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European Edition
22nd June 2021
 
THE HOT STORY
The workers pushing back on the return to the office
Employers are beginning to unveil their post-pandemic visions for work, but pushback movements from employees who are keen to retain their work-from-home privileges are bubbling up. Localised protests may be indicative of more widespread resistance among workers to revert to pre-pandemic patterns, reports Brian O’Connor for BBC Worklife.  Employees may well feel they've proved they can be productive at home – and that the reasons companies say they want them back in the office don't stack up. For example, Apple’s pre-pandemic policies discouraged remote work, and early in June, CEO Tim Cook sent out a company-wide memo telling staff they would be required back in the office by early September. But post-Covid-19, the tech company’s employees are challenging what they call “a disconnect between how the executive team thinks about remote/location-flexible work and the lived experiences of many of Apple’s employees.” Kimberly Merriman, professor of management at the Manning School of Business at University of Massachusetts, Lowell, observes:  “A few numbers really reach far. Companies should be concerned when any number of employees complain like that [the Apple case]. It can escalate and give an impression, even if it’s a small number of employees, that this is the tone of the organisation.”
HEALTH & SAFETY
Bumble to give 'burnt-out' staff a week's break
Bumble, the dating app where women are in charge of making the first move, has temporarily closed all of its offices this week to combat workplace stress. Its 700 staff worldwide have been told to switch off and focus on themselves. Bumble has had a busier year than most firms, with a stock market debut, and rapid growth in user numbers. Senior executive Clare O'Connor revealed on Twitter that founder Whitney Wolfe Herd had made the move "having correctly intuited our collective burnout." Ms Wolfe Herd became the youngest woman, at 31, to take a company public in the US when she oversaw Bumble's stock market debut in February.
STRATEGY
Spanish government welcomes bank efforts on job cuts
Efforts by banks in Spain to reduce the number of initially planned layoffs after talks with unions have been welcomed by a government minister. Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said she hoped Caixabank and unions will reach an agreement regarding plans by the lender to cut more than 7,500 jobs. “I appreciate that the restructuring processes are being carried out in a negotiated way, in some cases an agreement has been reached and in others an agreement with the workers’ representatives is getting closer.” She also urged banks to explore new paths to profitability. “If the sector is to return to a path of profitability (...) we need banks to deploy new and profitable business areas,” Calvino said, without saying what these might be. BBVA, Spain’s second largest bank, has reached an agreement with unions to lay off 2,935 employees. The bank was to initially cut 3,798 jobs.
DIVERSITY
Italy to host first-ever women's emancipation G20
Italian Premier Mario Draghi says Italy will host the first-ever G20 ministerial meeting on women's emancipation in August.  Draghi said in a video message to the Women Political Leaders Summit 2021: "We want to help female leaders all over the world help the emancipation of other women." He said discrimination against women was immoral and short-sighted: "Every day millions of young women learn, at their own expense, that they cannot realise their dreams. They have to suffer discrimination, sometimes violent discrimination . . . This situation is not just immoral and unjust, it is also a short-sighted attitude. Our economies are losing some of our best talents. Our societies are letting the best leaders of the future get away."
REMOTE WORKING
High earners working from abroad pose tax threat to UK
The UK government could lose out on up to £32bn in tax receipts if high earners move abroad amid the shift to home working. Research published by the British Tax Review shows chief executives and managing directors account for around one sixth of all income tax paid in the UK and are more likely to be able to work from home. Rita de la Feria, a Leeds University professor who has co-written the British Tax Review study, said the effects of working from home policies would be felt "more significantly" in the UK and similar countries. "New mobile workers are likely to be at the top of the income distribution and even a small number could result in significant revenue losses to the UK, of between £6bn and £32bn," she said, adding "The likely effect will be a tightening of employment rules, introduction of new tax-avoidance rules and increased personal income taxes competition with countries fighting to attract new mobile workers."
HIRING
Number of job seekers in Luxembourg plunges 15% in a year
The number of job seekers in Luxembourg declined by almost 15% in May compared to a year ago when the early stages of the pandemic had forced many people out of work, according to employment agency ADEM. A total of 17,340 people were signed up with ADEM looking for work in May, or nearly 3,000 (14.2%) less than the same time last year. “In May 2020 the job market was strongly impacted by the health crisis,” ADEM said, adding that at the time there was a 33.6% annual increase in the number of job seekers.
WORKFORCE
Number of civil servants in Italy at lowest level in two decades
There were 3.2 million public sector workers in Italy at the start of 2021, or 31,000 fewer than 12 months previously according to a report presented yesterday at the Forum PA (Public Administration Forum). The report forecasts that 300,000 civil servants are due to retire in the next three years. The number of civil servants in Italy is now at its lowest level in two decades.
INTERNATIONAL
Labour law architect says rules mustn’t impede growth
Tito Mboweni, South Africa’s current finance minister and the architect of many of the country’s labour laws, says it may be time to review them to ensure they aren’t impeding economic growth. He has said that when he served as the first post-apartheid labour minister from 1994 to 1998 “we made a number of mistakes that need to be attended to . . . To what extent are some of the labour policies we put in place acting as binding constraints?” [and] How do we make sure that our labour laws don’t impinge on the ability of small and medium enterprises to function effectively?”  Bloomberg notes that South Africa’s labour laws have been both praised and criticised for protecting workers rights and discouraging hiring in a country where a third of the labour force is unemployed - in part because of their rigidity.
US Supreme Court sides with food giants in child labour suit
The Supreme Court has sided with Nestlé and Cargill in a lawsuit that claimed the companies knowingly bought cocoa beans from farms in Africa that used child slave labour. The justices ruled 8-1 in favour of the food companies and against a group of six adult citizens of Mali who claimed they were taken from their country as children and forced to work on cocoa farms in neighbouring Ivory Coast. Justice Clarence Thomas said: "Although respondents' injuries occurred entirely overseas, the Ninth Circuit held that respondents could sue in federal court because the defendant corporations allegedly made ‘major operational decisions' in the United States. The Ninth Circuit erred by allowing this suit to proceed."
OTHER
London and New York are the world's top cities for the ultra-rich
London and New York are the most important cities for ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) to live, invest and do business, according to Knight Frank’s latest Wealth Report. The two cities rank joint first in the Knight Frank City Wealth Index, ahead of Paris in third position. London was ranked highest in terms of lifestyle and shared top spot with New York in terms of policies toward UHNWIs. Henry Faun, Partner, Knight Frank Private Office, Middle East observed, “Given the established appeal of London as a cultural and business hub, ease of language, attractive educational system and weaker Pound Sterling in recent years, we see Middle Eastern demand for Prime London homes continuing in future years.”

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