Work/Life: international employment news update

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Issue 75

Welcome to the latest edition of our international employment news update.

Hollywood writers' pay strike in streaming TV 'gig economy'

Film and TV writers to strike as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) fails to agree satisfactory terms with studios such as Walt Disney Co and Netflix Inc. Studio giants have been criticised for creating a gig economy inside a union workforce due to the increased use of short term contracts and lack of minimum pay levels for writers. Pay, conditions and job security are among the issues in dispute, including protection from being replaced with AI, the latter being of increasing concern as discussed below.

Italy approves legislation to loosen labour market rules

The Labour Day Decree measures will make it easier for companies to offer short-term contracts between 12 and 24 months to workers, as well as scale back the "citizen wage" anti-poverty scheme which provides a monthly unemployment payment. The government defended measures as an attempt to boost flexibility, create new jobs and encourage able-bodied people to seek out work, but they have been criticised for punishing unemployed Italians by offering less job security and cutting welfare support as an incentive to look for work.

French retail giant to offer menstrual leave

The supermarket giant Carrefour has announced a number of initiatives for employees in France, aimed at improving women's rights and equality in the workplace. The company will offer one day off per month for women who suffer from endometriosis, three days off for women who suffer a miscarriage and one day off for women undergoing an embryo transfer. This comes after Spain announced in February that it would be the first European country to adopt legislation providing for paid menstrual leave.

China to implement employment-boosting reforms for young people

The cabinet in China has unveiled plans to issue subsidies to firms that hire college graduates or unemployed young people. They will encourage state-owned firms to expand recruitment parameters as well as pushing for financial institutions to offer loans to smaller companies to create new jobs. The plans come after it was reported that the unemployment rate for the world's second largest economy for 16-24 year-olds was close to a record high in March 2023.

Push for post-Brexit visa reforms to address labour shortages

The future UK-EU relationship report, produced by the House of Lords European Affairs Committee, has found that the complex post-Brexit immigration system has proved to be a "significant barrier to mobility", specifically for young workers and professionals, and has worsened labour shortages nationwide. Hospitality, tourism, catering, transport, and production and manufacturing were identified in the report as some of the sectors most impacted by the shortages.

Japan pledges for women to occupy a third of executive roles by 2030

Japan's prime minister has pledged to increase the ratio of women in executive roles to 30% or more within Tokyo stock exchange listed companies by 2030, in an attempt to improve its poor gender pay gap. Japan has been criticised for the lack of female occupied senior positions both in the private and public sectors, with women representing just 11.4% of executives in listed companies in 2022. The part-time, low-pay economy in Japan is made up of mostly women, so until more permanent positions and childcare assistance are offered by companies, many think change will be difficult to implement.

Calls for UK sexual harassment law not to be abandoned

Women's rights groups and trade unions are among 26 organisations urging the business secretary not to scrap the new worker protection bill, which if passed into law would impose a legal duty on employers to protect workers from sexual harassment by third parties such as clients and customers. In the wake of recent allegations from within the CBI, supporters claim there is even greater need for new laws to address endemic sexual harassment in the workplace.

Google engineer warns about dangers of AI advancement

Geoffrey Hinton, who carried out pioneering research on neural networks and deep learning in AI which has paved the way for current AI systems like ChatGPT, has announced his resignation from Google. Dr Hinton warns that chatbots could quickly overtake the human brain in the way they perform, and that there is a high risk that AI could be abused by bad actors in future. This comes amidst growing concern around the global advancement of AI in an employment context, with increasing focus on protection of workers job security and the risks of AI.