Human Times

European Edition

17th December 2025

THE HOT STORY

UK's workers' rights bill clears final hurdle

The UK Labour government's Employment Rights Bill has successfully passed its final parliamentary stage and is expected to become law before Christmas. Business Secretary Peter Kyle expressed his delight, saying the legislation will modernise outdated employment laws and enhance workplace dignity. Key provisions include access to sick pay and paternity leave from day one, along with protections for pregnant women. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the development marked a "major victory for working people in every part of the country." Unite union's general secretary Sharon Graham said the bill must now be implemented "without any further dilution or delay." The bill applies to England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland.

STRATEGY

Amazon to cut 370 jobs at Luxembourg HQ in record layoffs

Amazon is set to lay off 370 employees in Luxembourg, around 8.5% of its workforce in the country. The move is part of a global restructuring following 14,000 job cuts announced earlier this year. Despite retaining its footprint and status as Luxembourg’s fifth-largest employer, the layoffs have raised concerns about the nation's reliance on foreign tech firms. Unions criticised Amazon’s approach, linking it to US-style “hire and fire” practices, while spotlighting the company’s minimal tax burden on €70bn in EU sales routed through the Grand Duchy.

Bloomberg

LEGAL

Grand Theft Auto game creator 'sacked us for trying to unionise'

Former employees at Rockstar North, the UK firm behind Grand Theft Auto, have told the BBC that a "devastating" mass sacking took place allegedly because they tried to unionise. More than 30 staff were dismissed in October for what the company called "gross misconduct." Rockstar North, one of the UK's largest game developers, said it was incorrect to suggest the dismissals were linked to union membership or activities, and said it acted after staff discussed confidential information, including specific game features from upcoming titles, in a public forum. The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) called the sackings a "ruthless act of union-busting."

BBC News

Lafarge risks heavy sentence in trial for financing terrorism in Syria

France 24 reports that the prosecution is to present its closing case in the trial of the French cement manufacturer Lafarge. Eight former Lafarge executives are suspected of having paid jihadist groups in Syria, including the Islamic State Group, to keep the company's activity in the country running despite the ongoing civil war.

France 24

WORKFORCE

Number of knowledge intensive jobs in Portugal doubles

In 2025, 7.8% of working-age adults in Portugal were employed in knowledge-intensive firms, a rise from 7.6% in 2024 and a significant increase from 3.8% in 2014. The Geography of Europe's Brain Business Jobs Index, produced by the European Centre for Entrepreneurship and Policy Reform (ECEPR), highlights that Portugal's growth in this sector is second only to Cyprus. Nima Sanandaji, CEO of ECEPR, said: "Portugal can continue this path by pursuing further growth-oriented reforms of taxation and business regulation." The Lisbon region has the highest concentration of such jobs, with 14.2% of adults employed in these roles.

The Portugal News Online

HIRING

Poland's job postings plummet in November

Poland experienced its largest monthly decline in online job postings in November, according to the Job Offers Barometer. Job vacancies decreased across all surveyed sectors, including STEM and services, although demand for manual labour remains high. Only three regions saw slight increases, while others, particularly Warmian-Masurian and West Pomeranian, reported significant declines. Registered unemployment remained stable at 5.8% in October, which is low by EU standards. The report noted sharp declines in engineering and media-related roles.

Warsaw Business Journal

ECONOMY

Netherlands can hit 1.5% annual growth, Rabobank says

Dutch economists at Rabobank predict that the Netherlands could achieve an average annual economic growth of 1.5% over the next 25 years, contingent on a sustained investment of €19bn annually. Currently, growth is expected to average only 1.1%. The investment package includes funding for education, private and public research and development, and capital goods. Rabobank noted: "Each euro invested could generate €2.40 in economic wealth." However, the economists cautioned that achieving this growth depends on political prioritisation and efficient funding.

NL Times

LEADERSHIP

Chanel reshuffles executive leadership team

Chanel has named Elisabetta Caldera as its new global chief people and organisation officer, succeeding Claire Isnard, with effect from January. She joins the company from Aegon, where she spent more than four years as global chief human resources officer.

Bloomberg

INTERNATIONAL

US government launches ‘Tech Force’ to hire AI talent

The US government has launched an early career hiring and talent development program to bring more technology and artificial intelligence employees to the public sector. The “US Tech Force” initiative is designed to address a technical and early career talent gap across the government, said Scott Kupor, the director of the Office of Personnel Management. Participants will commit to a two-year employment program working with teams that report directly to agency leaders in “collaboration with leading technology companies,” including Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google Public Sector, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, Palantir, Salesforce and others, according to an official government website. “If you’re thinking about, long term, a career in technology, there is no bigger and more complex set of problems than we face in the federal government,” Kupor said.

CNN

CNBC

Reuters

JD.com invests in housing for couriers

Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com has pledged 22 billion yuan ($3.12bn) in housing support for its delivery riders. JD.com said it has already provided 28,000 units of housing for front-line employees and will provide 150,000 units over the next five years. Food delivery firm Meituan last month made a similar promise, and said it would invest 10 billion yuan over the next five years to build a more comprehensive welfare system for its couriers. The firm has a subsidised "Rider Apartments" scheme in cities including Beijing, Shenzhen and Chongqing which offers affordable, secure and subsidised housing. Rents in some areas of Beijing are offered at around 50% of market rates.

Reuters

Asahi CEO weighs creation of new cybersecurity team

Asahi CEO Atsushi Katsuki has said he is mulling the creation of a new cybersecurity unit after a September ransomware attack disrupted operations and financial reporting. As part of recovery efforts, the Japanese beer making giant is adopting what Katsuki called a stricter “zero-trust” approach, whereby the company assumes nobody inside its network is safe. He said Asahi has already scrapped the use of virtual private networks, or VPNs, that help disguise a user’s location. “Information security is a management issue that should be given the highest priority,” he said. “We thought we had taken sufficient measures, which were easily broken. It made me realize there’s no limit to the precautions that can be taken.”

Bloomberg

OTHER

UK to rejoin EU’s Erasmus programme

The UK's Labour government is set to announce an agreement to rejoin the Erasmus scheme in 2027 as Sir Keir Starmer’s administration continues to edge closer to the EU. Under the student exchange programme, European students will be able to come to the UK to study for a year as part of their course, whilst continuing to pay fees at their home university. British students will have the same right to spend a year at a university on the Continent. The UK government is also negotiating a youth mobility scheme with the EU that will see thousands of young British and European citizens be given the right to live and work in each other’s countries.

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