The latest business Intelligence for HR professionals and people managers everywhere
Sign UpOnline Version
Middle East Edition
1st July 2021
 
THE HOT STORY
UAE acts to avoid dirty money list
More than 500,000 firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) must now disclose their ultimate owners or face penalties. However, beneficial and legal ownership data will only be disclosed to the government and not publicly available. The Middle East financial hub has tightened up over the last few years as it seeks to avoid inclusion on a dirty money watchlist. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental anti-money laundering monitor, had said in 2020 report that “fundamental and major improvements” were needed to avoid the UAE being placed on  its ‘grey list’ of countries under increased monitoring. Inclusion on this list puts countries at risk of reputational damage, likely trouble accessing global finance and increased transaction costs. “The risk of criminals being able to misuse legal persons in the UAE for money laundering/terrorist financing remains high, particularly through concealment of beneficial ownership information via complex structures or the use of informal nominees,” the FATF’s 2020 report said. In February, the UAE government created an Executive Office for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing, and has since said that it “takes its role in protecting the integrity of the global financial system extremely seriously. This means actively administering and enforcing economic and trade sanctions.”
WORKFORCE
International migrant worker numbers increase by five million
The number of international migrant workers has grown from 164 million to 169 million, according to a new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) which observed a substantive increase in the number of young people seeking employment opportunities outside their home countries. The report indicates that migrant workers made up one in 20 of the world’s workforce in 2019, and were often employed in key roles in critical sectors such as health care, transportation and food processing. “We have seen that in a number of regions migrant workers represent a sizable share of the workforce; they are contributing of course to the economies and societies of their host countries, but also to their home countries through remittances,” said Manuela Tomei, director of the ILO Conditions of Work and Equality Department. But the opportunities that migrant workers typically find are “temporary, informal or unprotected jobs” that expose them to a greater risk of insecurity, layoffs and worsening working conditions, the ILO said. “The COVID-19 crisis has intensified these vulnerabilities, particularly for women migrant workers, as they are over-represented in low-paid and low-skilled jobs and have limited access to social protection and fewer options for support services,” according to the ILO study, which is based on data from 189 countries.
DIVERSITY
Global gender equality conference in Paris
A three-day Generation Equality Forum in Paris, an initiative of UN Women marking the 25th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing women’s conference, opened on Wednesday. The conference was delayed from last year because of the pandemic and will be mainly virtual because of the continuing impact of the global public health crisis. UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said: “Many of the problems that women face in 2021, we know the answers . . . The fact is that we are not doing what is right by women is a true reflection of people who really don’t care or understand the pain that women go through.” Two-thirds of those who lost their jobs in the pandemic were women, and many were in “the informal sector” with no savings or support, she noted.
MANAGEMENT
Saudi Aramco's finance chief is set to step down
Saudi Aramco CFO Khalid al-Dabbagh is set to step down from the oil giant, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Ziad Al-Murshed will replace al-Dabbagh, who helped lead Aramco through its initial public offering in 2019, according to the report.
HIRING
How to attract the best talent
Anouar Bourakkadi Idrissi, CEO of Endered UAE, a digital services and payments platform that was recently named a Best Place To Work, talks to Arabian Business about corporate culture, coronavirus support and how to secure the most in-demand talent. Arabian Business notes that “For companies hoping to secure the most in-demand talent, it’s not enough to offer basic perks – they need to brand themselves to both customers and their own employees.”
Employment rate is low among female graduates in Oman
Oman’s official graduate survey for 2019 showed that the female employment rate was 8.8%, while the male employment rate was 39.5%. Dr. Rahma Ibrahim al Mahrouqi, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, also observed that the Omanization rate among academic staff members during the tenth five-year plan increased by 1.2%.
LEGAL
Rulings issued against violators of Saudi's labour and residency laws
Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) says it has issued 274,849 rulings against violators of the Kingdom's residency and labour laws as well as border security regulations in the last 10 months. Jawazat has urged Saudi citizens and residents not to assist violators.
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
BIBF launches Employability Skills Programme
The Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance (BIBF) has launched a training programme to upgrade the employability skills and capabilities of new graduates and job seekers. The virtual programme is part of a series of training courses approved by City & Guilds and supported by the Labour Fund (Tamkeen). BIBF Director Dr. Ahmed Al-Shaikh said: “In a highly competitive jobs market, young people need to prove they have the right skills to succeed. This programme is designed to improve young Bahrainis' employability skills and bridge the gap between education and the future workforce.”
TECHNOLOGY
SoftBank stops Pepper production
Reuters reports that SoftBank has stopped producing its humanoid Pepper robot and is cutting jobs at its global robotics business. Production of Pepper ceased last year and it would be costly for the Japanese conglomerate to restart production, according to sources. Pepper, which was built by Foxconn in China, was designed to fill labour shortages but had difficulty finding a global customer base. Only 27,000 were produced, one of the sources said. SoftBank plans to eliminate about half of its 330 staff positions in France in September. The company’s robotics business has its origins in the 2012 acquisition of French robotics firm Aldebaran. Staff have also been laid off in the US and UK and redeployed in Japan, a spokesperson said.
INTERNATIONAL
French court rejects constitutional challenge by UBS in tax case
A court in France has rejected a challenge filed by Swiss bank UBS linked to constitutional aspects of its French tax case, confirming that judges would rule on the lender's appeal against a €4.5bn ($5.36bn) fine on September 27th. The bank is seeking to overturn a 2019 French court ruling that found it guilty of soliciting clients illegally at client events in France, and of laundering the proceeds of tax evasion. The bank’s position was that it should never have been charged with laundering of tax fraud, which carries higher sanctions than aiding and abetting tax fraud. UBS lawyers argued in the appeals trial three months ago that investigators had not identified unambiguous evidence of systematic attempts by UBS commercial specialists to canvass French customers, including at client events such as sporting occasions, hunts and parties.
Scientists in Germany protest on Twitter
Scientists at universities in Germany are using social media to speak out against job insecurity and a lack of support, which Deutsche Welle notes are also problems at universities in other EU countries and the UK. For the last few weeks, thousands of tweets tagged #IchbinHanna ("I am Hanna") have been circulating on Twitter. "Dear academia, it's time for a reset, enough of short-term contracts, exploitation & insecurity. Most bright ECRs [early career researchers] are forced to drop out of science. It's a vicious cycle & after 12 years you are finally 'officially' kicked out from the German education system. #IchBinHanna." The hashtag is a sardonic response to an animated video produced by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research which featured a fictional PhD student called Hanna whose enthusiasm for short-term contracts is said to prevent a "clogging up" of the system that could prevent new researchers from being hired.
Junior banker exodus due to overwork
Junior bankers are quitting in droves as severe workloads since the onset of Covid lead to burnout, new figures reveal. “Banks are haemorrhaging junior bankers, ” said a specialist recruiter, who works with banks on analyst and VP hires. “People are quitting for better banks, they're quitting the City or they're jumping into private equity." Current turnover rates are around 30 percentage points higher at some firms. Intense recruitment tactics from rivals are also contributing to the high turnover. “It's a complete failure by HR not to see this coming,” said one associate at a European bank. “There's no urgency to replace people.”
OTHER
EU plans legal action against Poland over LGBTQ rights
The European Union is planning legal action against Poland over the country's crackdown on LGBTQ rights, according to sources who said the move, which has yet to be finalized, could come as soon as next month. It would be in response to Poland's so-called “LGBTQ-free zones.” Towns and provinces across the country have declared themselves “free of LGBTQ ideology” to prevent pride parades and other gay-friendly events from going ahead. Several Polish courts have ruled that the measures are legally meaningless but nevertheless unconstitutional and discriminatory. ILGA-Europe, a Brussels-based charity, says Poland is the worst place in the EU for LGBTQ people.

The Human Times is designed to help you stay ahead, spark ideas and support innovation, learning and development in your organisation. The links under articles indicate original news sources. Some links lead directly to the source material. Others lead to paywalls where you may need a subscription. A third category are restricted by copyright rules. For reaction and insights on any stories covered in the Human Times, join the discussion by becoming a member of our LinkedIn Group or Business Page, or follow us on Twitter.

Follow us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFollow us on Linkedin

This e-mail has been sent to [[EMAIL_TO]]

Click here to unsubscribe