announced his retirement from professional tennis. His final event will be the Davis Cup next month in Malaga, where he will represent Spain one last time. Nadal, who has been one of the sport's most dominant figures, leaves behind an extraordinary legacy, having won 22 Grand Slam titles, including a record-breaking 14 French Open titles.

🦧 Global wildlife populations have plummeted by 73% over the past 50 years, according to a damning report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Human activity is driving this "catastrophic" decline, with species from elephants to hawksbill turtles seeing sharp drops in numbers.

⛓️ The UK government is considering a significant shift in its approach to sentencing as part of an upcoming review aimed at addressing the growing issue of prison overcrowding. One proposal on the table is to scrap short prison terms in favour of toughened community orders as an alternative, which would help reduce the number of offenders in the country's overburdened prisons.