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European Edition
15th July 2025
 
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THE HOT STORY

80k Scots quit over flexible working

Around 80,000 Scots have quit their jobs in the past year due to being denied flexible working, according to a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) survey. The study highlights rising tensions between employees and employers over hybrid work, with many companies enforcing minimum in-office days. Nearly half of Scottish workers say they feel pressured to spend more time on-site, largely due to senior management. Around 92% of employers offer some form of flexibility, and many workers value it highly, citing improved quality of life and career prospects. CIPD warns that employers may need to expand flexible options - like job sharing or flexi-time - to retain staff. While flexibility helps many, including those with health or care responsibilities, businesses argue in-person work boosts collaboration, training, and culture, particularly for younger employees.
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HYBRID WORKING

Starbucks staff must work in the office four days a week

Starbucks has told its corporate staff they must work in the office for four days a week or take a payment and quit. Workers will be expected to be in the office between Monday and Thursday starting in October, up from a previous requirement that staff come in for three days. Starbucks workers who choose not to comply with the new policy, which applies to the US and Canada, will be offered a one-time payout if they decide to leave. Brian Niccol, chief executive at Starbucks, said the change would help the firm do its "best work" as it faces falling sales and other challenges. "We understand not everyone will agree with this approach," Niccol wrote in a company blog. "We've listened and thought carefully. But as a company built on human connection, and given the scale of the turnaround ahead, we believe this is the right path for Starbucks," he said. As part of the move, the company will require certain managers to relocate to Seattle, where Starbucks is headquartered, or Toronto.
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WORKFORCE

Dutch train strikes to end

Dutch rail workers have accepted an improved pay offer from train operator NS, concluding a dispute that led to four regional strikes in June. The CNV union reported that 67% of its members approved NS's final offer of a 4% pay rise, with an additional 2.75% increase set for March next year. Unions had initially demanded a 7% rise to counter inflation. CNV negotiator Henk Jongsma said: “Far from everyone was happy with it, but a majority sees it as acceptable.” The other unions in the dispute, FNV and VVMC, have yet to announce their members' ballot results. The strikes, particularly in the Midden region around Utrecht, caused significant disruptions, affecting international and night train services. NS has received over 100,000 compensation claims from passengers impacted by the strikes.

Portugal airport workers announce summer strikes

Workers at SPdH/Menzies (formerly Groundforce), represented by the Metallurgical and Related Industries Union (SIMA), have initiated a strike set to span five weekends in July and August. The strike aims to address several key demands, including an end to wages below the national minimum wage and compliance with night shift pay. The union is also insisting on adherence to a Memorandum of Understanding established after Menzies' acquisition of the former Groundforce, which includes salary increases through 2026 and a payment of over €2.5m. The first strike period is scheduled from midnight on July 25th to midnight on July 28th, impacting all Portuguese airports. Despite the strike, workers will maintain essential services for safety and equipment upkeep.
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LEGAL

New UK rules set to expose pay gaps

The UK government is set to introduce the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, which will require employers with over 250 staff to disclose disability and ethnicity pay gaps. The Bill aims to establish a regulatory unit to prevent pay discrimination and may compel companies to create action plans for improving equality. The Black Equity Organisation (BEO) has advocated for whistleblower protections to ensure transparency in pay gap reporting, saying support for those who flag issues is "essential." The Trades Union Congress has called for mandatory pay gap reporting to be extended to employers with more than 50 staff, to cover lower-paid workers in smaller companies, insisting: "If the legislation is to be effective . . . it needs to apply to the majority of workplaces." Equalities Minister Seema Malhotra says the measures set out in the Bill are part of the government's "absolute" commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Loro Piana faces judicial administration

LVMH's high-end cashmere brand, Loro Piana, has been placed under judicial administration by an Italian court amid allegations of labour exploitation linked to subcontractors. The court's ruling, which spans 26 pages, states that Loro Piana "culpably failed" to supervise its suppliers adequately in pursuit of higher profits. Loro Piana is the fifth fashion company to face similar scrutiny from the Milan court since December 2023, following Valentino, Dior, Armani, and Alviero Martini. The administration will last for one year but may be lifted if the company aligns its practices with legal standards.
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TAX

EU plans tax on big corporations

The European Commission is set to propose a new tax targeting companies with a net turnover exceeding €50m ($58.44m) to bolster the EU's common budget. The initiative aims to ensure that large companies contribute more, with a "bracket" system in place for higher revenues. Notably, the proposal will apply to all large firms operating within the EU, regardless of their headquarters.
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RISK

Two top BCG executives stripped of leadership roles over Gaza project

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has announced that two senior partners are stepping down from leadership roles over their connection to the firm's involvement with an Israeli-backed aid project in Gaza. The project began as a pro bono effort to help solve food-supply challenges in Gaza. The firm says it turned into an unauthorized project by two other partners against the firm’s instructions. That work included a postwar financial model to voluntarily relocate Palestinians.  The firm is now working to contain the reputational fallout from its ties to a project that has been described as an “inhumane and deadly militarized scheme” disguised as a humanitarian aid distribution effort. In the latest leadership shuffle, BCG’s chief risk officer, Adam Farber, and the head of its social-impact practice, Rich Hutchinson, are stepping down from those roles but remain as senior partners. The moves follow the June firing of two partners, Matt Schlueter and Ryan Ordway, who had worked in BCG's public sector defense and security practice.
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TECHNOLOGY

Euro chatbot launched to counter fake news

A group of major European media organisations has announced a chatbot to counter fake news. ChatEurope has been launched by a consortium of media brands led by Agence France-Presse (AFP) and including news organisations such as France Médias Monde, Deutsche Welle, El País, and Romania’s RFI. “By combining reliability and innovation, ChatEurope will be a game-changer when it comes to information on European affairs. Through this new platform, European citizens will be able to converse in their own language with a chatbot capable of finding credible, verified answers to their questions from the news content provided by leading media organisations. Media urgently need to adapt in the face of pervasive disinformation and the advent of artificial intelligence, and that's precisely what we're doing with ChatEurope," said Christine Buhagiar, AFP's director of development and diversification
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INTERNATIONAL

US federal agencies find that workers may have already quit

The Wall Street Journal reports that federal agencies in the United States have experienced significant workforce reductions through voluntary departures, early retirements, and buyouts, reducing the need for additional layoffs. Agencies including the Veterans Affairs (VA) and Labor Departments say attrition has helped meet staffing goals, with the VA expecting 30,000 employees to leave by fiscal year-end. “There should not be a rush to implement [the] extreme plans that were created by Elon Musk before there has been time to review and evaluate the consequences,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, referring to the Tesla and SpaceX leader who led the Department of Government Efficiency, the agency which claims to have saved taxpayers more than $170bn with its aggressive cost-cutting.
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OTHER

Air India CEO says crash investigation to continue

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has said that the investigation into last month's crash of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is ongoing and cautioned against drawing premature conclusions following the release of a preliminary report. The report highlighted confusion in the cockpit and indicated that the fuel cutoff switches had flipped, leading to a loss of thrust, but did not identify a specific cause or make recommendations for immediate action.
 
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