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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.
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Recent Editions
Human Times
North America
U.S. services activity slowed in December, with the S&P Global Services PMI falling to 52.5 – its weakest reading since April, but above the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction – as new business inflows and hiring momentum faded. Export demand contracted sharply, and employment growth stalled for the first time in nine months. Rising input costs and tariffs drove the fastest increase in service prices since August, while business confidence softened amid growing concerns over policy, affordability, and economic resilience heading into 2026.
Full Issue
Human Times
UK
Employers are preparing for layoffs as payroll costs rise, according to the Institute of Directors' monthly business confidence survey. Headcount expectations fell from -17 in November to -21 in December, indicating a potential increase in unemployment. Anna Leach, chief economist at the IoD, commented: "Hiring freezes remain widespread, amidst concern over further cost increases." Business confidence remains low, with a score of -66, reflecting ongoing economic challenges. When asked what would have the greatest impact on business confidence in 2026, Leach said "top of the list were a lower tax burden and scaling back the proposed changes to employment law." She added: "More promisingly, improvements in regulation, trade deals with the EU, lower tax complexity and lower business costs were also high up the list – areas where the government has stated ambitions and where tangible progress could begin to rebuild confidence."
Full Issue
Human Times
Europe
Research for the Telegraph suggests that a number of high-paid workers in the UK are turning down promotions, cutting hours or donating to charity to avoid a £100,000 (€115,000) tax threshold. The analysis saw 43% of managers say they or their employees have deliberately reduced income to avoid punitive tax rates. Frozen thresholds and growing awareness of a tax trap which removes childcare benefits and tapers the personal allowance - creating effective marginal tax rates of 62% - have led many to boost pension contributions, use salary sacrifice schemes, cut hours, turn down promotions, retire early or donate to charity. Economists, tax experts and NHS leaders warn the cliff edge is irrational and damaging productivity. Petra Wilton, from the Chartered Management Institute, said: "When employees make those decisions, organisations lose experience and valued leaders, and teams feel the impact immediately."
Full Issue
Human Times
Middle East
The UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has published the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2024-2025, revealing critical insights into the health of the UAE population. The survey, endorsed by the World Health Organization, assessed health behaviours, dietary patterns, and risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Ahmed Ali Al-Sayegh, Minister of Health and Prevention, said: "These findings provide a clear, evidence-based picture of population health trends." The survey aims to inform health policies and enhance preventive care, and contribute to the UAE's Sustainable Development Goals. Data was collected from 20,000 households, so ensuring broad representation.
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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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