Human Times

North American Edition

22nd May 2026

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THE HOT STORY

Bosses push work cultures into results mode

The threat posed to workers by artificial intelligence is giving employers more leverage, and CEOs are increasingly demanding results and holding people accountable for them. The focus now is on building a “performance culture” - a phrase used 633 times, up from about 460, on earnings calls and in corporate documents across companies in the S&P 500 Index last year - where expectations of workers soar, underperformers risk getting managed out and executives are less forgiving of bureaucratic impediments to efficiency. Ben Bryant, a professor of leadership and organization at Switzerland’s IMD Business School, wonders: “What will be sacrificed in the interests of performance?” Bloomberg observes that employee mental health, which business leaders prioritized during the pandemic, could once again get short shrift.

Bloomberg

AI PROMPTS

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TECHNOLOGY

Trump calls off AI executive order

President Donald Trump has postponed plans to sign an executive order on artificial intelligence because he said he was worried the measure could weaken America’s edge on AI technology. “I didn’t like certain aspects of it,” Trump said of the order. “We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead.” AI was also “bringing in a lot of jobs”, Trump said. The order would have established a framework for the government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems before their public release, according to a person familiar with White House deliberations. It was not immediately clear when the signing might be rescheduled.

AP News

Financial Times

Politico

CYBERSECURITY

AI data breaches are rising, report says

Verizon has said software flaws rather than stolen passwords have become the dominant entry point for hackers. In a review of more than 31,000 incidents in its annual Data Breach Investigations Report, Verizon found 31% started with vulnerability exploitation. The report said attackers are using AI to spot and exploit known vulnerabilities at machine speed, with the technology accelerating attacks from months to hours. Hackers are “demonstrably using GenAI to help at different stages of attack including targeting, initial access, and development of malware and other tools . . . AI’s primary impact is currently operational: automating and scaling techniques defenders already know how to detect, not yet unlocking these novel or rare attack surfaces.” Meanwhile, employees are not waiting for IT approval before adopting AI tools. Unapproved AI usage at work tripled from 15% to 45% of the workforce, making “shadow AI” the third most common source of non-malicious data leakage.

BankInfoSecurity

InfoSecurity Magazine

Techzine Global

STRATEGY

JPMorgan to hire more AI staff, fewer bankers

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has told Bloomberg News that the bank will likely hire more artificial intelligence specialists and fewer traditional bankers. "There will be all different types of jobs, and I think we will be hiring more AI people and fewer bankers in certain categories, and it will make them more productive," ⁠Dimon said at the bank's China Summit in Shanghai, adding: "I think it will reduce our jobs down the road." JPMorgan's annual attrition rate of about 10%, or roughly 25,000 to 30,000 employees, means it can manage these changes gradually, Dimon said. He observed that the bank could retrain staff, redeploy ‌workers ⁠or offer early retirement instead of widespread layoffs. Meanwhile, Paul Uren, JPMorgan's Asia Pacific head of investment banking, has told Reuters that the bank is implementing AI tools across its investment banking business globally. "We are in the early phase adopting AI tools throughout our investment banking business globally but are excited by the developments," Uren said.

Bloomberg

Regulators quiz StanChart following CEO's ‘lower-value human capital’ remark

Regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore have sought clarity from Standard Chartered after CEO Bill Winters said the company plans to replace "lower-value human capital" with ‌technology. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) asked the lender to explain Winters' comments, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore discussed the topic with the bank. Winters' remarks were made when referring to the role of AI in the bank's plans to cut thousands of jobs. The HKMA asked the bank if the comments meant the lender was seeking to use AI as a pretext to cut staff, according to a source. “It’s common practice to have regular dialogue with our regulators on wide-ranging topics, including on strategy and growth plans,” Standard Chartered said. “Talent is core to our strategy as we continue to invest to create new, reskill and redeploy roles – this will be done in line with regulatory expectations.”

Bloomberg

Intuit cuts 17% of workforce to fund AI expansion and efficiency drive

Intuit plans to cut about 17% of its workforce, or roughly 3,100 employees, as the company restructures to invest more heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) and improve operational efficiency. The TurboTax and QuickBooks owner said the layoffs will primarily affect coordination and management roles, including project managers, business operations teams, and mid-level managers. The restructuring is expected to cost between $300m and $340m, with most charges recorded in the current quarter. The company said savings from the cuts will be redirected toward strategic “big bets,” including AI initiatives. Intuit has been expanding its AI capabilities through partnerships with Anthropic and OpenAI as it shifts toward becoming an AI-first platform.

CNBC

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

WORKFORCE

Weekly jobless filings dip to 209,000 despite economic uncertainty

New U.S. unemployment claims fell last week, signaling continued labor market resilience despite rising inflation pressures tied to the conflict involving Iran and ongoing global supply chain disruptions. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined by 3,000 to 209,000 for the week ended May 16th, remaining near historically low levels even as technology companies continue to announce layoffs linked to artificial intelligence adoption. The four-week moving average fell to 202,500, the lowest since 2024, while continuing claims, reported with a one week lag, increased 6,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 1.782m. "We still can't rule out some spillover effects from the war and the spike in oil prices on to the labor market, which we have always expected would come with a lag," commented Matthew Martin, a senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. "But for now, we think the labor market is showing enough stability to allow the Fed to feel comfortable keeping policy steady."

LEGAL

Top U.N. court says right to strike protected in key labour treaty

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that the right to strike is protected in a key treaty of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The top United Nations court had been asked to issue a non-binding advisory opinion on whether a treaty drawn up in 1948 by the International Labour Organisation, known as Convention 87, implicitly enshrines such a right. The treaty includes the right for workers "in full freedom, to organize their administration and activities." Unions said this by extension enshrines the right to industrial action, but employers disagreed. ICJ president Yuji Iwasawa said the court was "of the opinion that the right to strike of workers and their organizations is protected" under that convention. However, judges said their non-binding opinion should not be understood as laying out any other ground rules for strike action. The conclusion "does not entail any determination on the precise content, scope or conditions for the exercise of that right," Iwasawa said.

France 24

Supreme Court 'risks being seen as political'

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has said the Supreme Court risks being seen as political following the court's decision allowing Louisiana to move quickly to use new maps after the court struck down a majority-Black district and weakened the Voting Rights Act. “Public confidence is really all the judiciary has,” she said at a talk before the American Law Institute in Washington, D.C. “Everyone believes the court system is outside the political sphere. I think that means it's incumbent on us to do things, to act in ways that shore up public confidence,” Jackson said. She has become a frequent dissenter from the decisions of the conservative majority court.

U.S. News

INTERNATIONAL

Google rejects U.K. union recognition but offers talks

Google has agreed to negotiate with staff at its AI research lab, DeepMind, following its rejection of a request for union recognition. Formal discussions will involve the state-backed Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), delaying a potential statutory process that could force recognition. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) ⁠and Unite said earlier this month that they had sent a formal letter to Google seeking voluntary recognition after an employee-organized vote showed support for unionization at the AI unit. "We've declined the unions' request for voluntary recognition to bargain collectively on pay, hours and holiday, but we have offered to meet via ACAS, which is a standard next step," a Google DeepMind spokesperson ‌said. "We continue to value the constructive and direct dialogue that we have with our employees about building a positive and successful workplace." Reuters notes that the U.K.'s new employment rights legislation, which came into force last month, has simplified the union recognition process, lowering some of the thresholds and procedural hurdles for unions.

Reuters

The Guardian

Samsung workers begin voting on pay deal

Samsung Electronics workers in South Korea have begun voting on a pay deal. An 11th-hour government-mediated agreement precipitated a deal which primarily benefits workers in Samsung's memory chip business, which ⁠has seen profits soar amid the AI boom. "This round of negotiations has effectively been reduced to bargaining over bonuses for the semiconductor memory division," said Lee Ho-seop, a leader of the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), who added that "a rushed outcome was produced." The ballot runs until 10:00 a.m. on May 27.

Reuters

South Africa can’t tell doctors where to work, court finds

South Africa's Constitutional Court, the country's top court, has struck down parts of the National Health Act, a law that would enable the government to determine where doctors and other healthcare professionals can work. Powers given to the health minister under the law to issue so-called certificates of need that healthcare professionals will require to practice were unconstitutional and invalid, the court found. Anton van der Bijl, the deputy chief executive officer of labor union Solidarity, an opponent of the National Health Act, said: “No government can force doctors, dentists, nurses and other healthcare practitioners through regulations to create quality healthcare where the government itself has failed.”

Bloomberg

News24

OTHER

Victoria’s Secret changes stock ticker to “VSXY” as part of brand repositioning

Victoria’s Secret will change its stock ticker symbol from “VSCO” to “VSXY” on June 2 as the retailer seeks to reinforce a brand identity centered on “celebrating sexy in all its forms.” The Columbus-based lingerie group said the new ticker reflects greater confidence in the company’s positioning and evolving image. Chief executive Hillary Super said “VSXY” represents the company “standing fully in our identity” while aiming to inspire confidence and joy among customers. The ticker change will take effect alongside the release of Victoria’s Secret’s first-quarter financial results on June 2nd.

The Columbus Dispatch

Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal

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