HR intelligence to lead, innovate & grow.
Want to get your daily slice of HR knowledge to your inbox? Sign up now
Human Times helps you stay ahead of the latest news and trends that impact the HR industry. Every weekday, our unique blend of AI and team of expert HR and employment editors and researchers monitor 100,000s of articles, and social posts to create summaries of the most relevant and useful content to help you lead, innovate and grow. The award winning Human Times newsletter has four geographical editions with news tailored to your region.
From HR leadership to diversity and inclusion, hybrid working, organisational data, performance management, and retention strategies, Human Times is the only trusted free online news source dedicated to covering the most up to date headlines, articles, reports and interviews to make sure you’re abreast of changes in the HR industry.
You’re all signed up for the Human Times
Thank you for your interest in our service.
Watch out for a confirmation email from our subscriptions team. Once you have confirmed you will join the worldwide community of over 30,000 subscribers who are receiving daily HR intelligence to lead, innovate and grow.
Note: Due to the nature of this message you may find this in your "promotions" or "spam" folders, please check there. If nothing arrives within a few minutes let us know. If you do not receive this email we will be happy to help get you set up.
Adding the email address humantimes@human-times.com, will help to ensure all newsletters arrive directly to your inbox.
Of all the newsletters I receive a month, Human Times has been easily the most valuable and a real pleasure to read.
I share it with my department, I excerpt it for other members of the C-Suite. And – we shook our heads trying to understand what the source organization is and what ultimately funds it.
“Although I’m a recent subscriber I really enjoy taking a few minutes to read through the selection of articles.
In terms of how I use it – I use it to stay informed on the range of human centred topics that the newsletter covers. I wouldn’t change anything – it’s extremely useful as-is.
Thoroughly enjoy this daily summary of news and tidbits.
We’ve used to start new conversations or dialogue on matters we are in process but getting differing viewpoints. The strategy and the technology sections are always very useful.
I find it very helpful for the busy executive who doesn't always have the time to read the newspaper or go online.
Being delivered to my In-Box gives me the opportunity to review when/where I can throughout the day.
Recent Editions
Human Times
North America
The IRS has temporarily reassigned employees from IT and human capital offices to taxpayer services roles during the current filing season, as the agency grapples with staffing cuts. Affected staff have been placed on 120-day involuntary details as customer service representatives or tax examiners, with training beginning in late February. The move follows warnings from the Treasury Inspector General that the IRS has lost about 19% of its workforce since October 2025, including significant reductions in IT and filing-related staff, potentially jeopardizing system upgrades and modernization efforts. While the agency says the reassignments are intended to support taxpayers during its busiest period, some employees have raised concerns that diverting IT personnel could further delay technology projects and increase processing backlogs.
Full Issue
Human Times
UK
UK unemployment has reached 5.2%, the highest level since early 2021, according to the latest labour market data. The jobless rate increased from 5.1% in the previous quarter, with 130,000 fewer workers on payrolls over the year. Young people, disabled people and men are bearing the brunt of the rise. Earnings growth also slowed, with basic pay rising by 4.2%, down from 4.4%. In London, the unemployment rate surged to 7.6%, nearly double the 4% rate in the south east. Youth unemployment has reached 18.8% in the capital, compared with 14% country-wide, with the number of 18-24 year olds out of work up by 80,000 on the quarter to 575,000. Liz McKeown at the Office for National Statistics also notes that private sector wage growth continues to slow and is at its lowest rate in five years, while public sector pay growth also slowed but remains elevated. Commenting on the figures, Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants, said: "The UK's jobs market is continuing to come apart at the seams as the stifling squeeze from spiralling labour costs pushes more businesses to pivot from simply freezing recruitment to actively cutting jobs."
Full Issue
Human Times
Europe
Russia is facing a significant labour shortage exacerbated by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Traditional sources of labour from Central Asia have dwindled, prompting Moscow to turn to India for assistance. In 2022, nearly 72,000 work permits were issued to Indian nationals, an increase from 5,000 in 2021. President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a deal in December to make it easier for Indians to work in Russia. Denis Manturov, Russia's first deputy prime minister, said at the time that Russia could accept an “unlimited number” of Indian workers.
Full Issue
Human Times
Middle East
Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's AI chief, predicts that most white-collar jobs could be fully automated within 12 to 18 months. He said that AI is nearing "human-level performance" in tasks including law, accounting, and project management. Suleyman noted that AI-assisted coding is already common in software engineering. The potential job losses could be severe, with estimates suggesting up to 80% of entry-level positions might be at risk.
Full Issue
Read the latest HR highlights
How HR is Tackling Long Covid?
Fingers remain tightly crossed around the world that the rampant hospitalization and fatality stage of the Covid-19 pandemic has generally peaked. Vaccination programmes are accelerating, and restrictions are gradually being lifted...
Discover
ESG Is Not Just Another Name For CSR
Back in the distant 1980s if you wanted to demonstrate your environmental and ethical credentials it was sufficient to shop at or purchase shares in retailer The Body Shop. The charismatic Anita Roddick, founder of the “hippy” tinged retail chain, heralded a new age of environmental concern, caring capitalism and corporate awareness that evolved into what became known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR was much talked about and lauded, but in reality often ended up being a lot of a hot air (excuse the pun) and often never progressed much beyond a footnote in the annual report.
Discover
Have Older Workers Paid The Highest COVID-19 Price?
Across the world the pandemic is slowly but surely moving into its next phase. Recovery beckons. As furlough schemes across the U.S. and U.K. are being wound down, restrictions eased or lifted, and workforces moving back up the gears, early signs indicate that older employees are more likely to be casualties of the pandemic aftermath than their younger colleagues. Here at the we have witnessed an increasing number of stories supporting the growing belief that older workers are disproportionately paying the highest Covid-19 price.
Discover
Bosses. What's not to like? Plenty, say employees
“You’ll never have another boss like me, someone who’s basically a chilled-out entertainer”
So said, David Brent, the fictional manager of Slough-based paper merchant Wernham Hogg in the seminal TV comedy The Office. Ricky Gervais’s portrayal of Brent as a flawed, narcissistic, incompetent, and deluded manager was so well observed that many (including me) believed it was a genuine fly-on-the-wall documentary when they alighted accidentally on the first ever episode.
Rolling with the Payroll
To mark National Payroll Week the team at the Human Times has provided some insight into the industry that we hope you’ll find useful.
Discover
