Today's Human Resources Pulse
Lateral Associates Now Dominate Biglaw Hiring
In 2025, lateral‑hired attorneys accounted for roughly 48% of associate hires, overtaking new law‑school graduates for the first time. The shift reflects firms’ growing appetite for experienced talent amid heightened client demand and billing pressures, tightening the market for recent graduates.
Female Business Leaders Admit Workplace Discrimination Is Still Widespread
A MyWorkwear‑commissioned survey of 101 senior UK women reveals that 69% still face gender‑based discrimination, and 70% feel unsafe at work. Security concerns, bullying and physical safety dominate the unease, while 62% report being forced to wear men’s‑fit PPE. On the positive side, 69% believe equal pay has been achieved and 75% say their employers now provide women‑fit workwear options. The findings underscore a gap between pay equity and broader workplace inclusion.
Devex Pro Insider: What Happened to Aid Jobs in 2025?
Devex’s latest reports reveal a sharp 27% drop in advertised aid jobs in 2025, with UN agencies—especially UNICEF—seeing postings halve from over 7,000 to 3,484. Multilateral development banks were the only major employer segment that stayed robust, led by the...
Salary Negotiation Strategies From Everyday Experts
A recent study by researchers at Dortmund University examined which salary‑negotiation tactics women are most likely to adopt. The experiment asked over 100 participants to pick a single strategy from seven options, revealing that more than half chose to request...
How to Speed up Hiring Team Feedback and Reduce Time-to-Hire
Slow interview feedback is a hidden bottleneck that extends hiring cycles, with companies exceeding 40 days seeing a 12 % rise in candidate drop‑off. The article outlines how unstructured, scattered workflows cause delays, not interviewer unwillingness. It proposes a proactive, centralized...
Even With Accommodations, Essential Functions Are Required Under ADA
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that two West Virginia employees were not protected under the ADA because they could not perform their jobs' essential functions, even with accommodations. In the first case, an accounting assistant with breast...
‘Physically Demanding’ | First Bus to Offer Staff Paid Leave for IVF Treatments
First Bus will grant employees five days of paid leave for IVF treatment and two days for their partners, starting June 2026. The initiative follows direct employee feedback and is positioned as part of the company’s commitment to support staff...
How a Temp Agency Helps Businesses Stay Flexible and Productive
Temp agencies are becoming essential partners for companies seeking rapid, cost‑effective workforce adjustments. By supplying pre‑screened professionals for short‑term or project‑based roles, they cut hiring cycles and administrative burdens. This flexibility helps businesses meet seasonal spikes, cover unexpected absences, and...
What Employment Lawyers Actually Do
The Legal Cheek podcast episode featuring Julia Szaniszlo and Ryan Scott dives into the breadth of employment law practice, from handling unfair dismissal claims to advising on corporate transactions such as due diligence, TUPE and workforce restructuring. The hosts outline...
Change Programmes | How to Shift From 'Random Acts of Wellness' To a Structured Wellbeing Strategy
Employers are spending more on workplace wellbeing, yet many initiatives remain fragmented, described as "random acts of wellness." Stella Gavinho, Entain’s Group Head of Wellbeing, argues that the focus must shift from isolated activities to integrated wellbeing systems. By treating...
Most People Managers Would Prefer Not to Manage People
A YouGov survey commissioned by SafetyCulture found that 69% of frontline managers in the UK and Ireland would rather not manage people if their pay remained unchanged. The reluctance is strongest among younger workers, with 73% of Gen Z and...
IWD Voices: Ji Young Park – ‘Fairness Means Recognizing Differences While Making Sure Everyone Has Equal Opportunities’
Ji Young Park, featured in IWD Voices, argues that fairness means recognizing individual differences while guaranteeing equal opportunities. She emphasizes that equity cannot be a static statement; it must be lived daily through concrete actions. Senior leaders hold the unique...
Learned Helplessness at Work: Why Removing Hierarchy Isn't Enough
The article explains that learned helplessness—employees’ conditioned passivity under strict hierarchies—does not disappear when a company flattens its structure. Without targeted capability development, workers experience cognitive, motivational, and emotional blocks, leading to anxiety and the re‑emergence of informal hierarchies. Valkiainen...
HRDA Frankly Speaking: The Silent Feedback
The article argues that excessive workplace niceness creates a silent feedback loop that deprives leaders of truthful input. Employees often withhold criticism to avoid conflict, leading to sanitized information reaching decision‑makers. This dynamic hampers productivity, innovation, and effective problem‑solving. Amira...
Is Your Interview Process a Good Reflection of Your Employer Brand?
Employers risk eroding trust and facing legal exposure when interview practices contradict their public employer‑brand promises. The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) outlines objective, competency‑based criteria, diverse panels, and rigorous record‑keeping to ensure fairness. With Singapore’s...
Leaders Know How To Run The Present, But That’s No Longer Enough
Today's workforce delivers strong short‑term results, yet confidence in future AI‑driven roles is waning. ManpowerGroup’s 2026 Global Talent Barometer shows 87% of employees feel skilled now, but many doubt their readiness for upcoming technologies. Simultaneously, 60% are actively job‑searching despite...
IWD 2026: The Career Multiplier We Don’t Talk About Enough – a Mentor
Yara Elsayed, senior media manager at HAVAS Media Middle East, argues that mentorship is a hidden career multiplier in the media sector. She defines mentors as experienced professionals who not only advise but open doors and teach better questioning. When...
Malaysia Sets up Gig Economy Commission Ahead of Gig Workers Act 2025 Enforcement
Malaysia has launched the Malaysian Gig Economy Commission (SEGIM) to coordinate the upcoming Gig Workers Act 2025, which will take effect on 31 March 2026. The Act introduces mandatory contract transparency, a dedicated Gig Workers Tribunal, and requires platform providers to enroll...
IWD 2026: Why Women’s Empathy Is a Superpower for Business
Irina Tatarinova argues that women’s empathy is a strategic asset, not a weakness, driving stronger brand connections and employee loyalty. In the UAE, a 2025 law mandating at least one woman on every private joint‑stock board has sparked a four‑fold...
35 Cases of Delayed Salaries Recorded Across Singapore’s Public Sector in 2025
In 2025, Singapore’s public sector recorded 35 cases of delayed salaries, affecting roughly 0.02% of its 158,000 officers. The delays involved newly appointed officials whose appointment records were not updated in the payroll system in time. Once identified, the issue...
IWD 2026: How the Middle East Is Building a New Generation of Women Leaders in Technology
Across the Middle East, especially the UAE, women’s participation in technology is evolving from basic STEM entry to senior leadership in AI, cyber security, and digital infrastructure. Government policies, education reforms, and industry initiatives have created a knowledge‑based ecosystem that...
Jobs Digest: Moves at Scopely, Small Giant, Lego, Miniclip, PlaySide, Voodoo, Supercell, More
The mobile gaming sector saw a wave of senior hires, with Scopely adding a senior VP to steer its live‑game portfolio and Lego appointing Space Ape Games founder John Earner as an advisor for its new digital play division. Krafton...
Hiring Slowdown Shows Signs of Easing as Permanent Placements Near Stabilisation
Permanent hiring in the UK edged toward stabilisation in February, with placements slipping only marginally—the smallest decline since March 2023. The slowdown in demand slowed to its weakest pace in nine months, while the vacancy index rose to 45.8, still...
Graduate Programme Launched to Train ICT Specialists
Axiz and SUSE have announced a 12‑month graduate programme aimed at creating ICT specialists across sub‑Saharan Africa, with the first cohort starting in February 2026. The curriculum blends technical instruction in enterprise Linux, cloud‑native infrastructure and cybersecurity with on‑the‑job placements...
Turning Expertise Into Opportunity for Women in Cybersecurity
SheSpeaksCyber, a free directory launched by the Women4Cyber Foundation, connects event organizers with thousands of qualified women in cybersecurity. The platform targets 1,000 published speaker profiles by 2027 and aims for 50 percent female representation on conference stages by 2030. By...
Burnout Drives Workers to Value Balance over Pay
A CharityJob survey of 2,800 UK charity workers shows burnout is reshaping career priorities, with 87% willing to accept lower pay for better work‑life balance. Seventy‑eight percent report experiencing burnout at least sometimes, and flexible or hybrid arrangements are now...
Average UK Office Attendance ‘Settling’ at Highest Level Since Before Covid
UK office attendance has risen to 44.2% in early February, the highest level since the pandemic began, according to Remit Consulting’s ReTurn report. Investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are leading the return with five‑day office mandates, while...
How to Lead a Team Decimated by Layoffs
Recent AI‑driven layoffs at Block, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley illustrate how market‑focused headcount cuts can boost share prices but leave surviving teams struggling. The article explains that rapid reductions erase informal networks, blur decision authority and damage the psychological contract,...
Mediation Training: What Can You Expect?
Mediation training is gaining traction as organizations seek faster, cheaper ways to resolve workplace disputes. By teaching managers and team members basic facilitation skills, companies can address conflicts early, before they require formal arbitration or litigation. The article outlines a...
Project F Updates Startup Toolkit to Help Founders Get Their HR Right
Project F Australia has relaunched its Tech Startup Toolkit, a plug‑and‑play guide that provides hiring, pay‑structure and culture policies for tech startups with fewer than 100 employees. Developed with input from venture capital firms, the toolkit aims to close gender pay...
IndiGo Crosses 1,000 Women Pilots, Sets Industry Benchmark
IndiGo has become the first Indian carrier to employ more than 1,000 women pilots, pushing female representation in the cockpit to 17.5 percent—about three times the global average. Women now comprise nearly half of IndiGo’s total workforce, with significant presence...
POV: Are Performance Ratings Still Relevant in the Age of Continuous Feedback?
Traditional annual performance ratings are losing relevance as agile workplaces demand faster, continuous feedback. Leaders at Reliance Infrastructure, Omega Healthcare, and Blue Dart argue that ratings still provide structure, but must be paired with real‑time feedback to capture ongoing learning...
Study Analysis: AI May Be Tempering Insurer Hiring
A recent Aon and Jacobson Group study shows 43% of insurers plan to keep staffing steady in the next 12 months, a 15‑year high. The trend coincides with a sharp decline in job openings, which dropped to 138,000 in December...
Costs Ordered for Manager Whose $55m Claim Was "Objectively Untenable"
The Federal Court ordered a former TechnologyOne regional manager to pay costs after his $55 million wrongful‑dismissal claim was judged objectively untenable. Justice Shaun McElwaine noted that a $2.2 million settlement was the most realistic outcome given the claim’s inherent weakness and...
The Evidence Gap in L&D, and the Shift That Closes It
Learning leaders must prepare teams for AI and prove ROI, yet they still report only completions. The article argues the gap is visibility, not strategy, because data from LMS, performance systems, and skill taxonomies remain siloed. By anchoring learning to...
Why ‘Menstrual Leave’ Isn’t the Solution for Women’s Reproductive Health at Work
Employers worldwide have experimented with dedicated menstrual‑leave provisions, hoping to offset the hidden cost of painful periods. A 2019 Dutch analysis quantified that employees lose an average of 8.9 productive days each year to menstrual symptoms, primarily through presenteeism rather...
Initial Response to FWC Claims Can Undermine a Defence
Employers and HR practitioners often make avoidable errors after terminating staff, raising the risk of losing Fair Work Commission (FWC) claims. Paul O'Halloran of Dentons warns that dismissals without a release agreement practically guarantee a claim. The most frequent defence...
12 of the Best Leadership Books for People Leaders
The article presents a curated list of 12 leadership books tailored for HR professionals, organized around psychological safety, communication, authentic inclusion, and Stoicism. It cites a 2025 McKinsey study showing CEOs who read regularly outperform peers, underscoring reading as a...
UK Property Sector Gender Pay Gap Continues to Widen
The UK property sector’s gender pay gap has widened to 14.2%, making it the fourth‑worst industry in Britain. Over the past decade the gap grew by 1.6 percentage points, and it jumped 5.5 points in the last year – the...
Employee Who "Couldn't Count on HR" Wasn't Forced to Resign
The Fair Work Commission ruled that a former McPherson Media Group cadet journalist’s resignation was not forced, despite her claim that HR failed to address workplace complaints. The commissioner found the employer continued to engage with her performance issues and...
CEOs and Workers See AI Very Differently
A new Section survey of 5,000 white‑collar employees reveals a stark divide: 40% say generative AI saves them no time, while 19% of C‑suite executives report gaining more than 12 hours weekly. Executives tout AI‑driven efficiency, but frontline staff experience...
Boards Must Prioritize Decision Speed Over Vanity Metrics
MyPOV: Million-dollar HR tech decisions are being made in boardrooms every day. But do boards really understand what’s at stake? @rwang0 Ray Wang, CEO of Constellation Research, joins Julie Develin to break down the AI revolution, the shift from...
Young Workers Choose Trades as AI‑proof Career Path
A growing number of young workers are turning toward skilled trades. Electricians, plumbers and technicians are increasingly seen as more resilient to AI-driven disruption. As automation reshapes white-collar work, hands-on expertise may become one of the safest career bets. https://t.co/A4YogZNptP @jdickler @cnbc
Women Lawyers “Still Not Talking to Each Other”
Women lawyers are exiting firms at the senior associate level because they feel isolated and lack open peer communication, according to coach and former solicitor Mandy Rees. Rees founded the Next Generation Women in Law network to create confidential spaces...
Psychological Safety Drives Corporate Performance and Innovation
Belt Up and Belt Out: Corporate Benefits of #PsychologicalSafety @TEBReview https://t.co/NqD7mf9jfB #HCM #HRM #HumanResources #HRTech #CHRO #FutureofHR
Pokemon Company Hires PhDs to Engineer Real‑life Creatures
1) Are we getting closer to breeding real-life Pokemon?🙃 The Pokemon Company in Japan is recruiting PhD candidates in science, engineering, or agriculture. They say they prefer people with "experience in the ecology of plants and animals". https://t.co/vuShd35i95
How Is Generative AI Reshaping Gender Inequalities at Work?
In this episode of the Future of Work podcast, ILO gender‑equality specialist Anam Parvez Bhatt explains how generative AI disproportionately threatens women’s jobs, with female‑dominated occupations facing nearly twice the exposure to automation as male‑dominated ones. The discussion highlights structural drivers—social...
Transparent Pricing Would Stop Companies Adopting Exploitative Health Plans
No. Companies would understand pricing better and wouldn’t sign up for rapacious health plans that they force their employees into https://t.co/oSzKYa5915
Property Manager: The Toughest Role to Fill
I’ve found the Property Manager position to be, by far, the hardest role to hire for.
Baidam Partners with Deadly Coders for First Nations IT Job Push
Baidam has signed an MOU with Indigenous‑owned not‑for‑profit Deadly Coders to create IT career pathways for First Nations students. The deal ties Baidam’s commercial recruitment success to education funding: for every ten job placements, the company will finance a $20,000...
Gender Pay Gap Remains: Search Your University
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s latest data shows Australia’s overall gender pay gap remains at 11.2%, meaning women earn 88.8 cents for every dollar paid to men. In the higher education sector, the median total remuneration gap averages 5.6%, but...