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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
At least 20,000 federal workers are said to have taken the Office of Personnel Management’s offer to resign by tomorrow in exchange for a nearly eight-month buyout. Last week, the Trump administration sent an email to approximately 2m federal employees stating that if they resigned by tomorrow, they would retain pay and benefits through to September 30 while being out on paid administrative leave. The administration has anticipated that at least 10% of the workforce will accept the offer; however, only 1% of federal workers have as yet selected to take it. Meanwhile, the American Federation of Government Employees and two other unions have claimed that the buyout offer is "arbitrary and capricious" and violates federal law. The unions allege the administration cannot guarantee the plan will be funded and has failed to consider the consequences of mass resignations, including how it might affect the government's ability to function. ABC News reports that federal workers who accept the buyout must then waive their right to legal action. Separately, the Washington Post reports that if too few employees choose to quit then federal layoffs appear "likely."
Full Issue
Human Times
UK
Research published by four charities - the Centre for Young Lives, YoungMinds, the Young People's Mental Health Coalition, and the Centre for Mental Health - estimates that Britain will lose £1trn a year in lifetime lost earnings due to the mental health crisis in young people and the lack of capacity to address it. The charities have urged the government to "acknowledge the scale of the crisis in children's mental health and ignore 'wishful thinking' that it is exaggerated or a result of 'over-medicalisation'". A fifth of children and young people experience common mental health problems, the study found, impacting school attendance and future earnings potential, while on the treatment side, a "lack of capacity in the system means too many young people reach crisis point, putting pressure on emergency, urgent and crisis services, straining bed capacity and creating enormous waiting times."
Full Issue
Human Times
Europe
Brussels has released guidance on the enforcement of its AI Act, which bans certain uses of AI, including the creation of facial recognition databases and social scoring systems. The law, passed in 2023, aims to clarify compliance for companies. A commission official said the guidelines are designed to "explain how the prohibitions will apply." Companies face fines of as much as $35.8m or 7% of their global annual revenues - whichever amount is higher - for breaches of the law. Tasos Stampelos, head of EU public policy and government relations at Mozilla, explained that compliance will depend on how standards, guidelines, secondary legislation or derivative instruments that follow the AI Act develop. Although some tech executives are concerned the new rules could be a burden on innovation, others say requirements around bias detection, regular risk assessments, and human oversight are instead defining what good regulation looks like. However, Politico points out that the AI Act has numerous loopholes for police and security forces.
Full Issue
Human Times
Middle East
The Ministry of Labour in Qatar has initiated consultative workshops focused on the 2025 Job Nationalisation Plan, engaging sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare. The initiative aims to enhance partnerships with the private sector and promote national workforce participation. Shaikha Abdulrahman Al Badi, Assistant Undersecretary for Manpower Affairs, said: "Collaboration with the private sector is a cornerstone of the nationalisation strategy," as he highlighted its importance for economic growth and sustainable development. Abdulrahman Mohammed Telfat, Director of the National Manpower Recruitment Department, noted that the Nationalisation Law is transforming private sector employment strategies, supported by incentives like salary subsidies and performance-based rewards for successful companies.
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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