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30th September 2022
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THE HOT STORY
Software robots are getting better at all kinds of office tasks
Bloomberg reports on how machines are getting better at the white-collar office tasks that were once thought to be the preserve of humans as U.S. businesses race to automate as much as they can amid rapidly rising wages, workers in short supply, and near-record job vacancies. The latest generation of software robots builds on advances in artificial intelligence and machine-learning that enable computers to perform tasks including speech recognition, and make some of the decisions that used to be reserved for employees. Bloomberg observes that the automation of mundane tasks should free up employees for more challenging and satisfying work, but some roles could begin to entirely disappear — without obvious alternatives for the people who earned a living from them.
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HIRING
Firms are still hiring despite economic slowdown
Many employers say they continue to struggle with staffing shortages and are still hiring amid slowing growth, high inflation and growing fears of recession. “I don’t think we’ll see mass layoffs,” said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING. “We are going to see companies prefer to hoard their labor rather than do a quick fire and then rehire because the challenges of hiring right now are incredibly intense.” The Wall Street Journal notes that some large companies, including Goldman Sachs, Wayfair and Snap have recently announced or signaled layoffs, but they are outnumbered by companies saying that labor shortages are crimping sales and production.
WORKFORCE
Workers who coast risk being laid off
Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Callum Borchers says “quiet quitters” might soon be getting “quiet fired” by bosses with “productivity paranoia.” Human resources experts say it’s already happening in some organizations. “If all of a sudden you find you’re not invited to the meetings you used to be, or being offered the projects, that’s an indication that management is not viewing you as well as they used to,” says Victor Assad, a former HR director at Medtronic and Honeywell International who is now a consultant. Paul Lesser, who launched a talent advisory business last year after a long career in human resources at Fidelity Investments, observes that with more firms expecting a recession, “every company has associates that have been poor performers or haven’t been as productive . . . In the marketplace we have right now, it’s good corporate hygiene to be looking at them.”
Jobless claims drop to lowest level in five months
Applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level since the spring as many employers hesitate to lay off workers despite a slowing economy. The Labor Department said that initial jobless claims decreased to a seasonally-adjusted 193,000, from a revised 209,000 the previous week, the lowest since late April and below both the 215,000 expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv, and the prepandemic average of 218,000 in 2019. The four-week moving average fell by 8,750 to 207,000, while continuing claims decreased to 1.35m in the seven weeks to September 17th, from 1.38m a week earlier. The strong labor numbers come amid Fed efforts to cool the economy and bring down inflation, which is running near its highest levels since the early 1980s. “The recent decline in layoffs flies in the face of the Fed’s efforts to soften up labor market conditions and knock inflation back down toward its 2% target,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. “The capital markets have heard the Fed, and investors are feeling the pain. But the jobs market? For now at least, it’s not listening."
HEALTH & SAFETY
Being forced to ‘get happy’ risks burnout
A new study suggests enforced cheerfulness in the workplace can sap energy, and over time, increase the risk of burnout. "There's been quite a bit of research on emotions at work, but the majority returns the same conclusion that 'being in a good mood is good and, if you're not in one, you should try to get in one,'" said Emma Frank, an assistant professor of management at the University of New Hampshire who led the study during her doctoral work at the University of Georgia. A series of tests conducted in a controlled laboratory setting with 260 college students revealed that "someone improving their emotions - moving from negative to positive - is basically equivalent to someone who started in a bad mood and stayed there," Frank said.
CULTURE
Empowered employees who want a change
Bloomberg’s Julia Hobsbawm says the desire for flexibility, a shift in the employee-employer power relationship and the death of the commute are defining the latest era of work. She writes: “the definition of what productive work is and how work culture can be successfully fostered needs to be radically revised . . .  it’s the beginning of a new time in which place, identity, culture, purpose, well-being and productivity occur against a new set of working conditions.”
REGULATION
Deloitte's China affiliate let clients do their own audit work
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined the Chinese affiliate of Deloitte $20m, having found that the firm let some clients, including foreign companies listed on U.S. exchanges, conduct their own audit work. Deloitte's Chinese affiliate asked some clients to select their own samples for testing and to prepare documentation, giving the appearance that Deloitte-China had tested their financial statements and internal controls. SEC Chair Gary Gensler said: “We find that Deloitte-China fell woefully short of professional auditing requirements in numerous component audits of Chinese operations of U.S. issuers and audits of Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges.” He added that the enforcement action underscores the need for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to be able to inspect Chinese audit firms.
STRATEGY
Meta pauses hiring and warns of restructuring
Facebook parent Meta Platforms is to pause hiring and further restructure amid an uncertain macroeconomic situation. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a communication with employees during a weekly Q&A session: "I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilized by now, but from what we're seeing it doesn't yet seem like it has, so we want to plan somewhat conservatively." He also said that Meta would reduce budgets across most teams and that individual teams will have to resolve how to handle headcount changes.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
Diversity in company leadership helps decision-making
A new book by Professor Thalma Lobel of the School of Psychological Sciences at Tel Aviv University (TAU) presents a wealth of empirical evidence that gender and ethnic diversity in the higher echelons of a company improves the decision-making process by an average of 58%.  “When you bring people with different opinions into the room, the decision-making process becomes more complex, and the participants take more information into account. The more perspectives and points of view that are heard, the greater the chances of reaching a better solution,” writes Lobel in her book called 'Whatever Works.'
TAX
EU nations urged to take their time on minimum tax
Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe says European Union countries should take their time to achieve unanimous support for the global minimum corporate tax, and disregard moves for fast-track implementation among a smaller group of nations, including Germany and France, that are seeking to quickly bring the minimum levy into force as Hungary continues to block an EU directive. “The appropriate way for this to be implemented is via a directive, which is the way law is equally applied across all of the EU,” Donohoe said. “I’m confident with a little bit more time and continued efforts on all our behalf, we’ll find a way to ensure that it’s commonly implemented across the EU.”  Finance ministers from five of the largest EU economies said at a meeting in Prague earlier this month that they are prepared to use national provisions or a mechanism known as “enhanced cooperation” between a select number of nations.
INTERNATIONAL
Netherlands plans payout to health workers with Long Covid
Government ministers in the Netherlands want to hand a "no strings" €15,000 payout to healthcare workers who developed coronavirus during the early stages of the pandemic and are now living with Long Covid. Dutch care minister Conny Helder told lawmakers that the payout is not meant to be considered as damages, or some form of invalidity benefit, but is a “recognition of the suffering” that healthcare staff have experienced. The cabinet has asked the Council of State, its most senior advisory body, if such a generic payment would be acceptable in law and if it would set a precedent. The two largest Dutch trade unions have threatened to take legal action against the government unless it offers compensation to healthcare workers who have long Covid. They welcomed news of the payout, but say it may be too little too late, Dutch News reports.
Qatar conscripts civilians for World Cup security
Qatar has conscripted hundreds of civilians, including diplomats who have been summoned from overseas, for mandatory military service operating security checkpoints at World Cup stadiums, according to a source and documents seen by Reuters, which says such deployment underscores the logistical challenge faced by the Gulf state hosting one of the world's biggest sports events. Training materials seen by Reuters indicate that the conscripts are being trained to manage stadium queues and detect contraband including alcohol concealed in jacket linings and even false bellies. A Qatari government official said "Recruits will provide additional support during the tournament as part of the regular program, just as they do every year at major public events, such as the National Day celebrations." The  29-day tournament kicks off on November 20th.
Few Arabs are entering Israel’s tech sector
Only 1.8% of Israeli tech workers are Arab, according to research by the Start-Up Nation Policy Institute (SNPI) in collaboration with the Israel Innovation Authority and Hasoub, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to promoting Arab tech entrepreneurs. Arabs comprised 21.1% of Israel’s population as of 2020, according to the Israel Democracy Institute. Considering the question of why there are so few Arabs in Israel's tech sector, Assaf Patir, the chief economist of SNPI who led the report, surmised:  “One possibility is that there is a barrier for these students entering the Israeli ecosystem, it may have to do with discrimination or just geography . . . We do think that the big bottleneck in terms of bringing more Arabs into high-tech is in primary and secondary level education. Only 15% of students who take Israel’s [highest-level math matriculations] are Arab. They are almost 30% of the high school student age group but only 15% of [those matriculations].”
OTHER
Get rich, and stay rich
Forbes profiles the 17 individuals who made the first Forbes 400 in 1982, and who remain on the list today. The richest person in the U.S. in 1982 was shipping tycoon Daniel Ludwig, who had a net worth of $2bn ($6.1bn today). In 1982, it took $100m ($300m in today’s dollars) to rank among the nation’s 400 richest people. The cutoff is now $2.7bn.
 


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