Human Times

UK Edition

6th November 2026

THE HOT STORY

Firms urged to publish salaries in job ads

The government is urging businesses to publish salary details in job adverts now, ahead of planned legislation to make pay transparency compulsory. Ministers intend to introduce the law as soon as possible, arguing that upfront salary information will help jobseekers, particularly young people entering the workforce, make informed decisions and reduce pay discrimination. A government consultation found that 94% of respondents supported greater transparency. Data from jobs website Adzuna shows that only 51% of adverts included salary information in September, and the proportion has fallen in recent years. However, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warns that setting salaries is more complicated than it appears, because employers needed flexibility to reflect candidates' skills, experience and potential. It argues that transparency is desirable but that the wording of job adverts should be left to employer practice rather than government regulation.

Financial Times

BBC News

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

Businesses report growing benefits from gender equality

Women are increasingly reaching the highest levels of business leadership, and enterprises report growing benefits from gender equality and diversity, yet gaps in the management pipeline and a decline in the implementation of enterprise initiatives could make these gains harder to sustain, according to Women in Business and Management: Scaling Success, a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Nearly three quarters (74.8%) of enterprises reported having a gender equality and diversity policy or equivalent in place in 2025, but the share of enterprises implementing gender equality and diversity initiatives fell from 37.4% in 2018 to 26.5% in 2025. The decline included measures that enterprises themselves identified as among the most effective, including maternity leave and support programmes and equal pay initiatives. “Gender equality is a fundamental right, and the evidence is clear that it is also a powerful driver of sustainable enterprises and economic growth. The priority now is to turn policies and commitments into concrete, measurable progress,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo.

ILO

HIRING

Shortage of air traffic controllers fuels cross-border poaching

Reuters reports that a global shortage of air traffic controllers is fueling cross-border recruitment of experienced staff. Some countries are tapping foreign talent to fill vacancies even as their own workers are recruited elsewhere. Globally, 71,000 new air traffic controllers will be needed by 2034, according to a 2025 forecast from aviation training company CAE. Aviation officials say recruitment alone cannot solve the problem: countries need to ⁠train more controllers while improving retention.

Reuters

STRATEGY

BT cuts workforce by 11%

BT has reduced its workforce by 11%, bringing the total to 90,000, as part of a restructuring plan designed to simplify operations and achieve £312m in annual savings. By 2030, BT plans to further reduce its workforce to between 65,000 and 70,000. While the company saw a 12% rise in pre-tax profits to £1.1bn, cash reserves fell 59% to £236m and debt rose to £21bn. BT said that acquiring TalkTalk's services cost around £400m this financial year.

City AM

WORKFORCE

Google expands employee buyout offers

Google has expanded voluntary exit packages to staff in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland as the Alphabet-owned search engine company seeks to manage increasing costs amid heavy investment in artificial intelligence. "In 2025, some of our teams introduced a voluntary ⁠exit program with severance," a Google spokesperson said. "This past summer, in June, we expanded this program globally in a few countries to support our important work ahead."

Reuters

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

New DWP programme aims to cut reoffending

The Department for Work and Pensions is launching a new programme to assist inmates in 37 prisons with job placements. The initiative aims to address the £24bn annual cost of reoffending. The programme follows a pilot in 47 prisons and includes vocational courses and guaranteed interviews for inmates nearing release.

Daily Mirror

CYBERSECURITY

Blood banks targeted in latest European refrigeration cyberattacks

Blood banks in France have fallen victim to cyberattacks targeting refrigeration systems. The French Blood Establishment (EFS) said the attacks involved hackers remotely raising temperatures in cold storage units containing blood products, although EFS reported that "no blood products were lost and no health impact was identified." EFS is now collaborating with the French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) and the Ministry of Health to enhance equipment monitoring. The incident is part of a broader wave of refrigeration-focused cyberattacks affecting supermarkets across Europe, resulting in significant food spoilage.

CNBC

REGULATION

FCA faces scrutiny over whistleblowing review

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is facing questions over whether its board properly approved a review into its handling of whistleblower Simon Andriesz. An email from FCA chairman Ashley Alder shows he commissioned the review and appointed a non-executive director to lead it, informing the board only the evening before its announcement. This appears to contradict chief executive Nikhil Rathi’s claim to MPs that the board had requested the review. John McDonnell, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services, said: "Either one person took the decision and it has since been presented, inaccurately, as the considered view of the board, or the board did deliberate and failed to keep any record of it. Neither is acceptable." He added that he would ask the Treasury Committee to investigate.

The Times

LEGAL

Pro bono hours hit record

Analysis as part of Pro Bono Week shows that UK law firms delivered a record 645,000 hours of pro bono work last year, with more than 5,000 lawyers volunteering their time. Yasmin Waljee, a pro bono partner at Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, says the profession has become better organised, with growing support from senior management and clients. However, critics argue that free legal work risks allowing the government to neglect underfunded legal aid and can sometimes undermine specialist advice services. Waljee says pro bono work fills gaps where legal aid is unavailable but stresses that financial support is also essential to sustain the sector.

The Times

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Long Covid recovery varies dramatically by symptoms, study says

Research published in Annals of Internal Medicine has found that people whose long Covid affects multiple body systems are far less likely to improve than overall recovery estimates suggest. About 60% of people whose long Covid was dominated by changes in smell or taste had improved by three years, compared with less than 19% of those with symptoms affecting multiple body systems, according to the study of 1,019 adults who still had probable long Covid a year after their initial infection.

Bloomberg

LEADERSHIP

PwC appoints business services leader

PwC UK has appointed Rebecca Cooke as the new leader of its business services practice, succeeding Mark Anderson. Cooke, a partner in the firm's consulting practice, will lead the unit, which advises law firms, consultancies and recruitment agencies, as it helps clients navigate AI adoption, technological change, consolidation and new business models.

City AM

INTERNATIONAL

Demise of Weil sends shock waves through legal job market

The sudden collapse of 95-year-old US law firm Weil Gotshal has left its roughly 600 associates, and its future summer hires, without jobs. The dissolution of the firm has sent shock waves through the legal job market, and rival firms and headhunters are moving quickly to interview Weil lawyers. “This is a paradigm shift,” observed David Diamond, assistant dean of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Career Strategy Center. “We want to make sure they have all the support they need to get back into the job search quickly.” Evan Fox, a legal headhunter at Long Ridge Partners, said his team has scheduled more than 100 job interviews for Weil lawyers. “This is truly unprecedented,” he said.

Wall Street Journal

David Jones enters administration as store closures threaten thousands of jobs

David Jones has entered voluntary administration following years of heavy losses and a breakdown in rent negotiations with its main landlord, Scentre Group, putting more than 6,000 jobs at risk across its 38 Australian stores. Administrators McGrathNicol have been appointed to seek a buyer or fresh capital, while receivers FTI Consulting have assumed operational control and are expected to oversee store closures, particularly in regional and outer suburban locations. The 188-year-old department store chain, acquired by Anchorage Capital Partners in 2023, has struggled with declining performance and unpaid rent since September. While its flagship city stores are expected to remain open, the restructuring could leave suppliers and gift card holders facing substantial losses, with the retailer's future dependent on securing new investment or a buyer. Anchorage has sent a note to its limited partners indicating that it “may put forth a proposal [to re-acquire the chain] including a restructured store footprint.”

The Australian Financial Review

Bloomberg

Sydney Morning Herald

The Guardian

OTHER

Fewer mothers to appear in court days after giving birth

New guidance from the Judiciary aims to reduce the number of mothers attending family court shortly after giving birth amid concerns about the increasing number of urgent applications brought to family courts for newborns where there is a safeguarding concern. Under the new guidance, same-day hearings should only be granted if a child's immediate safety is at risk to ensure intervention is "focused on cases that genuinely require it."

BBC News

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