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18th October 2024
 
THE HOT STORY
Quit if you don't want to return to the office, Amazon exec says
Matt Garman, the CEO of Amazon's AWS unit, has defended the company's new 5-day-per-week in-office policy and suggested those who do not wish to work in-office five days per week can quit. "If there are people who just don't work well in that environment and don't want to, that's okay, there are other companies around," said Garman. "By the way, I don't mean that in a bad way," he said, adding "we want to be in an environment where we're working together."  Garman said nine out of 10 workers he has spoken with support the new policy, which takes effect in January. "When we want to really, really innovate on interesting products, I have not seen an ability for us to do that when we're not in-person," he said at an all-hands meeting. The company has been enforcing a three-day in-office policy, but CEO Andy Jassy said last month that Amazon would move to five days to "invent, collaborate and be connected."
WORKFORCE
Internal Starbucks staff survey shows discontent with staffing levels
Bloomberg reports that, according to a previously-undisclosed internal Starbucks staff survey conducted in April, only 33% of workers say their stores consistently have sufficient staffing levels. Additionally, less than half of the workers polled say their store’s equipment is reliable, compounding the problem. The share of retail staff who would recommend Starbucks as a great place to work fell three percentage points in April from a year earlier, to 64%. The poll doesn’t include workers at locations run by third parties such as those located at airports or grocery stores. In a statement, Starbucks said the survey indicates “consistent improvement” in key areas of worker experience, with a bigger percentage of employees also saying they were getting paid appropriately for their work, compared to past surveys. A spokesperson also said that the company is refining the model it uses to allocate staffing to make sure it more precisely meets each store’s needs.
Americans increasingly worried about debt delinquency risks
American consumers' expectations about the risk of debt delinquency have risen to their highest level in more than four years, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Its September Survey of Consumer Expectations showed that the average perceived probability of missing a minimum debt payment during the next three months increased for the fourth consecutive month to 14.2%, the highest level since April 2020 when it was 16.1%. Outside of the pandemic, last month's reading was the highest since January 2017. The probability of losing one's job in the next 12 months was flat in September when compared with August, though the probability of voluntarily leaving a job ticked up from 19.1% in August to 20.4% in September, the highest level since July. “For people with good incomes and good credit scores, things are going well; they’re still able to access plenty of credit and, by and large, paying on time,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate. “If you’re in the half who’s using a card for convenience and rewards, life is good. Now the other half, that can be a much more troublesome situation when you think about potentially longer-term credit card debt.”
Jobless claims plummet from highest level in a year
Initial jobless claims retreated by 19,000 to 241,000 in the seven days to October 12th, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had estimated new claims would rise by 2,000 to 260,000. Claims had jumped to more than a one-year high in the prior week, attributed to Hurricane Helene, which devastated Florida and large swathes of the U.S. Southeast in late September. The four-week moving average of new applications rose to 236,250, the highest since August, while continuing claims, reported with a one-week lag, inched up 9,000 to around 1.87m. 
STRATEGY
EY slims workforce for first time in 14 years
EY's global revenue increased by 3.9% to $51.2bn in the year ending June, marking the slowest growth in over a decade. Janet Truncale, global chairwoman and chief executive of EY, said: "Over the past year, EY teams have demonstrated extraordinary resilience in a challenging economic climate." The consulting sector, traditionally a growth driver, saw fees stagnate at $15.6bn, while audit and tax services grew by 6.3% each, contributing significantly to overall revenue. The firm also reduced its workforce for the first time in 14 years, employing 392,995 people, down from 395,442. The weakest performance was in Asia, where fees remained flat at $7.2bn, while growth was noted in the Americas and Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa.
TECHNOLOGY
AI tool aims to bridge divides
Researchers from the University of Oxford and Google DeepMind have developed an AI system called the "Habermas Machine" which is designed to mediate contentious discussions by generating group statements that reflect both majority and minority views.  In experiments involving over 5,000 participants, the AI-generated statements were preferred 56% of the time over those created by human mediators. The system increased group agreement by an average of 8%, demonstrating its potential to foster dialogue. However, concerns were raised by Dr Melanie Garson, an expert in conflict resolution, regarding the representation of minority views and the lack of opportunity for participants to express their feelings. She emphasised the importance of context in mediation, questioning whether the AI approach truly enhances understanding.
CULTURE
Most accountants see rise in ethical challenges ahead
A global survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has found that most accountants see ethical challenges growing more complex throughout their profession as technology speeds the expansion of businesses worldwide. Nearly one in four accountants (24%) have faced pressure to act unethically during the past three years, while 55% of finance executives have witnessed unethical behavior during their careers. Respondents identified a full range of unethical practices, including tax avoidance, pressure to manipulate financial statements, bribery, and weak governance and accountability. “These insights underscore the need for robust ethical leadership and culture in organizations, and ongoing learning and development to support professional accountants in navigating these challenges,” Sarah Lane, ACCA head of ethics and assurance, said.
CYBERSECURITY
U.S. charges Sudanese men with running powerful cyberattack-for-hire gang
Two Sudanese brothers have been charged with running one of the most prolific cyberattack-for-hire gangs, allegedly behind tens of thousands of attacks.  Federal prosecutors accused Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer of carrying out 35,000 denial-of-service attacks against hundreds of organizations in just one year, taking down websites and other networks as part of an ideologically motivated extortion scheme affecting thousands of customers.  The pair targeted high-profile victims worldwide and across the U.S., including Microsoft, ChatGPT, PayPal, X, Yahoo, airports, the Pentagon, the Department of Justice, Alabama's state government, as well as at least one hospital: Cedars-Sinai in the Los Angeles area, according to prosecutors. The group held a "Sudanese nationalist ideology," Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said, charging customers $600 or less to launch major attacks.
INTERNATIONAL
Nine's culture of bullying and sexual harassment revealed
An independent report has revealed systemic issues of power abuse, bullying, discrimination, and sexual harassment at Australian media company Nine Entertainment. The report highlighted a lack of leadership accountability and significant distrust among employees, with 57% of Broadcast Division staff reporting such experiences. Workers told the review that when they made complaints, HR would cover it up. One worker said: "It is drilled into us to never go to HR. They are very much on the side of the company. Their attitude is 'it's not our fault this happened'." Catherine West, chair of Nine, acknowledged the unacceptable behaviours and apologized to affected employees, saying: “We acknowledge that too many of our past and present employees have been harmed by poor workplace culture.” The board has committed to implementing all 22 recommendations from the report to reset the company culture, with acting CEO Matt Stanton emphasizing the need for a safe and respectful work environment.
McKinsey cuts hundreds of jobs in China
McKinsey is overhauling its China business after cutting back on government-linked clients and reducing the unit’s workforce by nearly 500 people, about a third of the total. In recent times, the company has been separating the China unit from its global operations to reduce security risks with doing business in the country. Over the past two years, McKinsey’s workforce in Greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, has shrunk by hundreds of employees. McKinsey first opened in mainland China in 1993 and grew quickly alongside the nation’s economy, winning business from state-owned firms including China Construction Bank, and China Telecom.
Japan faces scrutiny over gender laws
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has convened in Geneva to evaluate Japan's gender policies, marking its first review in eight years. Discussions centered on Japan's proposal for a selective dual surname system for married couples and the need to amend the Imperial Household Law to promote gender equality. A committee member highlighted that the current law "negatively impacted women in the workplace and in their private life." The committee's recommendations are not legally binding, but some of them have prompted changes in Japanese laws, such as a rise in the legal marriageable age for women from 16 to 18 to match that for men, and the abolition of the remarriage prohibition period imposed only on women.
OTHER
Teen smoking levels hit record low
According to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), teen smoking has reached an all-time low in the U.S., with a 20% decrease in tobacco use among middle and high school students. The number of students using tobacco products dropped from 2.8m to 2.25m, marking the lowest level since the CDC began tracking in 1999. Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, said: “Reaching a 25-year low for youth tobacco product use is an extraordinary milestone for public health.” The decline is largely attributed to reduced vaping rates, which fell to under 6%. Other tobacco products, including hookahs, also saw decreased usage. The survey included nearly 30,000 students, revealing that while overall tobacco use among high school students dropped to 10%, there was no significant change among middle school students.
 


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