Human Times

European Edition

24th August 2026

THE HOT STORY

Uber fined €825m for automating driver suspensions

Uber has been fined €825m by the Dutch Data Protection Authority for breaching Europe's general data protection regulation (GDPR) by deactivating driver accounts through automated systems without proper notification. The penalty is the second-largest under GDPR, behind only a €1.2bn fine ⁠imposed on Meta by Ireland in 2023 for unlawfully transferring European Facebook users’ data to the United States. “We strongly disagree with this decision and disproportionate fine,” an Uber spokesperson ⁠said, adding that the company's policies include both human reviews and opportunities for drivers to dispute platform suspensions. “Uber has committed ‌serious infringements” by deactivating driver accounts without ‌warning or human involvement, the Dutch regulator’s deputy chair Monique Verdier said. “From one moment to the next [drivers] no longer ‌had any income . . . A computer should not make decisions on its own that have (such) major consequences.”

CORPORATE

Volkswagen is in a 'more than critical' state, CEO says

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has described the company's situation as "more than critical" amid challenges from global competition and overproduction. In an interview posted on the company's intranet, he said that no decision had been taken on plant closures but reiterated the company's position that for plants in "Emden, Hannover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm we cannot currently see any way of them remaining profitable in the 2030s." Blume mentioned that at sites where car production may stop, Volkswagen was exploring other "industrial solutions," including partnerships with the defence sector. He urged employees to unite for the company's future, saying: "We will only be successful if everyone in the company supports this plan."

France 24

LEGAL

Belittling the boss is not a sackable offence in UK

A UK employment tribunal has ruled that an employee's unflattering remarks about their boss did not constitute a sackable offence. The case involved Sahir Rahim, a senior manager at Associated British Ports (ABP), who lost his job after being overheard by ABP's Head of Programme Ben Hodgkin "loudly" criticising him. Rahim's behaviour was later deemed "gross misconduct" and he lost his job because the relationship with his manager and the company had "broken down beyond repair." The tribunal has now found he was unfairly dismissed as he was not paid sick pay. Evidence from a senior manager indicated that she thought withholding sick pay was "a disciplinary measure" and "was the right course of action because of how the claimant had behaved in undermining Mr Hodgkin."

The Independent

The Times

STRATEGY

HSBC clears out senior bankers

HSBC last year cut 134 senior bankers - around 10% of such employees - as part of a restructuring of its investment banking operations. This cost the bank around $67.5m in severance payments. The layoffs mark the largest cull of HSBC’s senior ranks since records began in 2010.

Financial Times

The Daily Telegraph

WORKFORCE

Open job vacancies in Finland rise for first time since 2022

Finland's job market may be on the verge of recovery. Statistics Finland reported 29,600 open job vacancies in Q2 2026, a 2% increase from the previous year. This marks the first year-on-year rise since 2022. However, Senior Statistician Matti Lahdenmäki cautioned that the growth is minimal and could be due to statistical inaccuracies. The construction sector saw the most significant increase, with 1,400 more openings compared to Q2 2025, but Lahdenmäki noted that "Although there were now more job positions available in the construction sector than last year, the figure still remained the second lowest since 2014 when comparing the situation in second quarters." The south of Finland experienced the largest regional increase in job positions.

YLE Uutiset

ECONOMY

Russians pull billions from banks

Russian citizens are withdrawing vast sums from the country's banks amid fears that the Kremlin could seize deposits to fund the war in Ukraine. Russians withdrew around €24.4bn from the banking system in the first seven months of this year. Andrei Klepach, chief economist at the state development corporation VEB, was recently dismissed after publicly questioning whether Russia could win a prolonged war against Ukraine. "We will not win the competition in this war of attrition. We're under the illusion that everything will collapse. It hasn't, and it won't. Our costs are mounting," he said at a Moscow Exchange economic forum in May.

Euronews

RISK

Aging power grid linked to most Greek wildfires

Greece's ageing power grid is responsible for about 75% of the area burnt in wildfires this year, according to a report by Kathimerini, citing the Greek fire service. Major fires on Crete and near Athens were linked to faults in the grid, as damaged equipment ignited dry vegetation. "The grid needs maintenance, just as a car needs servicing," the newspaper quoted a technician as saying. "If the necessary work is not done, it may continue to operate, but you do not know for how long or how safely," he added.

Daily Sabah

CYBERSECURITY

Anthropic 'plans to change enterprise data retention policy'

Claude chatbot maker Anthropic plans to allow business customers to keep greater control of their data when using its AI models, according to a source familiar ‌with the matter. The company expects to launch a new safety system that will require enterprise customers to retain data for 30 days, with the option to do so on their own cloud computing infrastructure. Anthropic had said in June it would require 30-day ⁠retention of all enterprise customer traffic on its more powerful Fable and Mythos models, as well as future frontier models, ⁠to help guard against potential cyberattacks using its technology.

Bloomberg

INTERNATIONAL

Hyundai South Korean union stages first full strike in a decade

Hyundai Motor's South Korean union has staged its first full strike in a decade after the collapse of wage negotiations. The Korean Metal Workers' Union wants a higher retirement age and job protections against artificial intelligence and automation. Striking workers from Hyundai Motor, affiliate Kia and suppliers rallied outside the automaker's headquarters in Seoul to call for an increase in the retirement age from the current 60. "The key figures who made Hyundai and Kia the world's strongest company for 35 or 40 years are now being pushed into contract positions," Hyundai union leader Lee Jong Cheol said to his members. "Strike action can impact our customers, partners and operations. We are at a critical time when both sides must work together to successfully ‌navigate the global transition to future mobility," Hyundai Motor said in a statement.

Reuters

Young adults in the US are increasingly wary of AI

Young adults in the US workforce are increasingly sceptical about artificial intelligence, fearing that advances in the technology will precipitate widespread job losses. For the first time, most adults under 30 (55%) say they are more concerned than excited about AI; across age groups, about half or more say they’re more concerned than excited about the technology. The vast majority of Americans (71%) believe AI will lead to fewer jobs in the US over the next two decades; 5% said AI would lead to more jobs over that time period.

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