THE HOT STORY

Australian state to enshrine the right to work from home

The Australian state of Victoria is to launch legislation ‌to give employees the legal right to work from home two days per week. The legislation is to be introduced to Parliament in July, and is expected to take effect in September. "Work from home works for families, because it saves time and money and it gets more parents working," said Premier Jacinta Allan. "That's why we will protect work from home in law from 1 September." Prof Peter Holland, a human resource management expert at the Swinburne University of Technology, observed: “This is something the workforce actively wants, and employers who ignore that do so at their own risk.” Allan revealed that small businesses will not be exempt from the laws. She said the government had consulted extensively with businesses and decided that applying the policy to all employers was a matter of “fairness.”

ABC News

Reuters

The Guardian

WORKFORCE

Thailand says 80,000 workers in Middle East are safe

Thailand's Labour Ministry has said that approximately 80,000 Thai workers in the Middle East are safe amid the current conflict, with no injuries or fatalities reported. The ministry has implemented a four-tier contingency plan and halted new deployments to high-risk areas. Pol Lt Col Wannaphong Khotcharak, Permanent Secretary for Labour, said that the situation is currently assessed as stable, with communication intact for over 90% of workers. The ministry is also surveying the intentions of workers regarding returning to Thailand, particularly those in Israel, where the largest group resides.

The Nation

STRATEGY

Luxembourg finance firms are increasingly turning to India

Luxembourg's financial sector is increasingly offshoring roles to India, impacting local job opportunities. A Savills and CoreNet Global report revealed that 49% of multinationals are exploring global capability centres (GCCs) to manage costs and scale operations. Himanshu Upadhyay, president of the Indian Business Chamber of Luxembourg, noted that local firms struggle to hire quickly. While 90% of financial institutions outsourced activities in 2023, recruiters warn that this shift narrows entry-level roles, making it tougher for graduates. Darren Robinson from Anderson Wise emphasised the need for continued investment in local talent to maintain competitiveness.

Luxembourg Times

LEGAL

Seoul court rules on rescinding of job within minutes

A Seoul Administrative Court has ruled that rescinding a job offer just four minutes after it was granted constitutes unfair dismissal. The case involved an applicant who received a job offer via text from the company's chief executive, only to have it cancelled shortly after. “Once an employment contract is formed by a notice of acceptance, the requirements for dismissal under the Labor Standards Act must be met to cancel it,” the court said. “Canceling the hire without providing written notice of the reason and date of dismissal constitutes unfair dismissal.”

Korea Joongang Daily

TECHNOLOGY

India's TCS urges staff to embrace AI

Tata Consultancy Services is encouraging employees to use AI tools to deliver work faster and more cost-effectively, even if it reduces short-term revenue, as the company bets that AI will create new opportunities rather than destroy jobs. Chief executive K Krithivasan said the firm is not afraid of AI disruption, despite investor concerns that have hit the Indian IT sector's market value. Rival Wipro echoed this view, saying it expects AI adoption to generate more jobs and boost demand for software services.

Reuters

Hyundai to invest $6.3bn in AI and robotics initiatives

Hyundai Motor Co. has announced an investment of 9tn won (approximately $6.3bn) to establish an artificial intelligence data centre, a robotics factory, and a hydrogen plant in South Korea. The majority of this funding, around 5.8tn won, will be allocated to an AI data centre featuring 50,000 GPUs to enhance the development of autonomous vehicles and support robot learning.

Bloomberg

INTERNATIONAL

ICE faces vetting challenges amid hiring surge

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is facing significant challenges in vetting new hires amid a historic recruitment push. An internal email reveals concerns about the “high volume of new hires” and stalled background checks, which could create uncertainty for field ‌offices when allegations arise related to actions before joining ‌ICE. “If a Field Office receives derogatory information about a newly hired employee's conduct prior to . . . employment, please refer the matter to [the internal Integrity Investigations Unit],” the email stated. Despite hiring 12,000 officers, critics, including US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), warn that accelerated recruitment may allow unqualified candidates into the agency, potentially increasing officer misconduct. Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former ICE official, emphasized the importance of thorough background checks, saying: “To speed, shortcut, or limit background checks or training puts the public and other law enforcement officers at risk.”

U.S. News

Norway's wealth fund employs AI to identify ESG risks

Norway's $2.2tn sovereign wealth fund is leveraging artificial intelligence to screen companies for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks, including potential links to forced labour and corruption. The fund, which invests in around 7,200 companies globally, reported that “within 24 hours of our investment, the AI tools flag new companies” that may present risks, enabling proactive measures to avoid potential financial losses. This innovative use of large language models significantly enhances the fund's ability to assess smaller companies in emerging markets, where data coverage is often limited.

Reuters

UAE tech giant G42 launches AI agent recruitment

G42, the Abu Dhabi-based technology firm, has announced the recruitment of AI agents for enterprise roles. The application process is open for agents that can deliver measurable value within approved infrastructure. Successful candidates will undergo a probationary phase to assess their performance. Maymee Kurian, group chief augmented human capital officer at G42, said: “The future of work is being shaped by how intelligently we design the relationship between human talent and intelligent systems. The initiative is not about deploying AI for incremental gains, but about rethinking enterprise workforce design for the AI era. By welcoming AI agents into structured roles, we are augmenting execution capacity while allowing our people to focus on leadership, innovation, and strategic outcomes . . . Our approach ensures that AI operates within clear governance, measurable performance standards, and strong human accountability, enabling us to scale responsibly while continuing to invest in the growth and capability of our workforce.”

Khaleej Times Online

Hacker used Anthropic's Claude AI to steal Mexican government data

A hacker used Anthropic's AI chatbot, Claude, to infiltrate Mexican government networks, stealing 150 gigabytes of sensitive data, including 195m taxpayer records and voter information. The attack, which began in December and lasted about a month, involved the hacker using Spanish-language prompts to manipulate Claude into executing commands that compromised various government agencies. Although Anthropic intervened to disrupt the activity and ban the involved accounts, the incident highlights the growing trend of cybercriminals leveraging AI tools for malicious purposes.

Los Angeles Times

OTHER

Apple in talks to launch Apple Pay in India by mid-2026

Apple is in discussions with major Indian banks and global card networks to launch Apple Pay in India around mid-2026, marking a significant step in its expansion in the world’s most populous country. The iPhone maker is reportedly in talks with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, as well as Mastercard and Visa, to roll out the service. Apple Pay in India is expected to support the country’s state-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI) alongside traditional card-based payments, integrating with India’s dominant digital payments system.

Bloomberg

Reuters

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