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23rd June 2021
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THE HOT STORY
Britons could move to four-day week after pandemic
Peter Cheese, chairman of the UK government's Flexible Working Taskforce, says Britain could gradually move to a four-day working week following the pandemic, citing a “generational opportunity” to change traditional working patterns after months of setting up office at home. He told the Politico website: “What we refer to as the standard five-day working week, that's what will begin to change. And it could emerge in lots of different forms, one of which could be a four-day working week.” He added: “I don't think we're at that point. But, who knows? I think if we can really make some of these things work for us, if we can really make technology enable a better balance of work, and all those other things help us all, then maybe we will see more of those sorts of things being adopted.” However, Mr Cheese, who is also head of industry group the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said firms should be left to resolve arrangements with staff, rather than being told how to act by government.
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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.
REMOTE WORKING
Home working risks development of younger workers
Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, says in a piece for City A.M. that as older workers with more established careers embrace hybrid working models post-pandemic, younger workers face having their professional development stunted. During the course of the Covid lockdowns they “have been robbed of the chance to mix with colleagues and forge the friendships and networks that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their careers,” asserts Carter. But the big picture not only sees the future career of young workers harmed, but the prospects for companies too as they “will end up with a less impressive cohort of workers as a result.”
WORKFORCE
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.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
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."
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
Ofsted pressed to limit grades for Baker Clause non-compliance
Ofsted is being urged to cut schools off from the top two inspection grades if they fail to comply with the Baker Clause. The clause mandates schools to allow training providers access to pupils to discuss options for technical education. A report from the education select committee recommends a school be limited to an Ofsted grade three if it does not comply with the requirement. The  report, ‘The forgotten: how white working-class pupils have been let down, and how to change it’, claims that “for too long” schools have “failed to fully deliver” on the Baker Clause, and says it “must be more uniformly enforced to prevent many disadvantaged pupils, including disadvantaged white pupils, missing the opportunity to access a variety of careers.” Recent utterances by senior Ofsted executives have caused confusion about whether compliance should be a limiting factor on grades. Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman had told the education select committee that it was “unlikely” a school could get an ‘outstanding’ grade if it were found not to have complied with the Baker Clause. But her recent statement clashed with that of Ofsted deputy director for FE Paul Joyce, who had previously told the Association of Employment and Learning Providers national conference that he did not think compliance should be a “determining factor” of an inspection grade.
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.
US urged to prosecute 'egregious onboard conduct' by air passengers
Airlines for America, a group representing major US airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and others, along with major sector unions, has written to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland urging the Justice Department to prosecute the growing number of disruptive and violent air passengers. The letter said the “incidents pose a safety and security threat to our passengers and employees, and we respectfully request the [Justice Department] commit to the full and public prosecution of onboard acts of violence,” adding that the airlines and unions hope the Justice Department “will commit to taking action, along with coordination with the [Federal Aviation Administration], to ensure that egregious onboard conduct is fully and criminally prosecuted, sending a strong public message of deterrence, safety and security.”
Saudi Arabia has improved its Global Labor Resilience
The 2021 Global Labor Resilience Index (GLRI), compiled by public policy and strategy advisory firm Whiteshield Partners in partnership with the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School and the Institute for the Future of Work, indicates a dramatic improvement in Saudi Arabia's overall ranking, reports Arab News. The GLRI identifies the countries that are best placed to cope with labour market disruptions and those which can turn such challenges into opportunities. Saudi Arabia is placed 62nd in this year's list, and has moved up the ranking by 27 places since 2016 and improved its position by 13 places compared with last year.  “Being the Arab world's leading economy and maintaining economic stability have laid the foundation for improvement,” Tom Flynn, a senior manager at Whiteshield Partners, said. Switzerland is the most resilient labour market in the world, according to the GLRI, followed by Germany and The Netherlands. A new framework was used to measure resilience this year, meaning that the US (ranked 14th) and the UK (12th) no longer feature in the top 10.
OTHER
More than 5m people become millionaires despite pandemic
A report from Credit Suisse reveals that the pandemic has been a boon for the rich, with aggregate global household wealth rising by about $28.7trn to $418.3trn after cheap money inflated asset prices. While many poor people became poorer, the number of millionaires increased by 5.2m to 56.1m globally. In 2020 more than 1% of adults worldwide were millionaires for the first time. Anthony Shorrocks, economist and author of the Global Wealth Report, explained that if asset price increases, such as house price rises, were removed from the analysis, "then global household wealth may well have fallen," adding "In the lower wealth bands where financial assets are less prevalent, wealth has tended to stand still, or, in many cases, regressed."

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