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Human Times helps you stay ahead of the latest news and trends that impact the HR industry. Every weekday, our unique blend of AI and team of expert HR and employment editors and researchers monitor 100,000s of articles, and social posts to create summaries of the most relevant and useful content to help you lead, innovate and grow. The award winning Human Times newsletter has four geographical editions with news tailored to your region.
From HR leadership to diversity and inclusion, hybrid working, organisational data, performance management, and retention strategies, Human Times is the only trusted free online news source dedicated to covering the most up to date headlines, articles, reports and interviews to make sure you’re abreast of changes in the HR industry.
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Recent Editions
Human Times
North America
Walmart has reported increased employee confidence in AI following the introduction of AI training and certification programs across its 2.1m-strong workforce. A company survey, which received more than 1.7m responses, found that 77% of office-based employees were excited about AI's potential to improve their work, while 84% of U.S. frontline workers felt confident using digital tools. Employees who completed OpenAI training reported a 27% improvement in confidence using AI, supported by free learning programs developed in partnership with OpenAI and Google. Walmart also reported that automation has created more quality assurance roles in some operations, rather than resulting in widespread job losses.
Full Issue
Human Times
UK
The government's Connect to Work scheme has significantly underperformed, failing to recruit its target of 30,000 long-term unemployed individuals. In its first year, only 13,900 participants joined, less than half the stated goal. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revised its forecast of participants to 17,954 but missed that target as well. Ameer Kotecha, chief executive of the Centre for Government Reform, questioned the scheme's effectiveness, saying: "Connect to Work is the government's flagship answer to Britain's economic inactivity crisis, and it is falling well short of target . . . When it became clear the first-year target wouldn't be met, in classic Whitehall fashion DWP moved the goalposts. Ironically, even the new lower target was missed." The DWP said it expects participant numbers to increase in the coming years.
Full Issue
Human Times
Europe
Renfe train drivers will proceed with their planned strike today following a deadly collision in Toledo that claimed at least 68 lives. The Spanish train drivers' union Semaf said the strike aims to address unmet safety standards, and the union emphasised the need for improved railway safety protocols and the hiring of additional drivers.
Full Issue
Human Times
Middle East
Mnzil, The Development Group and Capital Partners have launched a SAR1bn fund to develop purpose-built workforce compounds accommodating up to 50,000 workers across Saudi Arabia. Mnzil will operate the portfolio, TDG will oversee site selection, design and development, and Capital Partners will manage the fund. Development is expected to begin in Q4 2026 across major employment centres including Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Khobar, Makkah and Madinah. Compounds will include furnished rooms, recreational facilities, communal areas and on-site services, with locations chosen to reduce commuting. Mnzil chief executive Majeed Albabtain said, “Improving workers' lives is a collective effort.” The partners see the model as supporting Vision 2030 while establishing workforce housing as a scalable institutional real estate asset class backed by employer demand and long-term leases.
Full Issue
Read the latest HR highlights
How HR is Tackling Long Covid?
Fingers remain tightly crossed around the world that the rampant hospitalization and fatality stage of the Covid-19 pandemic has generally peaked. Vaccination programmes are accelerating, and restrictions are gradually being lifted...
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ESG Is Not Just Another Name For CSR
Back in the distant 1980s if you wanted to demonstrate your environmental and ethical credentials it was sufficient to shop at or purchase shares in retailer The Body Shop. The charismatic Anita Roddick, founder of the “hippy” tinged retail chain, heralded a new age of environmental concern, caring capitalism and corporate awareness that evolved into what became known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR was much talked about and lauded, but in reality often ended up being a lot of a hot air (excuse the pun) and often never progressed much beyond a footnote in the annual report.
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Have Older Workers Paid The Highest COVID-19 Price?
Across the world the pandemic is slowly but surely moving into its next phase. Recovery beckons. As furlough schemes across the U.S. and U.K. are being wound down, restrictions eased or lifted, and workforces moving back up the gears, early signs indicate that older employees are more likely to be casualties of the pandemic aftermath than their younger colleagues. Here at the we have witnessed an increasing number of stories supporting the growing belief that older workers are disproportionately paying the highest Covid-19 price.
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Bosses. What's not to like? Plenty, say employees
“You’ll never have another boss like me, someone who’s basically a chilled-out entertainer”
So said, David Brent, the fictional manager of Slough-based paper merchant Wernham Hogg in the seminal TV comedy The Office. Ricky Gervais’s portrayal of Brent as a flawed, narcissistic, incompetent, and deluded manager was so well observed that many (including me) believed it was a genuine fly-on-the-wall documentary when they alighted accidentally on the first ever episode.
Rolling with the Payroll
To mark National Payroll Week the team at the Human Times has provided some insight into the industry that we hope you’ll find useful.
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