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Human Times helps you stay ahead of the latest news and trends that impact the HR industry. Every weekday, our unique blend of AI and team of expert HR and employment editors and researchers monitor 100,000s of articles, and social posts to create summaries of the most relevant and useful content to help you lead, innovate and grow. The award winning Human Times newsletter has four geographical editions with news tailored to your region.
From HR leadership to diversity and inclusion, hybrid working, organisational data, performance management, and retention strategies, Human Times is the only trusted free online news source dedicated to covering the most up to date headlines, articles, reports and interviews to make sure you’re abreast of changes in the HR industry.
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Recent Editions
Human Times
North America
Home Depot is raising performance thresholds for manager bonuses as it grapples with a slowdown driven by a frozen housing market and weaker demand. The retailer will increase the minimum sales target for bonus eligibility to 95% from 90%, and managers meeting that threshold will now receive 25% of their target payout instead of 50%. The changes, set to affect payouts in September, are intended to align incentives with pre-pandemic standards and reinforce accountability. The move comes as the company faces affordability pressures, softer job growth across the economy and broader cost-cutting measures, including recent job reductions and a return-to-office mandate for corporate staff.
Full Issue
Human Times
UK
UK unemployment has reached 5.2%, the highest level since early 2021, according to the latest labour market data. The jobless rate increased from 5.1% in the previous quarter, with 130,000 fewer workers on payrolls over the year. Young people, disabled people and men are bearing the brunt of the rise. Earnings growth also slowed, with basic pay rising by 4.2%, down from 4.4%. In London, the unemployment rate surged to 7.6%, nearly double the 4% rate in the south east. Youth unemployment has reached 18.8% in the capital, compared with 14% country-wide, with the number of 18-24 year olds out of work up by 80,000 on the quarter to 575,000. Liz McKeown at the Office for National Statistics also notes that private sector wage growth continues to slow and is at its lowest rate in five years, while public sector pay growth also slowed but remains elevated. Commenting on the figures, Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants, said: "The UK's jobs market is continuing to come apart at the seams as the stifling squeeze from spiralling labour costs pushes more businesses to pivot from simply freezing recruitment to actively cutting jobs."
Full Issue
Human Times
Europe
German labour union IG Metall has filed a defamation complaint against Tesla's factory manager in the Berlin area, accusing him of spreading false allegations amid deteriorating relations with the automaker. The union is also pursuing a temporary injunction to prevent further claims from the manager, who had previously filed a criminal complaint against an IG Metall member for allegedly recording a works council meeting without consent. Union representative Jan Otto emphasised that while legal disputes are not preferred, they are necessary to defend workers' rights against Tesla's aggressive stance on union activities.
Full Issue
Human Times
Middle East
Workers at ZIM Integrated Shipping Services have intensified their strike, demanding job security guarantees following Hapag-Lloyd's announcement of a $4.2bn acquisition of the Israeli shipping company. Approximately 800 unionised employees initiated the strike at ZIM's Haifa headquarters, citing fears that the proposed creation of a new dedicated container line, "New ZIM," would result in nearly 900 layoffs. Hapag-Lloyd has assured that job security will be negotiated but the union remains concerned about the long-term viability of “New ZIM” due to its reduced size.
Full Issue
Read the latest HR highlights
How HR is Tackling Long Covid?
Fingers remain tightly crossed around the world that the rampant hospitalization and fatality stage of the Covid-19 pandemic has generally peaked. Vaccination programmes are accelerating, and restrictions are gradually being lifted...
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ESG Is Not Just Another Name For CSR
Back in the distant 1980s if you wanted to demonstrate your environmental and ethical credentials it was sufficient to shop at or purchase shares in retailer The Body Shop. The charismatic Anita Roddick, founder of the “hippy” tinged retail chain, heralded a new age of environmental concern, caring capitalism and corporate awareness that evolved into what became known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR was much talked about and lauded, but in reality often ended up being a lot of a hot air (excuse the pun) and often never progressed much beyond a footnote in the annual report.
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Have Older Workers Paid The Highest COVID-19 Price?
Across the world the pandemic is slowly but surely moving into its next phase. Recovery beckons. As furlough schemes across the U.S. and U.K. are being wound down, restrictions eased or lifted, and workforces moving back up the gears, early signs indicate that older employees are more likely to be casualties of the pandemic aftermath than their younger colleagues. Here at the we have witnessed an increasing number of stories supporting the growing belief that older workers are disproportionately paying the highest Covid-19 price.
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Bosses. What's not to like? Plenty, say employees
“You’ll never have another boss like me, someone who’s basically a chilled-out entertainer”
So said, David Brent, the fictional manager of Slough-based paper merchant Wernham Hogg in the seminal TV comedy The Office. Ricky Gervais’s portrayal of Brent as a flawed, narcissistic, incompetent, and deluded manager was so well observed that many (including me) believed it was a genuine fly-on-the-wall documentary when they alighted accidentally on the first ever episode.
Rolling with the Payroll
To mark National Payroll Week the team at the Human Times has provided some insight into the industry that we hope you’ll find useful.
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