THE HOT STORY

VW’s works council pushes back on job cuts

Volkswagen's works council and the IG Metall union say they haven’t been informed of plans to cut as many as 100,000 positions in Germany to boost competitiveness. Top labour representative Daniela Cavallo has been part of the German car maker’s attempts to cut costs, but talks didn’t detail specific job reduction targets. Manager Magazin reported last week that Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume aims to cut up to 100,000 jobs and discontinue production at four of the group's German plants, as he seeks to reduce investment by around 15% to just over €130bn ($148bn) over the next five years. "The entire group, including its brands and subsidiaries, must undergo far-reaching change," a Volkswagen spokesperson said at the time. Bloomberg notes the difficulty that Blume can expect when pushing ahead with his plans: labour leaders are powerful and VW law gives the state a veto over key decisions while making it harder to close major German plants.

Bloomberg

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TECHNOLOGY

Heavy corporate AI spenders add staff faster than peers

Companies investing most heavily in AI are adding workers faster than their peers, according to research from start-ups Ramp and Revelio Labs that challenges forecasts of broad AI-driven job losses. TechCrunch notes that the research data skews towards tech-forward, knowledge-work firms that are likely growing quickly anyway, making it difficult to say whether AI is contributing to hiring. “This paper does not show that AI universally creates jobs,” the paper’s authors write, “but it does counter claims that AI will lead to broad job losses.”

TechCrunch

Financial Times

REMOTE WORKING

Remote work fears may be leading employers to cut back on junior hiring

The Wall Street Journal reports that some employers are cutting back on junior hiring because widespread remote work is making young talent a less attractive value proposition. Researchers from the London School of Economics, who recently observed that the amount of hiring devoted to entry-level roles across some countries has fallen more than 14% since 2019, said the return-on-investment after the hiring of an entry-level worker is dependent on the rate at which that young employee learns. Since remote work slows that process, employers prefer to invest instead in older workers, the researchers argue. “The implication is stark . . . A persistent contraction of this kind hollows out the pipeline of future experienced workers, causing declines in aggregate productivity as well as imposing cohort-specific scarring,” they wrote.

Wall Street Journal

WORKFORCE

Stellantis extends summer stoppage at Turin factory

Stellantis has notified the FIM ‌Cisl trade union of a stoppage at its Fiat 500 factory in Turin, northern Italy, from July 27 to 31, adding to a previously ⁠planned three-week summer downtime that was due to commence in August. The union said that it had been told that the extra week's break was due to parts shortages from some suppliers, and the stoppage may also reflect weak demand.

Reuters

Dutch care workers win 7.4% wage increase in new two-year deal

Employees in nursing homes and care facilities in the Netherlands will receive a 7.4% wage increase over two years, following a new collective labour agreement. The deal, which covers about 500,000 workers, is the largest in the country and will take effect on September 1, pending union approval. The pay rise will occur in four stages and includes a slight increase in travel reimbursements. Bart Schnoor from the CNV union said: "It yields more money, especially for the lowest incomes." Marion van Zoom from ActiZ praised the agreement for addressing workload and safety issues.

NL Times

RISK

Europe is crossing a cascade of climate thresholds

Bloomberg reports that Europe is crossing a cascade of smaller climate thresholds all at once, including the temperatures at which power grids falter, farm soils dry out and rivers become too warm to cool nuclear reactors. Scientists say Europe will need to redesign for hotter nights, warmer waters, and drier soils. “We are going to need to make some very significant changes in the way we live,” says Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the University of Reading in the UK. “Our society and the infrastructure on which it’s based is built for the climate of the past . . . It’s not built for the climate of now, and certainly not built for the climate of the future.”

Bloomberg

LEGAL

Russian court hands out 'LGBT Movement' jail sentences

A Russian court has sentenced the owner of an LGBT nightclub and two of its employees to prison for their involvement in what authorities have labelled an "extremist organisation" - the first case brought under a ban on what Moscow calls the "LGBT movement." Vyacheslav Khasanov, the owner of the "Pose" club, received a seven-year sentence, while manager Diana Kamilyanova and art director Alexander Klimov were sentenced to six years and two years, respectively. All three denied the charges. Russia's Supreme Court designated the "LGBT movement" as extremist in ⁠2023 and those supporting it have been designated as terrorists.

U.S. News

INTERNATIONAL

White-collar immigrants pushed into to shadow workforce

The Trump administration's moves to roll back Temporary Protected Status and other humanitarian programs for immigrants are pushing hundreds of thousands of previously legal foreigners into a shadow workforce, Bloomberg reports. The shift has been accelerated by last week's ruling by the Supreme Court that the White House can strip protected status from hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants whose home countries remain unsafe. Pia Orrenius, a labor economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said: “In most cases, these people [who lose their legal status] are not going to leave the country . . . They’ll likely stay and swell the ranks of the undocumented immigrant population.”

Bloomberg

AI resistance is the biggest concern for UAE employers

According to the 2026 People Risks report by Marsh, mindset barriers to AI adoption have become the primary concern for UAE employers, surpassing cybersecurity and health costs. The survey, which included 103 HR and risk professionals in the UAE, highlighted inadequate cyber threat literacy and labour shortages as additional risks. Only 40% of firms reported full collaboration between HR and risk teams. Adel Alderi, business development leader at Mercer Marsh Benefits, observed: “People risks in the UAE can no longer be treated as secondary workforce issues. They are now directly linked to business continuity, employee wellbeing, digital transformation and organisational resilience . . . AI adoption is an important part of the findings, but the wider issue for employers is workforce resilience.” He added that employers are simultaneously contending with rising health costs, mental wellbeing pressures and financial insecurity among staff.

Khaleej Times Online

More South Koreans are becoming ‘full-time children'

In South Korea, economic pressures have led to the rise of "full-time children" - young adults who live at home and manage household responsibilities. The trend, influenced by high youth unemployment and soaring housing costs, sees these individuals taking on chores and caregiving in exchange for financial support. “They are not simply staying home and doing nothing,” observes Jeon Young-soo, a professor at Hanyang University's Graduate School of International Studies. “In an era of youth unemployment, slow growth and high inflation, this is a survival strategy born from the intersection of young people's economic difficulties and parents' desire to support their children,” he said.

Straits Times

OTHER

Sony ends Japan sales of Aibo robot dog after eight years

Sony will discontinue sales of its ERS-1000 Aibo robotic dog in Japan once existing stock is sold, ending domestic sales of the current model eight years after its successful 2018 launch. The company said customer support, replacement parts and cloud subscription services will continue, while sales of Aibo will remain available in the US, where it retails for more than $3,000. The move marks the latest chapter in Aibo's history, with the original robotic pet first launched in 1999 before being discontinued in 2006 and revived in 2018. Sony said the Aibo business will continue and indicated it plans to expand related products and services, although it did not provide details on a potential next-generation model.

The Japan Times

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