Dr Oliveira posts as ‘TheResearcher‘. Dr Oliveira has been associated with the University of Cambridge, including as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and as a PhD student in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. He has publicly raised concerns regarding his treatment, Read more…
The 21 Group has received a request to partly redact a blog comment because of a claimed breach of confidentiality. In this instance, we have agreed to do so, whilst pending legal clarification. Confidentiality is context-dependent. There are legitimate, even necessary reasons to keep certain Human Resources (HR) matters private: protecting Read more…
The Financial Times recently reported its 2026 employer rankings, based on data from Statista. To the surprise, consternation and disbelief of many, Cambridge University emerged in first place. After a short but necessary period of institutional composure, the 21 Group respectfully submitted a letter to the Editor: Dear editor@ft.com, We write concerning Read more…
Here, we take a look at the role of external companies called into universities to assist in HR matters. B3Sixty is a Human Resources (HR) consultancy firm that focuses on investigations, mediation and resolving workplace issues. The firm is led by senior HR practitioners (usually former HR directors) with backgrounds in Read more…
The Streisand Effect refers to the phenomenon whereby attempts to suppress information instead amplify it. For Barbra Streisand, it arose from a privacy claim over a photograph of her Malibu residence. Image 3850 (shown) of the California Coastal Records Project had been downloaded only six times prior to Streisand’s privacy lawsuit, two of those Read more…
During any appointments process, candidates should disclose any current or pending Employment Tribunal proceedings in which they are a party where such proceedings could reasonably be considered relevant to their prospective employment or to the interests of the organisation.
This week, the growth of Human Resources (HR) has been in the news because of a publication from the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange. Its report on the growth of HR has received widespread attention, eg in The Times and BBC Radio 4. The most striking claim is that the Read more…
Dear Editor The Financial Times’ recent ranking of the UK’s “Top 400 Employers” has been greeted with interest and puzzlement. Several results appear curious. For example, the strong performance of organisations facing well-reported financial and governance difficulties or even near-collapse, including the University of Dundee, is striking. The generally high Read more…
This image is taken from the listing of “Fellows of the Colleges” published in The Reporter here on 19 January 2026. Following an investigation by Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall Editor of The Sunday Times, it was admitted that Ann Limb’s claims on her cv that she had an MA and a Read more…
The Financial Times (FT) yesterday provided a list of the top 400 employers here. It is based on a joint survey carried out by themselves and Statista. It placed the University of Cambridge at the very top. Statista is a market research/data aggregator company. Statista itself describes its rankings as Read more…