Human Times

European Edition

14th May 2026

THE HOT STORY

Flexible jobs continue to outpace permanent roles, Adecco says

Staffing group Adecco has said temporary hires outpaced permanent recruitment in the first quarter. Adecco CEO Denis Machuel said: "It's linked to ⁠the uncertainty and explains also why flexible placement is quite active, because the overall economy is pretty good." He observed that most of the group's clients "don't dare" to recruit on a permanent basis but the work needs to be done. Spain, Latin America and Asia Pacific were the markets where permanent recruitment bucked the trend, Machuel said.

Reuters

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LEGAL

Tesco suffers setback in equal pay dispute

Lawyers representing tens of thousands of supermarket workers have welcomed a UK Court of Appeal ruling on how employment tribunals should assess the value of the roles carried out by Tesco store workers when compared with more male-dominated staff in distribution centres. They successfully argued Tesco cannot lawfully rely on so-called "market rates" to justify the pay discrepancy. Tesco denies the claims. The Court of Appeal largely upheld a decision by the tribunal to use the supermarket group's internal training manuals as the primary evidence to define employees' "work", ruling that in a highly regulated and standardised environment, detailed training documents are the most objective standard of what an employer requires of its workers.

Retail Gazette

The Times

Former Spanish football star fined €200,000 for insider trading

Former Spanish football star Gerard Piqué has been fined €200,000 for insider trading after buying shares in a company two days before it was revealed to be a takeover target. Spain's market regulator, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), described the move as a "very serious" market abuse offence. The former Barcelona defender earned an estimated €47,000 from the deal.

Financial Times

Olive Press

TECHNOLOGY

Amazon staff use AI tool for unnecessary tasks to inflate usage scores

Amazon employees are using an internal AI tool called “MeshClaw” to automate non-essential tasks in a bid to show managers they are using the technology more frequently.

Financial Times

WORKPLACE

Workplace bullying affects 9% of Danes

A recent study by The Economic Council of the Labour Movement (ECLM) found that 9% of employees in Denmark, equating to 194,000 individuals, have experienced workplace bullying. One-third attributed the behaviour to managers or supervisors. The Copenhagen Post interviewed international workers to gather their experiences, highlighting issues such as cultural adjustment and exclusion. Sebastian, an American writer working in Denmark, said: “I notice that the Danish workplace is a lot less walking on eggshells environment . . . You are constantly being watched and sized up, but overall I breathe a lot easier here than in the States.”

Copenhagen Post

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Germany seeks to rein in healthcare spending

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ruling coalition has put together a package of cost-cutting measures that would curb drug spending, tighten reimbursements and curtail some benefits. Germany spends more than half a trillion euros ($587bn) annually on healthcare, making it by far the most expensive system on the continent. Han Steutel, president of German pharma lobby vfa, said the measures will “have the worst impact we’ve seen so far” and “The outlook for the pharmaceutical industry in Germany is set to deteriorate,” forecasting that jobs would disappear and patients could find themselves receiving “the cheapest, rather than the best” medicines. Final approval of the package is targeted before lawmakers take their summer break.

Bloomberg

ECONOMY

ECB remains ‘highly vigilant’ to growing inflation risks

Joachim Nagel, Governing Council member of the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bundesbank president, says the ECB is "highly vigilant" to growing inflation risks due to the war in the Middle East and will act accordingly to prevent higher energy costs affecting prices more broadly. “The Governing Council is aware of the increasing risks to price stability and is highly vigilant,” Nagel said. “We’ll do whatever is necessary to ensure that the energy-driven rise in prices doesn’t spread and become entrenched.” On the subject of the German economy, he said: “To secure our model of prosperity in the long term, reforms are needed in many areas: strengthening the labour force, improving conditions for investment, and providing greater support for innovation.”

Bloomberg

REGULATION

EU weighs social media 'delay' for children

The European Commission has proposed new legislation to protect minors online, potentially introducing a "social media delay" for children. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU's executive Commission, said: "The discussion about a minimum age for social media can no longer be ignored." The EU aims to enforce stricter child safety rules, having previously investigated platforms like Meta for failing to restrict under-13s. Several EU countries, including Denmark and France, are considering minimum age limits for social media access. "The question is not whether young people should have access to social media, the question is whether social ⁠media should have access to young people," von der Leyen said . "Sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addictive behaviour, cyberbullying, grooming, exploitation, suicide. Risks are multiplying fast."

Reuters

BBC News

LEADERSHIP

Delivery Hero chief to step down amid activist pressure

Delivery Hero founder and chief executive Niklas Östberg will step down by March 2027 as activist investors push the company to simplify its business and improve performance. Hedge fund Aspex Management, now the company’s second-largest shareholder, has backed the leadership transition and called for faster asset sales and regional exits. Delivery Hero shares have fallen about 80% over the past five years despite the company’s global expansion under Mr Östberg’s leadership.

Financial Times

Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

Cloudflare to lay off more than 1,000 workers

California tech company Cloudflare is laying off 20% of its workforce, equating to approximately 1,100 employees, as it adapts to a significant increase in artificial intelligence usage among staff. “The way we work at Cloudflare has fundamentally changed,” Chief Executive Matthew Prince and Chief Operating Officer Michelle Zatlyn told employees in an e-mail. “We don't just build and sell AI tools and platforms. We are our own most demanding customer.” The email said that in the last three months, its use of AI has increased more than 600%. Employees in various roles in HR, engineering, finance and marketing are running “thousands of AI agent sessions each day to get their work done,” and the company has to be “intentional” as it prepares for the “agentic AI era,” the email said.

Los Angeles Times

Samsung and labour union fail to reach pay deal

Samsung Electronics and its labour union have failed to reach a pay agreement, precipitating a potential strike involving over 50,000 workers. Union leader Choi Seung-ho expressed disappointment that the union's agenda items were not addressed. The union plans to strike for 18 days starting May 21 if their demands for increased bonuses are not met. Investors are concerned about the impact on the global semiconductor supply chain. “There are mounting concerns that any significant production disruptions or operational uncertainty at Samsung Electronics could place additional strain on the global memory semiconductor market, potentially worsening supply bottlenecks, price volatility, procurement uncertainty and broader supply chain instability,” the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea said. The Suwon District Court was set to hear Samsung's request for an injunction against the strike on Wednesday.

Straits Times

Korea considers 'robot tax' amid AI job fears

Korea is contemplating a “robot tax” to address potential widespread job losses from AI advancements. The National Assembly Futures Institute's report advocates for an “AI social security tax” to redistribute profits from AI back into society. President Lee Jae Myung supports the idea, but concerns exist about its impact on innovation. Critics warn that such a tax could drive companies to relocate operations. “The cleanest approach will be creating a dedicated ‘AI tax' or ‘robot tax,' for firms whose profits have surged on the back of AI, and redistributing the proceeds as a form of basic income to those displaced,” said Jeon Chang-bae, chair of the International Association for AI and Ethics. “If deployed as public policy funding, priority should go to retraining and reemployment support,” he added.

Korea Joongang Daily

OTHER

Power grid operators build new defences against sabotage and cyberattacks

Increased sabotage threats since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine have put Europe's power networks on alert. Utilities and governments across large parts of Europe’s eastern flank are bolstering electricity networks that weren’t designed to withstand missile strikes, cyber-attacks or drone assaults. NATO has said critical infrastructure is a security priority and wants more coordination and greater urgency in crisis readiness. “We are preparing for a much worse security environment,” said James Appathurai, NATO’s top adviser on cyber and hybrid defences. “We need energy, the military needs energy, people need energy. Therefore it’s going to be in the sight lines.”

Bloomberg

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