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APAC Edition
19th June 2024
 
THE HOT STORY
South Korea plans support for workers who cover for colleagues with children
South Korea's Cabinet has approved a Bill to reward employees who take on the duties of colleagues who work reduced hours due to child care responsibilities. The revision, effective from July 1, will allow the government to compensate employees for handling tasks of co-workers who leave the workplace early for child care purposes. Additionally, parents of young children who work two hours fewer than the regular working hours will be eligible for the same salary. Previously, only those who worked up to an hour less than the regular daily hours received a full salary, while those who reduced their working time by two hours a day faced a 20% wage cut. The revision aims to alleviate the burden on both enterprises and workers. Meanwhile, South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol has hinted at launching a new ministry to address the population crisis caused by the low birth rate.
WORKFORCE
Infosys offers lucrative transfer policy to employees for relocation to Hubballi
Infosys is offering a lucrative transfer policy to incentivise employees to relocate to Hubballi as part of its strategic intent to establish offices in several tier-2 Indian cities. The transfer policy targets employees handling project deliveries from any of Infosys development centres across India, specifically those at band 2 and above. Employees at band 3 and below are entitled to receive an initial relocation allowance of ₹25,000, followed by an additional ₹25,000 every six months for the next two years. For employees at higher bands, the relocation allowance can go up to ₹8 lakh. The aim of the initiative is to draw employees from the Mumbai-Karnataka region to consider opportunities in Hubballi and optimize the use of the facility's modern infrastructure. Karnataka Minister MB Patil lauded the initiative, saying that it encourages local talent and fosters community ties and development.
LEGAL
Thailand Senate approves same-sex marriage bill
Thailand's Senate has voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill legalising same-sex marriage, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to do so. The bill, which grants full legal, financial, and medical rights to marriage partners of any gender, passed its final reading in the Senate with 130 members in favour. Thailand will join Taiwan and Nepal as the only places in Asia to allow same-sex marriage. The legislation will replace gender-specific terms with gender-neutral words in the country's Civil and Commercial Code. The bill now awaits the endorsement of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and its publication in the Government Gazette. The Thai government said it plans to celebrate the occasion with a colourful parade and event at Government House.
STRATEGY
Asda to outsource staff to Indian company
UK supermarket Asda is outsourcing over a hundred staff to an Indian-based supplier, raising concerns about job cuts. The move comes as the supermarket's private equity owner aims to reduce costs. The outsourcing plans were announced just before TDR Capital took majority control of Asda. The affected employees, working in the company's UK headquarters in Leeds, will be shifted to Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services. The process is expected to be completed by September, fuelling fears of redundancies. Nadine Houghton, national officer for the GMB trade union, said: “The outsourcing and offshoring of jobs from Asda’s head office is yet more asset stripping by TDR Capital. The GMB believes this first round of job cuts is only the tip of the iceberg, with over 5,000 Asda colleagues employed in Asda House – we expect more announcements like this in the months ahead. TDR Capital have cut millions of hours from the shop floor and now they are cutting the head office functions that support the stores. Asda workers are asking what will be left?” The Telegraph reports that Asda managers are understood to have been inundated with questions from worried workers, and also that a botched systems upgrade at the supermarket has led to thousands of employees being paid incorrectly.
RISK
Pilots are concerned about a lack of air traffic control at Australian airports
Concerns are growing among pilots in Australia as a shortage of air traffic controllers leaves airport towers unstaffed, forcing passenger jets to operate without guidance. Darwin Airport, a major gateway for carriers like Qantas and Virgin Australia, currently has no overnight air traffic control services. This has led to more than a dozen flights arriving or departing with minimal guidance from the ground. Pilots argue that landing without direction from a tower removes a crucial layer of security. The shortage of air traffic controllers is a global issue that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. In Australia, the situation has prompted concerns about mid-air collisions and the need for additional regulatory oversight of Airservices Australia.
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
MindGym's revenues slump amid decline in diversity spending
A decline in spending on corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programmes has led to a slump in revenues for MindGym, the workplace training company hired by FTSE 100 and S&P 100 companies. The business reported an 18% decline in revenue. Its US operations were particularly impacted. MindGym also blamed the poor performance on increased caution around how human resources departments spend their budgets. Octavius Black, the company's founder, said: “Business leaders are giving greater scrutiny to HR investments which has extended buying cycles and in some cases recalibrated overall spend. For example, during the year we won a number of large projects only for our HR client to then discover that their budget had been altered and so the scope needed to be reduced or the programme postponed.” MindGym observed that businesses now require an increasing number of stakeholders to sign-off on HR budgets and want to see more evidence about the feasibility of projects before signing off on them. Black also said MindGym now operates in a more “crowded market” following record investment in HR platforms and technology. 
TECHNOLOGY
G-7 to launch initiative on AI's impact on labour
Group of Seven (G-7) leaders have announced an action plan to deal with the positive and negative effects of artificial intelligence on employment. The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union said they welcomed the support from countries outside the G-7 forum for the Hiroshima AI Process, an international rulemaking framework for generative AI led by Tokyo which was established at last year's G-7 summit, saying that they recognize the importance of advancing the framework's outcomes. More than 50 countries and regions have signed on to the framework. This year's G-7 discussions have focused on the potential benefits of AI to labour and the risk of the technology depriving people of work. G-7 leaders said Friday that they will "work to ensure that AI enables increased productivity, quality jobs and decent work."
IMF calls for excess profits tax to balance effects of AI
A report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggests that governments should introduce taxes on excess profits and a green levy to make up for AI-related carbon emissions and the impact of the technology on jobs. “Given the large amount of energy consumed by AI servers, taxing the associated carbon emissions is a good way to reflect the external environmental costs in the price of the technology,” the IMF said. The report went on to advise against taxing investment in AI but suggested raising capital income taxes such as corporation tax and personal income taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains. This would support the anticipated increase in welfare spending due to job losses from AI, the IMF said.
INTERNATIONAL
Amazon workers in UK to be balloted on union recognition
GMB union officials are set to enter Amazon's Coventry fulfilment site in the UK for the first time today to hold meetings with the 3,000 workers to try and win their vote. The ballot process could see Amazon recognise a trade union in the UK for the first time. GMB needs 40% of workers to vote in favour of wanting a union to represent them. Amazon will ask staff to attend meetings to hear the company's counter argument. The company said postal ballot papers would be sent out on 3 July with workplace voting starting on 8 July, lasting for six days. GMB said the result of the ballot would be announced on 15 July. Amanda Gearing, GMB senior organiser, said: “They [Amazon] are a multi-billion-pound global company investing huge energy to resist efforts by working class people in Coventry to fight for a better life." A spokesperson for Amazon said: “Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. They always have. Across Amazon we place enormous value on having daily conversations and engagement with our employees. It’s a strong part of our work culture. We value that direct relationship and so do our employees.”
Stellantis reverses remote work policy for auto engineers
Stellantis has reversed its remote work policy for auto engineers and now requires them to be back in the office. The company's CEO, Carlos Tavares, had previously championed remote work to cut expenses. “It's impossible to engineer vehicles remotely,” said Ned Curic, who heads engineering and technology at Stellantis. “You have to have people together. You have to do design sessions, engineering sessions and the build-ups together. It helps us accelerate a number of projects.” The company had drastically reduced office space and sold real estate assets as part of its remote work push, and in 2022 said its remote-work policy had become permanent, allowing non-assembly line workers to work from home 70% of the time. “Remote working is very flexible within Stellantis, depending on the need to work more or less often physically together,” a spokesperson for the company said. “There is a delegation to the management to establish the conditions of the best possible performance.”
Growing competition from China weighs on Germany's robotic industry
Germany's robotic industry is facing challenges because of growing competition from China. Frank Konrad, head of the VDMA engineering association's robotics and automation department, highlighted the fierce competition posed by Chinese suppliers who have expanded in their home markets and are now entering Europe. The German industry, known for its engineering prowess, is already dealing with an economic downturn caused by high energy costs, interest rates, and under-investment. The VDMA has revised its sales outlook for the sector, expecting 2% growth to €16.5bn in 2024; however, this is lower than previous expectations.
Albert Heijn takes measures to reduce aggression against its employees
Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn is tightening its house rules to address the increasing aggression, violence, and nuisance faced by staff. The company receives around a thousand reports annually about staff being verbally abused, spat on, or physically assaulted. To make it harder for aggressive customers to track down its employees on social media, Albert Heijn will no longer require them to wear name tags. Instead, staff will wear tags stating "We are Team Albert Heijn." The supermarket chain says it will also expand its house rules to include messages such as "Treat our colleagues with respect" and "Filming is not allowed here." Albert Heijn has been offering resilience training to its employees and has launched a campaign encouraging them to discuss incidents with each other and file reports. The move follows similar actions taken by other supermarkets, including Dirk equipping staff with body cameras and Jumbo implementing extra measures against shoplifting.
OTHER
China's next-gen sexbots powered by AI are about to hit the shelves
Chinese sex robot producer Starpery is developing next-generation sexbots that can interact vocally and physically with users. The bots, powered by AI models and equipped with sensors, will be able to react with both movements and speech, with a focus on emotional connection. Starpery CEO Evan Lee said: “We are developing a next-generation sex doll [sic] that can interact vocally and physically with users, with prototypes expected by August this year. Technological challenges remain, particularly in achieving realistic human interaction . . . While simple dialogue is easy, creating interactive responses involves complex model development by specialised software companies. Traditional dolls, supported by a metal skeleton and a silicone exterior, are limited to simple responses and lack the expressive capabilities needed to engage with a human. The new generation of sex dolls, powered by AI models and equipped with sensors, can react with both movements and speech, significantly enhancing user experience by focusing on emotional connection rather than just basic conversational abilities.” Despite being a conservative society, China has the largest market for sex dolls, surpassing the combined sales of the US, Japan, and Germany. Starpery also plans to develop robots capable of household chores to help people with disabilities and providing aged care. 
 


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