Human Times

UK Edition

12th June 2026

THE HOT STORY

MPs identify failings in running of Access to Work scheme

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said disabled people have lost their jobs and employers have become less willing to hire them because of long delays and “arbitrary” decisions in the Department for Work & Pensions’ administration of the Access to Work scheme. In its report on the scheme, the PAC warns that these issues are having damaging consequences for people’s employment, income, and health and wellbeing, as well as undermining Access to Work’s effectiveness. PAC Deputy Chair Clive Betts MP said: “It is hard to overstate what value a well-run Access to Work could ideally provide. Many people made clear to our inquiry how highly they value the support that they receive through the scheme . . . But too often getting that support is taking far too long, and at worst the delays and mismanagement in Access to Work by the DWP seem to be having the reverse impact the scheme is designed to address - actively causing employers to hire fewer disabled people, and causing distress and frustration for those attempting to access the scheme to provide them with the proper support they need.”

UK Parliament

Financial Times

TAX

Chancellor mulls tax break for US workers

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering reforms aimed at preventing US-linked workers in the UK from being taxed twice on the same income. The government has launched a consultation on the tax treatment of workers employed through US limited liability companies (LLCs). Under current rules, some UK-based employees can face both US and UK taxation on profit distributions, pushing effective tax rates above 75%. The Treasury said the reforms are intended to attract "talented, globally mobile individuals" and the plans form part of a wider government push to attract highly skilled migrants, including visa fee refunds for scale-up firms. Arun Advani, director of the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation, said that addressing a "mismatch in how the UK and US treat LLCs" would "remove unintentionally high rates that prevent some wealthy people from coming here."

The Daily Telegraph

City AM

LEGAL

Gender pay gap could take 30 years to close

The UK gender pay gap is narrowing, but a PwC report indicates it could take over 30 years to eliminate completely. The mean pay gap decreased from 11.2% to 10.7% and the median from 8.6% to 8.1% in the past year. However, Katy Bennett, workforce reporting director at PwC UK, said: "Incremental improvements alone will not be enough to close the gap within a generation."

The Independent

WORKFORCE

Union heads call for 'meaningful progress' on support staff pay

Gary Smith, Andrea Egan and Sharon Graham, the general secretaries of the GMB, Unison and Unite trade unions, have written to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to share concerns over the "very limited" initial remit of the new School Support Staff Negotiating Body, which they argue risks squandering "our best and long overdue opportunity to address the deep-rooted inequalities, fragmentation, and inconsistency experienced by school support staff across England." They also raise concerns over plans to encourage all schools to join trusts, saying this comes "at precisely the moment when a coherent national framework for school support staff remains absent." Without "meaningful progress" on pay, they write, "we will have no option but to escalate our response publicly and industrially."

Schools Week

STRATEGY

Microsoft's Xbox plans major layoffs next month

Microsoft's Xbox division plans major layoffs next month and significant cuts to marketing and other budgets. The job cuts ‌would mark the first major restructuring under Asha Sharma, who took charge as CEO of the gaming unit in February. Sharma has previously identified what she said were the organisation's challenges, saying the business had plunged to a 3% "accountability margin" and that the company needs to "reset the business" which was "not in a healthy spot".

Bloomberg

CYBERSECURITY

Chinese hackers 'pose biggest espionage threat to tech firms'

A report from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike says China-linked hackers presented the biggest espionage threat to technology companies over the past year, observing that such hacking campaigns align with Beijing’s strategic priorities and a sustained interest in technology ‌development, intellectual property, and information with strategic and economic value. Meanwhile, the report said North Korean hacking campaigns have “posed a major threat” in the past year, and Russia and Iran-linked hacking groups also heavily target other countries’ technology sectors for intelligence ⁠collection and destructive malware attacks.

Reuters

TECHNOLOGY

Four in five UK boards discussing which decisions should be led by AI

Four in five boards in the UK are debating which human decisions should be outsourced to AI, according to a poll by business software company Board Intelligence.

Financial Times

Amazon founder says AI will bring 'golden ages' not mass job losses

Dismissing fears of mass job losses linked to AI, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos believes the technology will create new roles and transform industries, delivering "multiple golden ages."

Financial Times

LEADERSHIP

Primark appoints new CFO ahead of planned AB Foods separation

Primark has appointed Lucy Slinger as chief financial officer as the retailer prepares for its planned separation from Associated British Foods. Slinger joins from Ikea franchise owner Ingka Group, where she served as deputy CFO, having previously spent more than 20 years in senior finance roles at Shell. The appointment follows recent leadership changes, including the hiring of a new chief executive and chief commercial officer, as Primark strengthens its management team ahead of AB Foods’ proposed spin-off of the fashion retailer into a standalone business.

Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

Half of Americans fear AI could put someone in their household out of a job

A Reuters/Ipsos poll ‌reveals that more than half (53%) of Americans worry that the rise of AI could put them or someone in their household out of work. The survey of 4,531 U.S. adults nationwide found that the fear was spread fairly evenly across respondents by age, gender and education level. The poll found college graduates said they use AI more, with 50% saying they employ it regularly, compared to 34% of people without degrees and 40% of people overall.

Reuters

South Korea imposes record $409m fine on Coupang over data breach

Coupang has been fined a record ₩624.6bn ($409m) by South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission after a cyber attack exposed the personal data of nearly two-thirds of the country’s population. Regulators concluded that the company failed to implement adequate measures to detect and respond to unauthorised access. The penalty is the largest ever imposed on a single company in South Korea and follows an investigation into the retailer, which serves around 25m active members and generated ₩41tn of sales in 2024.

Bloomberg

Financial Times

The Korea Herald

OTHER

Pupils up to 55% more likely to miss school on their birthday

Pupils are 55% more likely to miss school on their birthdays, according to new analysis from the Department for Education. The DfE's research highlights that absences also spike after medical appointments and during weeks with broken schedules. To address these issues, the DfE has released guidance for schools on effective communication with parents about attendance. This includes focusing on a pupil's sense of belonging and adapting messages based on circumstances. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Improving attendance is everyone's responsibility . . . That's why we're giving schools better tools to identify problems early and work with families to address them, while encouraging parents to play their part in building strong attendance habits.”

Schools Week

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