THE HOT STORY

PwC gives Gen Z graduates resilience training

PwC in the UK is introducing resilience and communication training for its graduate recruits to strengthen confidence and the human skills needed for management consulting. Chief people officer Phillippa O’Connor said that while graduates meet academic and cognitive standards, many lack resilience and the ability to handle pressure, feedback and challenging work situations - an issue she links partly to the post-pandemic education experience. The firm has expanded training in graduates’ first six months and launched debate clubs to build communication and confidence, particularly for those without prior exposure to such activities. PwC, which saw graduate applications increase by 35% to 47,000 this year, has reduced UK graduate roles from 1,500 to 1,300 due to a slowdown in consulting demand and increased automation.

The Sunday Telegraph

The Times

REMOTE WORKING

Public consultation sparks remote work debate in Ireland

Over 8,000 submissions were made to the public consultation on remote working rights by Ireland's Department of Enterprise and Employment. Of these, 7,774 were from individuals, while 536 came from employers. The consultation is part of a three-stage review of the code of practice established in March 2024, which allows employees to request remote work but does not guarantee it. Tracy Keogh, co-founder of Grow Remote, an organisation formed in 2018 to promote remote working, expressed hope for improved support for remote work legislation. Fine Gael TD Emer Currie noted the need for stronger legislation to benefit both employees and employers.

Irish Times Online

WORKFORCE

Thousands go on strike in Italy

Italy's largest trade union, CGIL, led a national strike on December 12, protesting Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's 2026 budget. The union claimed that around 61% of public and private sector workers participated, with over 500,000 demonstrators marching in major cities. CGIL chief Maurizio Landini said: "The majority of the workers who keep this country going don't agree with and don't accept this government's budget." The budget has faced criticism for prioritising defence spending over healthcare and education.

U.S. News

General strike against Portugal's plan to overhaul labour laws

Portugal experienced its first general strike in over a decade on Thursday, led by the CGTP and UGT unions. The strike led to the halting of train services, the cancellation of hundreds of flights, and the closure of schools in protest against proposed labour reforms. The minority government aims to amend over 100 articles of the labour code to enhance productivity, but unions argue the proposed amendments undermines workers' rights. Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said: "The government respects the right to strike . . . but it will not give up on being reformist."

AlJazeera

U.S. News

TECHNOLOGY

PwC AI chief: Fast adopters see triple the revenue per employee

Joe Atkinson, PwC's global head of artificial intelligence, says AI is transforming business so rapidly it's overwhelming organisations, but companies that scale quickly are seeing up to three times more revenue per employee. Speaking on CNBC, Mr. Atkinson noted the experimentation phase is over, and firms must now embed AI broadly. While adoption is straining traditional change management, PwC believes AI-driven growth will ultimately benefit both businesses and workers who embrace the tools.

Business Insider

CNBC

CYBERSECURITY

OpenAI warns of high cybersecurity risks from new AI models

OpenAI has issued a warning regarding its forthcoming artificial intelligence models, indicating they could present a "high" risk to cybersecurity as their capabilities evolve rapidly. The company noted that the models might not only develop zero-day exploits but could also assist in sophisticated intrusion operations aimed at significant effects. To mitigate these risks, OpenAI is investing in bolstering its cybersecurity measures and is creating an advisory group, the Frontier Risk Council, to collaborate with cybersecurity experts on these challenges.

Reuters

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

HSBC axes 160-year-old management scheme in bid to cut costs

HSBC's “International Manager” programme, a legacy scheme set up to develop the next generation of the bank's executives, had been closed to new recruits in a cost-cutting effort.

Financial Times

INTERNATIONAL

VW offers early exits to India plant workers amid restructuring

Volkswagen is offering early retirement to all of its 2,300 workers at its two factories in India's western Maharashtra state, as the automaker launches a restructuring effort in a bid to to overcome obstacles to local growth. After more more than two decades of operations, Volkswagen still has only 2% market share in India. The early retirement scheme for blue-collar workers is designed to "rationalise the manpower and align it with current needs." Volkswagen wants to ensure it can continue to pay competitive wages and that the plants would continue to operate, a source said.

Reuters

Milei files labour reform proposal to Congress

Argentine President Javier Milei has submitted a labor reform proposal to Congress, in a bid to address what it described as excessive bureaucracy and a "rigid structure" that hinders job creation. The proposed bill seeks to provide employers with more flexibility regarding working hours and severance pay, while also incentivizing the hiring of formal workers and allowing salaries to be paid in foreign currencies. However, the reform faces strong opposition from unions, which are planning a march in Buenos Aires. The bill has the support, however, of industry chamber the Argentina Industrial Union, whose president Martin Rappallini said: "We hope this will little by little start a process to change the dynamic of loss of employment . . . Argentina needs to generate formal work."

U.S. News

Starbucks strike expands as union escalates push for first labour contract

More than 3,800 Starbucks baristas across 180 stores in 130 US cities have joined a month-long strike, marking the longest work stoppage in the company’s history as Starbucks Workers United presses for a first labour agreement. The union is demanding better pay, staffing, and scheduling, while Starbucks says fewer than 1% of its 17,000 U.S. locations have been affected and is prepared to resume talks. The strike began during the company’s Red Cup Day on November 13th and follows stalled negotiations and the rejection of a previous pay proposal.

Reuters

Coupang CEO quits after huge online data breach

The chief executive of Coupang, South Korea’s biggest online retailer, has stepped down, taking responsibility for what is one of the country’s biggest data leaks. Park Dae-jun said he is "deeply regretful" about the incident, which exposed the information of 33.7m customers. Coupang said he will be replaced on an interim basis by Harold Rogers, chief administrative officer of its parent company in the US. The news came after Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said that the government will launch a thorough investigation and take stern action against any legal violations committed by the company. A National Assembly hearing has been scheduled for December 17th, with founder and chair Kim Bom-suk among those formally summoned to testify.

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