THE HOT STORY

Young workers are most worried about AI affecting jobs

Four in five workers believe ‌artificial intelligence is going to affect ‌their daily tasks in the workplace, according to a survey ‍ of 27,000 workers and 1,225 employers that covered more than 3 million job postings across 35 markets conducted by Randstad. Gen Z were found to be among those most concerned as job vacancies requiring "AI agent" skills surged by 1,587%, the survey showed. The annual 'Workmonitor' report by the recruitment agency indicated that AI and automation are increasingly replacing low-complexity, transactional roles.

U.S. News

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RISK

Europe’s far-right parties reassess ties to President Donald Trump

Europe's far-right parties are reassessing their ties to US President Donald Trump after he used military force to depose Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and threatened the annexation of Greenland. Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany party, said Trump was acting no differently from Russia's Vladimir Putin. France’s National Rally leader Jordan Bardella described the capture of Maduro as “a return to [American] imperial ambitions” and a world in which “the law of the strongest trumps respect of international rules.”

Bloomberg

WORKFORCE

Louvre closes for third time in a month

The Louvre Museum in Paris closed on Monday for the third time this month due to a staff strike, as unions demand better pay, recruitment, and maintenance. The museum's management have reported a loss of "at least one million euros" from previous closures. Union leaders, including Valerie Baud from the CFDT, expressed concerns over the management style of director Laurence des Cars, saying: "If we get the pay but continue with this governance model, we won't be out of the woods." The strike follows a recent security breach that has intensified scrutiny on museum management.

France 24

Migrants in Russia face rising hostility

Migrant workers in Russia, mainly from Central Asia, are facing intensifying pressures, including bribery demands, surveillance, school bans, and xenophobic violence. Alym, a Kyrgyz taxi driver, says police "constantly demand bribes for every document," and he's required to use a surveillance app or risk blacklisting. A new policy signed by President Putin aims to restrict migrants' families, resulting in 87% of migrant children being denied school access in 2025. Rights advocate Svetlana Gannushkina said migrants are being scapegoated: “The migrant becomes an enemy on whom the discontent in society is funnelled.”

France 24

STRATEGY

Foxconn plans mass layoffs at Slovakia plant

Foxconn has notified the local labour office of planned mass redundancies at its Nitra plant in Slovakia, affecting around 300 of its 1,200 permanent employees. The redundancy plan was filed in November, with initial dismissal notices issued in December. Agency workers are also expected to lose their jobs by the end of February. Foxconn, which has operated in Slovakia for 16 years, said it is making organisational changes to protect employee rights. The plant has shifted from television manufacturing to automotive production in recent years.

The Slovak Spectator

CYBERSECURITY

New alert over pro-Russia hackers targeting UK companies

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a fresh alert to warn that pro-Russia hacktivists are a threat to critical services operators - specifically local authorities, including regional governments and critical national infrastructure (CNI) organisations. The attacks are typically denial-of-service (DoS) in nature, the NCSC said. Jonathon Ellison, director of national resilience at the NCSC, commented: "We continue to see Russian-aligned hacktivist groups targeting UK organisations, and although denial-of-service attacks may be technically simple, their impact can be significant. Ellison said all organisations "especially those identified in today's alert," must act now by "reviewing and implementing the NCSC's freely available guidance to protect against DoS attacks and other cyber threats."

Infosecurity Magazine

The Register

UKAuthority

LEADERSHIP

Nationality is no longer irrelevant for global CEOs

Foreign-born CEOs are increasingly facing challenges in the US amid rising nationalist sentiments and stricter immigration policies, with anti-globalist rhetoric gradually seeping into corporate decision-making, writes the Financial Times' Anjli Raval.

Financial Times

INTERNATIONAL

Tesla agrees to mediation in attempt to resolve racism lawsuit

Tesla has agreed to mediation that could resolve the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's lawsuit which accuses the electric car maker of tolerating widespread harassment of Black employees at its assembly plant in Fremont, California. The EEOC said it is working with Tesla to choose a mediator, and negotiations could begin in March or April. “Should this matter not resolve through settlement discussions and mediation efforts, the parties will submit to the court on or before June 17, 2026, a proposed protocol for the next phase of the litigation,” lawyers for the EEOC said.

Bloomberg

Reuters

Petroperu workers launch three-day strike over privatisation plan

At least 30% of 2,200 unionised workers at Peru's state-run oil company, Petroperu, have launched a 72-hour strike to protest a plan to privatise parts of the firm. Petroperu however said that all its facilities were operating normally, and observed that Peru's labour ministry had ruled the strike call "inadmissible." Jose Luis Saavedra, general secretary of the administrative workers' union, said: "The speed with which the government wants to privatise Petroperu is striking."

Reuters

OTHER

Billionaires' wealth hits new peak, Oxfam says

Billionaire fortunes have grown at a rate three times faster than the previous five years since the election of Donald Trump in November 2024, according to Oxfam in a report timed for the opening of the World Economic ‌Forum in Davos. While US billionaires have seen the sharpest growth in their fortunes, billionaires in the rest of the world have also seen double digit increases. The number of billionaires has surpassed 3,000 for the first time, and the level of billionaire wealth is now higher than at any time in history. "The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time ‍creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable," Oxfam's executive director Amitabh Behar said.

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