THE HOT STORY

Lufthansa agrees pay deal with ground workers union

Lufthansa Group has reached a collective bargaining agreement for more than 20,000 ground staff ‌in Germany. The carrier said the 26-month pay deal with the Verdi union - which represents around a fifth of its entire workforce - would see workers in Germany receive a 4.65% rise in two stages from 1 January 2026. Executive board member Michael Niggemann, who is responsible for human resources and legal affairs, said the agreement with Verdi was a “good compromise” without any strikes. “This agreement sends a clear message in times of geopolitical crises and their resulting impact on the global economy: We are a responsible employer for our employees. Furthermore, the long-term nature of the agreement guarantees reliability,” added Niggemann. “After challenging negotiations, we succeeded in reaching a good compromise together at the negotiating table – without industrial action and without burdens – to our customers or additional economic disruptions.”

Lufthansa Group

Reuters

HIRING

Young people in London can’t find a job

Bloomberg reports on how London - once a global hub for entry-level jobs - is now experiencing a growing youth joblessness crisis that is threatening the futures of hundreds of thousands of people. Around one in four 16-24 year-olds in the capital is looking for work, the highest proportion in the UK. The composition of London’s jobs market leaves it vulnerable to AI, which tends to reward seniority and punish those who are just starting out, but Bloomberg says the problem of youth unemployment in London, and also in the UK more widely, is partly self inflicted, amid increases to payroll taxes and the minimum wage making it more expensive for firms to hire workers. “Employers often ask for prior experience, while lower-skilled roles are shrinking and being filled by older workers or graduates,” said Chris Goulden, director of impact and evidence at the Youth Futures Foundation. “In London, this is compounded by high housing costs and reliance on informal routes, for example internships, which exclude more disadvantaged young people.”

Bloomberg

Expansion of Disneyland Paris to create 1,000 new jobs

Expansion at Disneyland Paris will create 1,000 new jobs, Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro has said. "I believe we will continue to be the number one tourist destination. I believe that we will continue to add jobs. In fact, we're adding 1,000 jobs, just for ‌this ⁠new land that we have built," D'Amaro said. French President Emmanuel Macron visited Disneyland Paris alongside D'Amaro on Friday to unveil the new areas.

Reuters

Why recruiters are making interviews ‘AI-free zones’

Distrust precipitated by artificial intelligence is causing some companies to reassess their approach to hiring, introducing obstacles in application forms to prevent cheating, and increasing use of AI screening tools.

Financial Times

LEGAL

UK's Fair Work Agency prioritises persuasion over power

The UK's Fair Work Agency (FWA) will focus on persuading employers to comply with employment reforms rather than using its enforcement powers, according to chairman Matthew Taylor. He said that the threshold for deploying these powers is "quite high" and most breaches of employment law are unintentional. Taylor stressed the need for proportionality in enforcement, saying: "In a perfect world you minimise the amount of enforcement you have to do because you maximise the amount of compliance you achieve by educating employers." He added that enforcement powers such as entering workplaces or homes would be used sparingly. The agency, which brings together enforcement bodies, will target sectors with higher exploitation risks, such as construction and social care.

The Times

ECONOMY

Spanish inflation surges as Iran conflict drives energy costs higher

Spain’s annual inflation rate rose to 3.3% in March, its highest level since mid-2024, driven by a sharp increase in energy prices linked to the Iran conflict. The jump from 2.5% in February has intensified concerns about a renewed inflation spike across the euro zone and strengthened expectations that the European Central Bank may consider raising interest rates. While the rise was slightly below forecasts, the surge highlights growing economic pressure from higher fuel costs, prompting the Spanish government to introduce a €5bn support package to offset the impact on households and businesses.

Bloomberg

INTERNATIONAL

Amazon offers $1,000 prizes for delivery drivers

Bloomberg reports that Amazon is offering $1,000 prizes to delivery drivers who share what they love about their jobs. The "My Why" contest from the world’s largest e-commerce company is for drivers employed by delivery service partners, a network of small businesses that Amazon contracts with to manage workers who bring its packages to customers. Amazon said the competition is meant to "spotlight the drivers employed by our partners and celebrate the diverse motivations for doing this work and supporting their communities." Jerome Sloss, a New York City delivery driver and a Teamsters union activist who supports a New York bill that would require companies such as Amazon to directly employ last-mile delivery workers, said: “They’re not even acknowledging us as actual employees, but they’re offering us $1,000 to talk about why we like ‘delivering smiles.’”

Bloomberg

Apple calls in PwC to resolve Australian payroll blunder

Apple's Australian subsidiary has engaged PwC to investigate a significant internal technology error affecting thousands of employees' pay and leave entitlements. The $US3.7trn company must reimburse hundreds of former employees and provide additional leave to current staff due to a mistake in its human resources systems, which incorrectly counted public holidays as leave days. "We are committed to rectifying this issue," a spokesperson said.

Financial Review

Standard Chartered 'balance the scales' for women in the workplace

Business Times Singapore reports on the policies that are part of Standard Chartered's commitment to “balancing the scales” - empowering and supporting its female employees to thrive within the organisation. Standard Chartered was among the first banks in Singapore to offer shared parental leave of at least 21 weeks to all employees regardless of gender or how a child came to join the family. The bank also provides support to staff managing menopause, including medical coverage for related symptoms. Patrick Lee, Standard Chartered's chief executive officer for Singapore, Asean and South Asia, says an inclusive culture is now “deeply ingrained” throughout the organisation. “We know that having a diversity of perspectives and lived experiences improves our ability to innovate, solve problems and enable better outcomes for our diverse client base, and is key to how we execute and accelerate our strategy,” he explains.

Business Times SG

OTHER

Adult content platforms charged with breaching EU rules

The European Commission has preliminarily found Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to protect minors from being exposed to pornographic content on their services. The Commission's preliminary findings indicate that the companies did not diligently identify and assess the risks that their platforms pose to minors accessing their services. "Children are accessing adult content at increasingly younger ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-preserving and effective measures to keep minors off their services," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said.

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