Human Times

European Edition

17th April 2026

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THE HOT STORY

Stellantis invests €100m to keep open site near Paris

Stellantis has said it plans to invest €100m to transform its plant near Paris, which will keep making cars through at least the end of 2028, and then shift to activities including auto part production, recycling, and 3D printing. The company, which currently produces the Opel Mokka and DS compact sport utility vehicles at the Poissy facility, has vowed to retain 1,000 blue-collar jobs there by 2030, with no layoffs. Bloomberg notes that Stellantis has worked closely with labour unions on the project, which “guarantees an industrial future for the Poissy site at a time of rapid change for the automotive industry,” according to Xavier Chéreau, the group’s chief human resources and sustainability officer.

Bloomberg

FUTURE OF WORK

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LEGAL

UK launches 12-week consultation on extending some NDA bans

There could be a widening of a proposed ban on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that silence victims of workplace harassment, discrimination and abuse to include agency workers and the self-employed. Launching a 12-week consultation, the government will seek views on the details underpinning new changes - including the conditions an NDA must meet to still be valid, and who workers should be free to speak to about their experience, regardless of what they have signed. "We are committed to ending a culture of silence and impunity and stand with all survivors of harassment and abuse in the workplace," Employment Rights Minister Kate Dearden said. "These changes will ensure no one has to suffer in silence and give workers confidence that inappropriate behaviour will be dealt with."

GOV.UK

Reuters

Italian court accepts legal action over Facebook mass breach

A court in Milan has given the go-ahead to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of tens of millions of Facebook users affected by a data leak. According to the court order, the data scraping incident, which took place between January 2018 and ⁠September 2019 and was disclosed by Facebook parent Meta in 2021, affected around 533 million Facebook users globally. The CTCU consumer association seeks compensation on behalf of social media users who lost, or feared losing, control over their personal data in breach of ‌the ⁠EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). "We respectfully disagree with the court's decision, which is a procedural ruling only and makes ⁠no finding that Meta violated any law," a Meta spokesperson said, adding: "We are confident ⁠this meritless action will ultimately be dismissed."

Reuters

Silicon

HIRING

Novo Nordisk hires 2,000 to reshape workforce

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has hired about 2,000 people this year, as the company reshapes its workforce after laying off about 10% of employees in 2025. CEO Mike Doustdar pushed through broad layoffs last year in a bid to make Novo faster and more aggressive, Bloomberg reports. About 1,400 of the hires have already started, a company spokeswoman said. Of the new hires, Novo said 398 have been in Denmark.

Bloomberg

HEALTH & WELLBEING

People in England’s poorest areas live less than 50 years in good health, ONS says

People in England’s most deprived areas spend less than 50 years of their lives in good health, a 20-year gap compared with those in the richest areas, according to official data. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) research showed that inequality of healthy life expectancy at birth between the most and least deprived areas of England was 19.3 years for males and 20.1 years for females.

Financial Times

The Standard

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Monte dei Paschi investors reinstate ousted chief Lovaglio

Investors in Monte dei Paschi di Siena have voted to back ousted boss Luigi Lovaglio. Lovaglio was pushed out as chief executive of the world's oldest lender at the beginning of March, following disagreements with board members and billionaire industrialist Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone after presenting in February a strategy that envisaged a swift merger of recently-acquired rival Mediobanca into MPS to boost savings. Lovaglio's supporters won eight board seats after backing from investors representing about a third of MPS' capital.

Financial Times

Reuters

RISK

European banks are resilient to geopolitical shocks, new EBA head says

New European Banking Authority head François-Louis Michaud has said European lenders have enough resilience to absorb current financial and geopolitical ‌shocks but need to prepare for future uncertainties including cybersecurity risks associated with AI. Reuters notes that the European Central Bank has made strengthening lenders' resilience to geopolitical risks a key priority for this year and will stress test the largest banks, after last month warning that markets were underpricing the stress on the financial system coming from such risks. "We also know that what's coming next will not be very much like what we’ve been seeing in the past, and we need to be prepared for that," Michaud added.

Reuters

REGULATION

EU to relax merger rules in bid to create ‘European champions’

The EU is planning the biggest relaxation of its rules on corporate mergers in decades to give greater weight to “innovation, investment and resilience of the internal market”, the FT reports.

Financial Times

INTERNATIONAL

India to decide women's quota bill

India is preparing for a redrawing of its political map, driven by what the government says is a push to reserve one-third of seats for women in parliament and state assemblies. To do that, the government will unveil a constitutional amendment - requiring a two-thirds majority - backed by a three-day special session from Thursday. Women make up only about 14% of India's 543 lower house MPs. The reform would raise that to roughly a third, closer to global norms. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (which loosely translates from Hindi to Saluting Women Power Act) as a historic leap, calling it "among the most significant decisions of our times," and arguing it honours women's empowerment. But opposition parties say a simple women's quota is being tied to a controversial redrawing of constituencies - a wider political overhaul masquerading as a gender reform.

Bloomberg

Financial Times

BBC News

Chinese company is criticised for using ex-employee's data to create ‘AI human'

A Chinese company has been criticised for creating an AI-powered "digital worker" using data from a former employee - an HR specialist - following his resignation. The avatar continued to performs his tasks, including answering enquiries, scheduling appointments, and creating PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets. According to a video shared online by a staff member at the gaming company in Shandong province in northern China, the digital employee introduces itself in a chat window.

South China Morning Post

Auditors still stuck with manual inventory counts despite AI advances

Accountants are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI), drones, and automation, but one of the most unpleasant parts of auditing - physically counting inventory - remains largely manual, requiring auditors to endure harsh, messy, and sometimes dangerous conditions. From climbing grain bins and wading through fertilizer to counting livestock, frozen goods, or construction materials, auditors - often junior staff - must still verify inventory in person due to regulatory requirements and technological limitations. While tools like drones and AI are improving efficiency in some areas, they struggle with obstacles such as indoor environments, hidden items, or extreme conditions, and auditing standards still mandate human verification. As a result, despite hopes that advancing technology will eventually replace these tasks, inventory counting continues to be widely viewed within the profession as the most grueling and outdated aspect of auditing.

Wall Street Journal

OTHER

Next generation to study and work across Europe as UK rejoins Erasmus+

Britain and the EU have finalised an agreement to reintegrate the UK into the Erasmus+ programme by 2027. The initiative will allow over 100,000 students, apprentices, and young people to study and work across Europe. Skills Minister Jacqui Smith said: "Erasmus+ offers transformative opportunities to enhance young people's life chances." The UK secured a 30% discount on the contribution rate, ensuring a fair deal for taxpayers. The British Council will serve as the National Agency for Erasmus+, supporting participants and organisations in maximising their opportunities across Europe.

FE News.co.uk

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