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19th January 2022
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THE HOT STORY
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says he will live full-time in Airbnb properties
Brian Chesky, the billionaire CEO and co-founder of Airbnb, has said he will permanently live in a rotation of properties listed by the home rental company. “Starting today, I’m living on Airbnb,” Brian Chesky tweeted on Tuesday. “I’ll be staying in a different town or city every couple of weeks.” The move is seen as furthering Airbnb's commitment to remote work arrangements that are a boost to the company's long-term rental business. “I think the pandemic has created the biggest change to travel since the advent of commercial flying,” he tweeted. Chesky predicted that this year will see people “spreading out to thousands of towns and cities, staying for weeks, months, or even entire seasons at a time . . . More people will start living abroad, others will travel for the entire summer, and some will even give up their leases and become digital nomads,” he tweeted. “Cities and countries will compete to attract these remote workers, and it will lead to a redistribution of where people travel and live.” Chesky said in an Airbnb earnings call last May that company employees won't need to return to the office until September 2022 or beyond and said in November that Airbnb's work policy will remain “flexible” permanently.
LAWSUITS

The What, Why, and How of Pandemic-Related Labor Lawsuits

Labor lawsuits have become a common part of the COVID-19 pandemic, with employees suing their employers over issues like wrongful termination and discrimination. As if the workplace isn't challenged enough, a pricey, time-consuming lawsuit could end up being the nail in the coffin for some organizations. Don't let that happen to yours. View this webinar hosted by UKG in which experts explore the intersection of labor law compliance and COVID-19, and learn how to avoid such lawsuits.
Watch Now


 
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
Biggest U.S. firms increase hiring of female, Black finance chiefs
Big U.S. businesses are increasingly hiring women as chief financial officers and a greater number of large U.S. companies have hired Black CFOs in recent years, according to data from executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates. The number of companies in the S&P 500 and Fortune 500 with Black finance chiefs nearly doubled over the past year, to 20 in 2021 from 12 in 2020, based on new data. That’s equivalent to 2.9% of 678 sitting CFOs, up from 1.8% in 2020. The percentage of female CFOs at those businesses also reached an all-time high at 15.1% in 2021, up from 12.6% in 2020, the data show. The Wall Street Journal nevertheless observes that the figures come “from a relatively low base.” Wetteny Joseph, the CFO of Zoetis,  the world's largest producer of medicine and vaccinations for pets and livestock, said: “Companies must continue to invest in a diverse pipeline, especially early career, in order for it to be a lasting and bigger change.” Deidra Merriwether, CFO of industrial supply company Grainger, observed: “More companies should be intentional about having a diverse perspective within the executive team and creating an atmosphere where everyone has the opportunity to contribute results.”
WORKFORCE
Employers boost 401(k) benefits to compete for workers
A growing number of U.S. companies are putting more money into their employees’ 401(k) retirement accounts as they seek to attract and retain staff amid high turnover and competition for talent. The boost to 401(k) benefits comes as the American workforce is rapidly changing. In August, 4.3 million U.S. workers quit their jobs, in what is being called the ‘Great Resignation.’ About 16% of large and midsize employers plan to raise their 401(k) contributions or reinstate a previously suspended match in 2022, and another 8% said they are weighing such a move, according to the preliminary results of a poll of about 100 companies by investment-consulting firm Callan. About 12% of large and midsize employers took similar action in 2021. “Employers are very nervous about this ‘Great Resignation,’” said Dave Stinnett, head of strategic retirement consulting at Vanguard Group, which administers 1,700 401(k)-type plans for employers. “They have a lot of job openings, and it’s taking longer to fill them,” adding “There is a realization that they need to do more” by enhancing benefits as well as raising wages. Vanguard has gotten more questions from clients about raising their matches than any other topic over the past six months, he said.
Private equity’s strange effect on workplace inequality
A study of nearly 20 years’ worth of leveraged buyout data from more than 800 companies in France indicates the wage gap narrows after a company is acquired by a buyout group.
STRATEGY
Peloton hires McKinsey to review cost structure
Peloton is working with management consulting group McKinsey & Co. to review its cost structure and potentially eliminate some jobs, CNBC reports. The apparel division, which has seen particularly weak sales, is one area that could be targeted. The company is also considering asking employees at its brick-and-mortar retail stores to take customer service calls during less busy times, according to reports. At one point, a Peloton executive on a call with members of the company's management team said that 15 stores are “on the cut line.” Peloton operated 123 showrooms as of June 30th, in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Germany.
LEGAL
Tornado victim's family sues Amazon over warehouse collapse
The family of Austin McEwen, a delivery driver who died last month when a tornado collapsed the central Illinois Amazon facility where he worked, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the online retailer. The suit alleges that Amazon knew that conditions were “highly unsafe as tornado warnings had been issued”, but company officials “rolled the dice with people's lives to put profit over safety,” attorney Jack J. Casciato said. In all, six people were killed in the December 10th storm. The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 from each of the four defendants named in the suit, which includes Amazon.com, the construction company that built the facility, and the project’s developer.
MANAGEMENT
Horta-Osorio departure comes amid embitterment at Credit Suisse
Reuters reports that the resignation of Credit Suisse chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio following an internal probe which found that he broke the U.K.'s Covid-19 quarantine rules comes amid a climate of "antipathy" towards him within the bank. Horta-Osorio suspected details of his transgressions were leaked by members of an increasingly hostile group of Credit Suisse senior executives, many of whom resented the chairman's efforts to reform. One source said many senior staff were unhappy with Horta-Osorio's attempts to make the board of directors more powerful at the expense of executives.
TECHNOLOGY
Furhat has made a play for Misty
Swedish robot developer Furhat Robotics has acquired Colorado-based Misty Robotics to establish a U.S. base. Stockholm-headquartered Furhat, which has developed a social robot with human-like expressions that can converse with people autonomously using AI technology, will oversee a partial integration of ‘Furhat' and ‘Misty' features to enhance future social robots. Furhat has recently partnered with a Swedish recruitment firm to offer candidates job interviews performed by a robot that it is said is free from unconscious biases. “We know that in the next few years the robotics market will be worth billions, and service robots reflecting the best of human behavior will be at the center of it,” said Furhat chief executive and co-founder, Samer Al Moubaye.
INTERNATIONAL
Taking office chair home is not a sacking offence, German labor court rules
A German labor court has ruled that taking an office chair home in a pandemic is not a sacking offence. The plaintiff - the legal adviser of the Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne - took the ergonomic office chair without asking after being told to work from home by her employer. The judge said that while it was a clear transgression, it was not one that justified her dismissal, and he deemed that the termination of her contract was unjust.  The attorney for the archdiocese had argued that the chair was an "object of considerable value" and that taking it was "illegal." The judge found that the necessary equipment had not been made available to employees when the archdiocese instructed staff to work from home in most circumstances early in 2020.
Four-day working week pilot launched in U.K.
A six-month pilot scheme has been launched in the U.K. that will see staff at participating companies and organizations work a four-day week but without a reduction in pay. The program is based on the 100:80:100 model – 100% pay while working 80% of the time in exchange for at least 100% productivity. Researchers will measure the impact on productivity, as well as on staff wellbeing, and the impact on the environment and gender equality. The trial has been organised by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with think-tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week U.K. Campaign and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College. The U.S., Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are conducting similar trials run by 4 Day Week Global, while the Scottish and Spanish governments have also launched trials of the four-day working week. 
HSBC splits Hong Kong team to manage Covid risk
HSBC has split its Hong Kong team to different locations to manage quarantine risks amid what the lender sees as a threat to business continuity as the financial hub tightens its Covid policy to contain a fifth wave of infections. “The risk we now face is not merely about being infected by Covid-19, but most importantly being 1st, and 2nd level close contact and being taken to government quarantine for 14 and 4 days,” HSBC wrote in an email to staff. “We are trying to protect staff from this risk and to continually be able to support the business.” The bank has split its global markets division into three. A group of about 190 people are working at its main office on Queen’s Road Central, a team of about 65 people are at an office in Shek Mun, and a third team of about 200 are working from home. Other international banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, have also tightened work rules at their Hong Kong offices and moved to split teams.
Suntory turns to tradition to navigate hybrid work future
Japanese drinks giant Suntory has sought to maintain its idea of the ‘factory floor,’ which was central to the company’s culture, amid the rise of the post-pandemic hybrid working environment.
OTHER
Super-rich call for tougher tax hit and fairer system
A group of 102 global millionaires and billionaires has called on governments to hit them with heftier taxes to help cover the costs of the pandemic, arguing that the current tax system is rigged in their favor and needs to be rewritten to make taxation fairer. In an open letter, they say: “We know that the current tax system is not fair . . . Most of us can say that, while the world has gone through an immense amount of suffering in the last two years, we have actually seen our wealth rise during the pandemic - yet few if any of us can honestly say that we pay our fair share in taxes." They have called for the introduction of "permanent wealth taxes on the richest to help reduce extreme inequality and raise revenue for sustained, long-term increases in public services.” The group says an annual wealth tax on those with fortunes of more than $5m could raise more than $2.52trn. The proposed tax would see those with more than $5m pay 2%, rising to 3% for those with more than $50m, with a 5% rate for billionaires. Calling for a heavier taxation hit, the super-rich signatories urged: “The world - every country in it - must demand the rich pay their fair share. Tax us, the rich, and tax us now."

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