Thursday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Akzo Nobel, Poor productivity

Tesco is cutting night shifts for shelf stackers in some of its biggest supermarkets in a fresh shakeup that puts 3,000 jobs at risk. The UK’s biggest retailer said the consultation process with night workers in the 69 impacted stores would begin this summer. As part of the changes, eight stores will stop trading round the clock, while other roles will be eliminated by plans to merge customer service counters with lottery and tobacco kiosks. - The Guardian

The head of the Dulux paint group Akzo Nobel warned that up to 3,300 British jobs are under threat in the hostile takeover approach from its PPG, its main American rival, and revealed that the British government is monitoring the issue. On a day when PPG stepped up the pressure on Akzo Nobel’s board by claiming that most of the Dutch paints and chemicals group’s top investors wanted it to open negotiations over the €22 billion takeover offer, Ton Büchner, Akzo’s chief executive, said that ministers and regulators were also worried about the fate of 80,000 UK pensioners caught up in the battle. - The Times

Britain’s workers are at last producing more in each hour of work than they were at the end of 2007, after almost 10 years of poor productivity. A spurt in productivity growth in the final quarter of 2016 came as the economy accelerated, finally surpassing the hourly output levels seen before the financial crisis. - The Daily Telegraph

A committee of MPs has lambasted Uber’s contracts with drivers as “gibberish” and “almost unintelligible” as the company attempts to ensure its drivers remain self-employed. Frank Field, chair of the work and pensions select committee that is carrying out an investigation into the so-called gig economy, said: “Quite frankly the Uber contract is gibberish. - The Guardian

Nearly a third of British companies admit they do not believe the gender pay gap is an issue despite regulations requiring companies to gather information on it coming in to force from today. The regulation comes ahead of all companies that employ more than 250 staff being required to publish their pay gap between men and women from next April as part of the Government's aim to end the difference between salaries of both genders. - The Daily Telegraph

Increases of up to £20,000 in probate fees were thrown into doubt yesterday after a parliamentary panel of experts said that they were unlawful. In a new blow to Liz Truss, the lord chancellor, an influential committee said that she might be overstepping her powers by introducing the charges, described by critics as a death tax. - The Times