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UK Edition
25th July 2025
 
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ANNOUNCEMENT

HR Summit

The Human Times has partnered with Forum Events to become the official Media Partner of the HR Summit in September 2025 and February 2026. As part of its ongoing commitment and investment in the HR community, The Human Times will extend its expertise to raising awareness of the HR Summit to our UK and EU audiences over the coming months and be on hand at both events. You can register to attend the HR Summit here.  

HR Summit

Hilton London Canary Wharf, 24th September 2025

Radisson Blu Hotel Manchester Airport, 11th February 2026  

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THE HOT STORY

Employers fear hiring disabled workers, Mayfield says

Sir Charlie Mayfield, who is leading a review into workplace sickness, has said employers are "rationally" fearful of hiring disabled people due to the risk of employment tribunals. Appointed by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Mayfield is exploring ways to help more disabled people stay in work amid rising long-term sickness rates. He cautioned against imposing new legal duties on businesses, suggesting fear of legal action deters inclusive hiring. Mayfield said current approaches create a "stand-off" between sick employees and employers, and called for more dialogue and practical solutions. Currently, 6.8% of working-age adults are out of work due to disability, up from 5.4% pre-pandemic.
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HIRING

Jobs market sees 'small burst' in hiring

Data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) shows that there was a "small burst" in demand for jobs in June. The report shows that the number of vacancies hit 757,594 last month, driven by an 8.1% increase in job postings in London. Overall, jobs postings were down 2.6% year-on-year, with April's increase in National Insurance having an impact. REC chief executive Neil Carberry said: "As businesses adjust to higher National Insurance and react to growing demand, even at an anaemic level, they are returning to hiring in a steady but unspectacular way." Carberry, who has called for a "no surprises Budget" that avoids tax hikes on jobs, said: "The key to the labour market now is the same as it is for the wider economy: confidence."
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WORKFORCE

GMB and Unison 'reluctantly' accept school support worker pay deal

The GMB and Unison trade unions have "reluctantly" reached an agreement with the national employers for a 3.2% pay deal for school support staff, Schools Week reports, while Unite has not yet made its position on the deal clear. GMB national officer Kevin Brandstatter said the national employers "refused to meet and negotiate and were adamant there was no extra money", and that the union had "reluctantly agreed to settle to avoid delays which could have meant sanctions on members reliant on universal credit." Mike Short from Unison said further pay rises "will be required in future to ensure local government salaries don’t fall further behind other parts of the economy" and risk worsening the recruitment crisis in schools.
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LEGAL

Oscar Mayer and Unite reach agreement

A long-standing dispute at food manufacturer Oscar Mayer in Wrexham has concluded with a new agreement between the company and the Unite union following 200 strike days. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham hailed it as a "tremendous victory" for low-paid workers who stood against pay cuts. The agreement reinstated 26 dismissed workers and improved holiday compensation. Oscar Mayer expressed satisfaction with the resolution, saying it would focus on a "long-term sustainable business."
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CYBERSECURITY

Public bodies to be banned from paying data ransoms

The Home Office has announced plans to ban public sector organisations, including local authorities, schools, and the NHS, from paying ransoms to cybercriminals. The ban will also to apply to firms operating critical national infrastructure. Other businesses, under the plans, will be required to inform the government if they are planning to pay a ransom. Security minister Dan Jarvis commented: "Ransomware is a predatory crime that puts the public at risk, wrecks livelihoods, and threatens the services we depend on. That's why we're determined to smash the cyber-criminal business model and protect the services we all rely on as we deliver our Plan for Change."
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RETENTION

Airline boss defends executive pay

József Váradi, CEO of Wizz Air, has hit out over the UK's stance on executive pay, saying: "There is a kind of an anti-executive pay sentiment in the UK." Coming on the back of a 28% shareholder vote against the airline's remuneration report, Váradi said: "We cannot ignore the fact that executive pay is a matter of retention, and you have to retain your talents in the company." He added: "As far as I'm concerned we have a very fair and equitable system for addressing performance and realities, and the need to retain top talents."
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RISK

Central banks 'risk being blindsided by climate-driven shocks to global labour markets'

A report published by the London School of Economics tells central banks to prepare for climate-driven shocks to global labour markets. The report says that climate change would lower labour productivity - particularly in agriculture, construction and other sectors exposed to heat - even under relatively optimistic scenarios in which global warming is limited to 1.5-2 degrees. The report by the Centre for Economic Transition Expertise (CETEx) calls on monetary authorities to pay greater heed to environmental risks including natural disasters and the consequences of the green transition. "Our research shows that central banks should seek to integrate environmental employment risks into their policies and operations," said Joe Feyertag, senior policy fellow at CETEx and author of the report.
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LEADERSHIP

Chief people officer captured in viral Coldplay concert clip resigns

A US tech company's chief people officer who was apparently caught on a big screen at a Coldplay concert embracing the company's CEO has stood down. Kristin Cabot is no longer with Astronomer and has resigned, the firm told the BBC in a statement. Her departure follows that of Andy Byron, Astronomer's former CEO, who left last week after the company announced he would be placed on leave and investigated. Co-founder Pete DeJoy, who assumed the role of interim CEO following Byron's resignation, commented on the controversies in a July 21 LinkedIn post titled "Moving Forward at Astronomer." He wrote: "The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name." The New York-based company commercialises open source software.
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TECHNOLOGY

Amazon acquires AI wearables start-up Bee

Amazon is set to acquire Bee, a San Francisco-based start-up that has developed an artificial intelligence-enabled bracelet capable of transcribing conversations, which it can then analyse and distil into summaries, to-do lists, or other tasks. Terms of the deal, which is still to close, have not been disclosed. Amazon spokesperson Alexandra Miller said that Bee is working to give customers more control over the device, which has a mute button but by default works as an ongoing AI transcriber of its user’s interactions. “We design our products to protect our customers’ privacy and security and to make it easy for them to be in control of their experience - and this approach would of course apply to Bee", she explained.
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INTERNATIONAL

Outdoor workers in southern Europe demand heat protection

Southern Europe is experiencing extreme heat, leading to tragic consequences for outdoor workers. In Barcelona, a street cleaner, Montse Aguilar, died during a recent heatwave, prompting protests from fellow workers demanding better protections. Antonia Rodríguez, a street sweeper, said: “I have been doing this job for 23 years and each year the heat is worse.” Extreme heat has fuelled more than 1,000 excess deaths in Spain so far in June and July, according to the Carlos III Health Institute. In response, Barcelona's City Hall has implemented new regulations for street cleaners, including mandatory breaks and breathable uniforms. However, workers claim these measures are not being enforced. The International Labour Organization has highlighted the need for increased protections against heat stress, which it describes as an “invisible killer.”

US nuclear weapons agency breached in SharePoint hack

The National Nuclear Security Administration, the US agency responsible for maintaining and designing the nation’s nuclear weapons, was breached in the hack of Microsoft’s SharePoint document management software, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who said no sensitive or classified information is known to have been compromised. “On Friday, July 18th, the exploitation of a Microsoft SharePoint zero-day vulnerability began affecting the Department of Energy,” an agency spokesman said in an email. “The department was minimally impacted due to its widespread use of the Microsoft M365 cloud and very capable cybersecurity systems. A very small number of systems were impacted. All impacted systems are being restored.”  The National Nuclear Security Administration is a semiautonomous arm of the Energy Department.

Russia's top carmaker may shorten work week

Avtovaz, Russia's largest carmaker, has said it may cut its working week to four days from five in September as high interest rates and Chinese competition hit sales. The state-owned employer said last month that it expects Russians to buy 25% fewer cars this year. Sales at Avtovaz fell by exactly that amount to 155,481 units in the first six months, according to data provider Autostat. Avtovaz employs more than 30,000 people, mostly in Togliatti, a city on the Volga river 800 km (500 miles) southeast of Moscow.
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OTHER

UN court opens door for climate lawsuits

The International Court of Justice, the world’s highest court, has found states could be legally pursued for failing to act on the “urgent and existential threat” of climate change. The decision, while non-binding, is expected to have far-reaching implications, especially for nations vulnerable to climate impacts. The ruling challenges developed nations' claims that existing agreements, like the 2015 Paris Agreement, are sufficient, asserting that broader international law mandates environmental protection. Campaigners and climate lawyers hope the decision will now pave the way for compensation from countries that have historically burned the most fossil fuels and are therefore the most responsible for global warming. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the opinion, saying: "This is a victory for our planet [and] for climate justice . . . The world must respond."
 
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