THE HOT STORY

Finnish companies experiment with shorter working hours

A report from the Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK) looks at outcomes for four Finnish companies that have introduced different forms of shorter working hours. The report says innovative and flexible workplaces could turn new ways of working into a significant competitive advantage. Taina Vallander, of STTK's social impact team, says the focus should be less on whether working hours should be shorter or longer and more on how work itself is changing. "We are approaching the discussion about shortening working hours from the perspective of how we can improve employees' well-being and commitment, maintain their ability to work, and possibly extend their careers or distribute work differently," Vallander says.

YLE Uutiset

HIRING

UK job vacancies hit five-year low

Job vacancies in the UK have fallen to their lowest level in over five years, reaching 707,000, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Smaller businesses are cutting back on hiring due to rising labour and operating costs that are being exacerbated by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The ONS data shows that regular earnings - which exclude bonuses - were up 3.5% year-on-year in the three months to June. Public-sector wages grew by 6.1%, while private-sector pay increased by just 2.8%, its slowest growth in nearly six years. Unemployment remained at 4.9%, while the number of payrolled employees fell in June and July. Suren Thiru, chief economist at the ICAEW, commented: "The persistent slide in vacancies is a red flag for the jobs market."

LEGAL

Greek court rules against restoring public sector holiday bonuses

The Council of State in Greece has ruled against restoring holiday and annual leave bonuses for public sector employees, saying that their abolition does not breach the Greek Constitution or EU law. The court dismissed an argument that the absence of the bonuses violated the constitutional principle of equality and the EU directive's prohibition on discrimination between public and private sector workers.

GreekCitytimes

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

UK government to pay consultants £456m to train civil servants

The UK government will pay KPMG and EY £456m to deliver AI and management training to the Civil Service. The deal is the single biggest contract awarded by officials since 2012, according to government procurement data provider Tussell, and will cover the launch of a new National School of Government to train civil servants. KPMG will earn £319m and EY £137m from the deal, which comes despite a pledge from Sir Keir Starmer in 2024 to halve spending on consultants.

Financial Times

The Daily Telegraph

WORKPLACE

Chinese air-conditioning makers gain ground in Europe

Chinese air-conditioning manufacturers including Gree, Haier, Hisense, Midea and TCL are rapidly expanding in Europe as increasingly severe heatwaves drive demand for cooling systems. Chinese AC exports to the EU reached $3.8bn in the first half of 2026, up 43% year on year, while TCL’s European orders increased by more than two-thirds, Haier’s June sales in France, Germany and the UK more than doubled, and Midea’s AC revenue across four key European markets rose more than 70%. Chinese manufacturers, which already control two-thirds of the global air-conditioning market, are investing in localised products, distribution networks and marketing as they seek to establish their own brands internationally. However, further expansion faces challenges from European building regulations, tighter restrictions on environmentally harmful refrigerants, pressure on electricity grids and the possibility of greater EU trade restrictions on Chinese imports.

Bloomberg

LEADERSHIP

Klarna overhauls leadership as it targets US banking licence

Klarna is overhauling its leadership and seeking a New York-based chief financial officer as the Swedish lender pursues a US banking licence and shifts towards a more traditional banking model. Current chief financial officer Niclas Neglén and chief marketing officer David Sandström will step down at the start of next year, while Klarna has applied for a US banking licence as it expands into savings, interest-bearing loans and other financial products. The changes came alongside second-quarter results showing revenue up 27% to around $1bn and net income of $9m, compared with a $53m loss a year earlier. However, Klarna cut its full-year gross merchandise volume guidance to $149bn-$151bn from $155bn, citing weaker retail spending in Germany and a $600m currency impact, sending its shares down nearly 20%.

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

Samsung Electronics ends anonymity on internal message board

Samsung Electronics has decided to eliminate anonymous posting on its NOW Talk internal message board due to repeated misuse by employees. The change requires employees to now use their real names when posting. The decision follows concerns over abusive language and misinformation. “There have been repeated cases of employees undermining our internal communications [systems] by using anonymity to disparage others or spread unverified information,” the company wrote in a notice. “Violations of employees' rights on the internal message board have become increasingly serious due to [posts'] abusive language and personal attacks […] and we recently received guidance from the Ministry of Employment and Labor to improve workplace harassment practices.” NOW Talk has been operative since the early 2010s.

Korea Joongang Daily

Only 5% of Afghan labour market is female

The International Labour Organization (ILO) says that only 5.1% of workers in Afghanistan are women, a significant decline from 16.5% in 2020. Afghanistan has the second lowest female labour force participation rate globally, trailing only Yemen. The ILO highlighted severe restrictions on women's access to education and employment since the Taliban regained power in 2021. It has called for urgent steps to counter women's "severe exclusion," saying this is essential to aid the Afghan economy more generally. "Afghanistan cannot build a resilient labour market while such a large share of its population remains excluded from economic activity," observed Tite Habiyakare, senior coordinator and head of the ILO office for Afghanistan.

Deutsche Welle (EN)

Pacific unions want to be a part of remote worker schemes

Pacific trade unions are advocating for involvement in the recruitment of workers from Pacific nations for labour schemes in Australia and New Zealand. Currently, over 30,000 Pacific Islanders participate in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, and an additional 20,000 are in New Zealand's scheme. Jodika Sharma from the Fiji Trade Unions Congress said unions need to be part of the hiring process to ensure proper worker selection and to verify employers to prevent exploitation. "The proper management of the whole system is important," she said. "The sending countries need to ensure that there is government to government agreements that specify how their workers will be managed on the other side."

ABC Online

Canada moves to tackle manufacturing skills gap

Canada has launched the Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Alliance to address workforce shortages in the manufacturing sector. Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu announced the initiative in Guelph, Ont., saying that many workers lack the necessary skills for current manufacturing demands. The alliance will unite manufacturers, unions, educators, and underrepresented groups to identify workforce gaps and develop training solutions. Jayson Myers, CEO of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), said the future of advanced manufacturing ultimately comes down to people: "Advanced manufacturing may involve artificial intelligence, robotics, leading-edge technology, engineering and production processes, and supply chain resilience . . . [but] at the heart of it, it's all about people," he said.

CBC News

The Globe and Mail

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