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6th June 2025
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THE HOT STORY
Supreme Court makes 'reverse' discrimination suits easier
The Supreme Court has made it easier for people from majority backgrounds to pursue claims alleging workplace "reverse" discrimination, reviving an Ohio woman's lawsuit claiming she was illegally denied a promotion and demoted because she is heterosexual. Marlean Ames said that despite working for the Ohio Department of Youth Services for more than 20 years, she was denied a promotion and then demoted. The decision effectively lowers the burden of proof required for people who are members of a majority group - such as white or heterosexual people - to make discrimination claims. U.S. court precedent covering some states, including Ohio, had required that members of majority groups show additional "background circumstances" to prove their case or evidence showing a pattern of discrimination. The court has now ruled that the standard of evidence for a discrimination claim should be the same, regardless of a person's identity.
PREVENTING WORKPLACE HARASSMENT
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ECONOMY
New jobless claims hit eight-month high
The Labor Department reports that initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 8,000 to 247,000 in the seven days to May 31st, the most since early October 2024. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 235,000 applications. The four-week moving average of new applications increased to 235,000, also the highest in eight months, while the total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits, reported with a one-week lag, was down 3,000 to 1.9m. “Economic uncertainty and slowing consumer demand are pushing businesses to delaying hiring, which will result in upward pressure on continuing claims and ultimately on the unemployment rate," commented economist Eliza Winger. The Labor Department's monthly employment report is out later today, with analysts expecting that U.S. employers added a slim 130,000 jobs in May. Meanwhile, a separate report from the department on Thursday found that U.S. worker productivity, measured in terms of hourly output per worker, decreased at a 1.5% annualized rate during the first quarter. The figure was revised down from the previously reported 0.8% pace of decline and marked the first drop since the second quarter of 2022. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the decline in productivity would be unrevised at a 0.8% rate. Unit labor costs, or the price of labor per single unit of output, grew at a 6.6% rate, and by 1.9% from the year prior.
WORKFORCE
Americans are saving a record share of income for retirement, Fidelity says
Workers are putting away a record share of their income for retirement, according to a Fidelity Investments analysis of the millions of accounts it manages. It found that the average savings rate in 401(k) plans rose to a record high 14.3% of income in the first three months of this year, even though account balances fell in volatile markets earlier this year. Most are staying the course, said Mike Shamrell, vice president at Fidelity Investments, which released the data Wednesday. In the first quarter, 17.4% of people with 401(k) accounts at Fidelity increased their savings rate, while 5% decreased. Less than 1% stopped saving altogether. Boomers saved 17.2% on average, while generation X and millennials put away 15.4% and 13.5%, respectively. Average 401(k) balances fell 3% to $127,100 since the end of last year. Among the more than 24m people whose 401(k) accounts are administered by Fidelity, 6% changed their investment mix in the first three months of the year, with just over one-quarter tilting more conservative.
SEC drops weekly email requirement
The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, has said that agency staff are no longer required to send weekly emails detailing their work accomplishments. The decision follows the controversial initiative launched in February by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Elon Musk, which mandated federal workers to submit five bullet points of their previous week's achievements. Concerns over confidentiality and employee backlash arose following the announcement of the requirement. On Thursday, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins told agency employees in an email they no longer need to send the missives, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Man Group orders quants back to office five days a week
Man Group, the world’s largest listed hedge fund manager, has ordered its London-based quants to temporarily return to the office five days a week amid a period of poor performance. 
LEGAL
JPMorgan says it will fire analysts who take back-dated jobs elsewhere
JPMorgan Chase has told new graduates that if they accept future-dated job offers elsewhere within 18 months of starting their analyst program they will be fired. In a letter, the Wall Street bank has told incoming investment banking analysts that accepting offers at other firms before they join will mean "employment with the firm will end." Financial News says the letter did not single out private equity firms, but the move comes as buyout companies become increasingly aggressive with handing out pre-dated offers to incoming analysts.
CYBERSECURITY
Google warns that cyber thieves are targeting companies' Salesforce data
Google's Threat Intelligence Group has warned that a hacking group has been impersonating IT personnel to break into companies’ Salesforce tools, using the access for data theft and extortion. The hackers use voice calls to trick employees into visiting a purported Salesforce connected app setup page and unwittingly install a modified version of Salesforce's Data Loader tool. Technical infrastructure linked to the campaign shares characteristics with suspected ties to the loosely organized ecosystem known as “The Com,” known for small, disparate groups engaging in cybercriminal and sometimes violent activity. A Salesforce spokesperson said “there’s no indication the issue described stems from any vulnerability inherent in our platform.” The spokesperson said the voice calls used to trick employees “are targeted social engineering scams designed to exploit gaps in individual users’ cybersecurity awareness and best practices.”
Hoboken cyberattack investigation concludes
An investigation into the cyberattack in Hoboken last year has concluded. The cyberattack forced the closure of City Hall and affected city services and the municipal court. An investigation revealed that between Nov. 26 and Nov. 27, certain files on the city's network were accessed without authorization. The Russia-linked ransomware group ThreeAM , also known as 3AM, claimed responsibility for the attack, two cybersecurity experts told NJ.com. The city is urging anyone affected to enroll in free credit monitoring and identity protection.
CORPORATE
BlackRock is removed from Texas boycott list after quitting climate groups
Texas has removed New York asset manager BlackRock from a list of companies that were seen to be boycotting the energy industry. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said the decision reflected the firm's retreats from industry climate groups such as the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. Hegar also observed that BlackRock has lowered its support for shareholder environmental resolutions and backed a new Texas Stock Exchange. BlackRock "has acknowledged the real social and economic costs, both here in Texas and globally, that come from limiting investment in the oil and gas industry," Hegar said.
WORKPLACE
Retail crime crackdown results in hundreds of arrests across U.S.
A co-ordinated crackdown on retail crime across 28 states resulted in hundreds of arrests last week. More than 100 jurisdictions and over 30 retailers including Home Depot, Macy's, Target, and Walgreens took part in the campaign, which was led by Illinois’ Cook County regional organized crime task force. “When you give specific focus to a crime, it reverberates”, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart commented. “When they see it is being prosecuted and taken seriously, it deters conduct. They don’t want to get caught". “Organized retail crime remains one of the most significant challenges in our industry”, said Marty Maloney, director of media relations at Walgreens. “In this most recent operation we worked closely with law enforcement partners across nearly 20 cities and at over 40 locations to help curb this trend.” 
INTERNATIONAL
New law to expand Brazil's affirmative action policies
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has enacted a new law to enhance affirmative action policies, increasing the quota for government jobs reserved for Black individuals from 20% to 30%. The law also includes Indigenous people and descendants of Afro-Brazilian enslaved individuals as beneficiaries. “It is important to allow this country . . . to have a society reflected in its public offices, in the Prosecutors' Office, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Attorney-General's Office, in the Internal Revenue Service, everywhere,” Lula said. “We still have few women, few Black people, almost no Indigenous people." The changes will affect candidates for permanent positions across Brazil's federal administration and will be reviewed in 2035. Despite progress, with Black and mixed-race individuals holding 36% of top government jobs in 2024, the demographic remain under-represented in public service, particularly in leadership roles.
Warning issued about fake job scam in Portugal
Portugal's Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) has issued a warning about fraudulent online job offers that are aimed at deceiving candidates and extracting money from victims. The MP noted that the scams have particularly affected young individuals starting their careers and unemployed job seekers. The warning observes that “work online, from home” is a common phrase used by scammers posing as human resources representatives without disclosing their company details. Victims are initially tasked with simple jobs, such as writing reviews or following social media pages, with the promise of payment. However, as the scam progresses, victims are asked to pay upfront fees, often amounting to thousands of euros, under the guise of receiving larger commissions. Once victims realise they have been scammed, the criminals become unreachable.
Gen Z employees struggle to communicate with older colleagues
More than two-thirds (68%) of Gen Z employees say they have difficulty communicating with older colleagues, according to a study by Korn Ferry. Vijay Gandhi, Regional Director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Korn Ferry Digital, said there are two reasons for this communication gap: Gen Z's digital-first communication style and the enduring impact of the pandemic on Gen Z mental health. “While older colleagues may view [digital-first communication] as being less social, that's a misconception,” Gandhi told Khaleej Times. “Gen Z is very social - just in a different way. They are less familiar with traditional communication methods like face-to-face meetings or phone calls, which are still common in many workplaces . . .  This disconnect can create friction in environments where in-person collaboration, casual conversations at the coffee machine, or phone-based discussions are still the norm,” Gandhi explained.
 


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