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European Edition
23rd June 2021
 
THE HOT STORY
Nokia will allow staff to work remotely for three days a week
Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia says its employees can choose to work up to three days a week remotely with increased support for flexible working hours from January. The company’s current remote work policy ends in December. “The pandemic forced organisations to change. Technology gave people the tools to innovate. In many cases, the results have been too good to go back to the old way of doing things,” Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark said. The company earlier this year announced  plans to shed as many as 10,000 jobs within two years to reduce costs and enable more investment in research capabilities. Nokia, which had about 92,000 employees in 130 countries at the end of last year, also plans to redesign offices to allocate up to 70% of the space in some sites to teamwork and meetings, with less area reserved for workspaces. Offices in Dallas, Singapore and Budapest have already been reconfigured.
HEALTH & SAFETY
Morgan Stanley to bar unvaccinated staff
Morgan Stanley's staff and clients will be barred from entering the lender’s New York offices if they are not fully vaccinated against Covid. Unvaccinated employees will need to work remotely, according to a person familiar with the matter. The policy comes into effect next month, in a move designed to allow the lifting of other Covid-related rules. Last week, the investment bank's chief executive called on workers to return to the office. An internal memo said: "Starting July 12 all employees, contingent workforce, clients and visitors will be required to attest to being fully vaccinated to access Morgan Stanley buildings in New York City and Westchester." The BBC understands the move will allow the company to remove restrictions in offices on face coverings and social distancing. The policy currently operates on an honour system, but the bank may later decide to require proof of vaccination status. Morgan Stanley had already implemented so-called "vaccine-only" workspaces in some departments, including institutional securities and wealth management.
STRATEGY
UK Treasury looks beyond the EU for financial services ties
Economic secretary to the Treasury and City minister John Glen says the UK is seeking deeper financial services ties with trading partners beyond the European Union to help the Square Mile thrive post-Brexit. “When it comes to developing a more open industry, we've been working hard seeking new international financial services agreements,” said Mr Glen. “We've already signed a number and we're continuing the financial services dialogues with other countries, including the US, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, China, India and Brazil.” Mr Glen told the City Week conference: “While openness means deepening international relations, we think it also means improving our own domestic competitiveness too so that we can take full advantage of our new position on the world stage. And that means creating the right conditions for industry to thrive outside the EU.”
LEGAL
Wirecard chair’s house and office raided by German police
German police have raided the home and office of former Wirecard chair Wulf Matthias, suspecting he might have aided embezzlement by Wirecard’s management. Meanwhile, German lawmakers examining the collapse of the payment processing company have accused the country's finance minister Olaf Scholz of oversight failings and heavily criticized auditors EY for repeatedly approving Wirecard's annual accounts.
REMOTE WORKING
Half of London firms plan for remote working five days a week
Almost half of London based employers whose staff can work remotely expect them to do so up to five days a week after the pandemic subsides, according to a survey of 520 business leaders by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). The results of the poll also suggest that smaller firms are more likely than larger ones to move ahead with homeworking. “Many businesses have already made decisions regarding their premises and ways of working once restrictions are lifted,” said LCCI CEO Richard Burge. “It’s about what business has judged best for the bottom line or productivity of their company.”
WORKFORCE
Finnish forestry giant to lay off 550 workers
Finnish forest industry giant Stora Enso will lay off 550 employees after deciding to permanently shut down three paper machines in Kemi, Finnish Lapland, chemical pulp and groundwood production, and the sheeting plant at the site in the third quarter of the year. More than a quarter (28%) of the lay-offs can be carried out through pension arrangements, the company said.
INTERNATIONAL
Messaging app changes management attitudes towards employees
An anonymous messaging app called Blind is encouraging a change in management attitudes towards staff at some of South Korea's biggest organisations. The app is increasingly popular among workers who want to air grievances – and Reuters notes several instances in recent weeks of companies changing course on salary decisions and other issues after criticism on Blind from employees. About 70% of Blind users come from organisations in South Korea, including American tech companies headquartered there, although the firm is based in the US. "When starting our service, we thought [it] would have more value when our HQ is in the United States – where the concept of freedom of speech is well established and valued," Blind co-founder Kyum Kim said of the deliberate decision to be based outside Korea.
Hong Kong ahead of London and NY in bid to get bankers back in the office
London and New York are falling behind Hong Kong in the race to get bankers back in the office, with Morgan Stanley already having 70% of its Hong Kong workers back at their desks and Credit Suisse around 70%. JP Morgan plans to reach that same office occupancy in the coming weeks, while Bank of America aims to reach full office capacity in Hong Kong by the end of this month. An HSBC spokeswoman said the bank's Hong Kong headquarters was now open for all staff to return but that people could choose between working from office and home. “I hated working from home,” said a sales banker at HSBC. “I missed being able to chat with my colleagues all the time for leads and gossips. It was not fun at all at home.”
Large US companies boost hiring plans to record level
Chief executives at America's biggest companies increased their estimates for growth in GDP this year to 5% from 3.7% and plan record hiring during the next six months, according to a Business Roundtable survey of 172 CEOs. Three in four CEOs said conditions for their companies have recovered to pre-pandemic levels or will do so by the end of this year, the Business Roundtable said. One in four business leaders does not expect a full recovery until 2022 or later. “CEO optimism near historic highs, particularly with record hiring plans, is a strong sign that we are climbing out of this unprecedented crisis,” Doug McMillon, Walmart CEO and Business Roundtable chairman, said in a statement, noting “an extremely successful vaccine rollout” in the US.
Israel’s hi-tech start-ups are on a hiring spree
Hundreds of start-ups around the Tel Aviv area, Israel’s hi-tech heartland, are currently looking to hire, reports the Jerusalem Post. The firms have raised more than $10.8bn in investment capital since the start of the year, and are set to raise more than twice as much as a year ago. But there are 13,000 open positions that cannot be filled, and 60% of Israel’s hi-tech firms say they are having difficulty hiring for R&D positions, according to a recent report by the Israel Innovation Authority and Start-Up Nation Central.
OTHER
LVMH unveils Samaritaine store revamp
LVMH has completed a seven-year revamp of La Samaritaine, a 150-year-old department store on the banks of the Seine in Paris, and will open its doors to customers on Wednesday. LVMH, which first snapped up a stake in La Samaritaine in 2001, has spent €750m on its makeover, which includes a contemporary, undulating glass exterior on one side by Japanese architectural duo SANAA. The reopening, originally scheduled for last year, was delayed by the coronavirus emergency.

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