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23rd September 2021
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THE HOT STORY
Troubled workers can raise employee anxiety levels
Research suggests that levels of anxiety, depression and stress among an organisation’s employees can be raised when a troubled new worker joins the business. A study published online in the Administrative Science Quarterly finds that hiring a professional who was previously diagnosed with at least one of these ailments increases the incidence rate, or the number of co-workers at the new organisation who develop similar diagnoses, by about 6.32%. The study examined 250,000 employees at 17,000 companies in Denmark between 1996 and 2015. “The paper looks at the spread of mental health disorders through an epidemiological lens,” said study co-author Julia Kensbock, an assistant professor at the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics in the Netherlands. Viewed from this perspective, she says, mental health disorders can spread from one organisation to another through new hires.
STRATEGY
‘Brexit hasn’t happened yet’ for legal sector
The impact of Brexit on the legal sector has been delayed by the pandemic, the Law Society has warned, as international travel begins to open up. Marco Cillario, an international policy adviser at the Law Society, said that “the process of understanding what Brexit actually means has been slower than it would have been if people had been travelling”. He added that “in many respects for the sector, Brexit hasn’t happened yet. Some firms have had to make arrangements for their European offices but, when it comes to individual lawyers travelling, we don’t know the full extent of how the end of freedom of movement will impact the sector practically. It’s likely that it will have a huge impact.” Meanwhile, Jonathan Goldsmith, a Law Society Council member for EU matters, commented that younger legal professionals are more likely to be affected than those with established practices in Europe. 
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LEGAL
UK employers grapple with vaccine policies
A survey of 500 senior executives by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has found that 70% are worried about the potential risks of discrimination against staff on the basis of vaccination status.
MANAGEMENT
Slaughter and May elects first female leader
Slaughter and May has elected Deborah Finkler as its first female managing partner as part of a restructuring drive to modernise the law firm. A 41-year veteran at the magic circle firm, she will work alongside its senior partner Steve Cooke in the new role. The appointment will follow the planned retirement of practice partner David Wittmann and executive partner Paul Stacey.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Female adviser gap starting to narrow – Openwork
Claire Limon, Network Director at Openwork, has said that the female financial adviser gap is starting to narrow but more needs to be done to attract women into the industry. Speaking at Openwork’s Inspiring Women in Financial Services conference, she said: “Female financial advice is thriving in the UK with real evidence that the female financial advice gap is starting to narrow but, in a male-dominated advice industry we must redouble our efforts to attract more women into the industry.”
HSBC staff to polish Welsh language skills
HSBC is to help branch staff in Wales learn or brush up on their Welsh language skills by drawing on the skills and knowledge of fluent Welsh speakers in the bank. Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK's head of branch network, said: “as a service provider we are excited by the opportunity to engage more in Welsh, formalising the support we are able to give our customers across Wales.”
HEALTH & SAFETY
UBS sued over stress induced mental health issues
A trader is suing UBS claiming the “toxic” work environment at the bank’s London office and “punishing workload” caused his mental health to deteriorate. Simon Rope is claiming upwards of £200,000 for negligence over an anxiety disorder which was caused by “the stress to which he was subjected in” the London office, according to his lawyers. In April 2018, Mr. Rope made two trading mistakes that caused him to cry in front of colleagues, City A.M. reports. After the incident he was signed off work sick and has been considered unfit to return ever since.
Council and NHS mental health absences 'cost £2bn during pandemic'
Analysis by wellbeing and productivity company FirstCare suggests that mental health absences among local council and NHS workers cost the taxpayer £2bn during the pandemic. Mental health leave for staff was on average three times longer than Covid-related absence, with workers taking a month off to recover versus an average of 11 days for Covid infection or isolation. Among council workers, time off for mental health took up 26% of total sick days, which was more than for Covid infections and Covid isolation combined.
TECHNOLOGY
Artificial intelligence is a key challenge for Germany
Deutsche Welle reports on what Germany’s next government must do to ensure the successful integration of AI technologies in fields including mobility, health care, Industry 4.0, and environmental sustainability, noting that the country will need to become more attractive to international AI talent. In 2019, more than half of AI job vacancies in Germany could not be filled or were filled late or with less desirable candidates. Deutsche Welle says Germany is already contending with a shortage of skilled labour, and AI expertise is particularly hard to come by.  "Talent is very important both for industry and academia, for both of us," says Antonio Krüger, CEO and director of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), adding "And we need to provide environments that are very attractive to these kinds of people."
iPhone features aim to help detect depression and cognitive decline
Apple researchers are developing technology to help diagnose depression and cognitive decline. Sensor data around mobility, physical activity, sleep patterns, typing behavior and more could help identify digital signals associated with the target conditions so that algorithms can be created to detect them reliably. Apple has announced research collaborations with the University of California, Los Angeles, to study stress, anxiety and depression, and pharmaceutical company Biogen to study mild cognitive impairment.
Robots replace humans as labour shortages bite
Logistics and delivery companies are automating their businesses to tackle labour shortages as the monotony of some jobs makes recruiting and retaining workers harder, and customer orders become increasingly complex.
REMUNERATION
Deloitte partner pay touches £1m as Big Four profits rebound
Partners at Deloitte in the UK will receive an average payout of about £1m after the firm’s profits rebounded from a pandemic slump last year and it sold its restructuring arm to Teneo.
PSYCHOLOGY
The risks of trying to be funny in the workplace
Research has found that women are seen as more likeable and competent than men after similar failed attempts at humour, write Dr. Taly Reich, an associate professor of marketing at the Yale School of Management, and Dr. Sam J. Maglio, an associate professor of marketing and psychology at the Rotman School of Management and the University of Toronto Scarborough. When bad jokes are told in the workplace, observers are more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to a woman than to a man, the research suggests. “Even when jokes go south, people think that women are being more attentive to their audience than are men,” the authors write.
HYBRID WORKING
Many professionals say hybrid working model needs improvement
A poll of 2,000 professionals by recruitment firm Robert Walters indicates that more than half (55%) of respondents think that their current hybrid working arrangements don’t go far enough to help engender an effective work-life balance. Some said under-tested hybrid working models had precipitated more intense working days, for example with attendance required at both face-to-face and virtual meetings, leaving them feeling overworked and exhausted. Meanwhile, a great majority of respondents (85%) said they now expect more flexibility to work from home as a standard offer from employers, and 78% said they will not take on a new job until such flexibility is agreed with a prospective employer. Jason Grundy, MD, Robert Walters Middle East & Africa, observes: “Whilst the switch to remote working was almost instant, we need to appreciate that was out of necessity. The return to work should be gradual employers and employees alike should use this year to test a variety of working styles from hybrid working to potentially removing the 9-5 in favour of hours based on project load.”
OTHER
U.N. chief takes aim at billionaires in space
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York that the three billionaires who journeyed  into space this summer have helped spread “a malady of mistrust” and underscored the gap between the rich and poor. In July, billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos flew into space on private rockets that their companies built, and billionaire Jared Isaacman led the first all-private orbital mission that splashed down Saturday after three days in orbit. Guterres invoked an image of “billionaires joyriding to space while millions go hungry on Earth” and at a time “when parents see a future for their children that looks even bleaker than the struggles of today.”

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