Sizeism is discrimination against people of non-ideal weight (those who are overweight or obese, or severely underweight). It is an issue that occurs across several countries, with one US-based study showing that obese women earn $19,000 less on average than women of average weight. In Europe, the problem is equally rampant. One UK survey, for instance, found that 13% of workers experienced appearance-based discrimination.
76% of Gen Z Europeans say a business’s climate footprint is a key consideration when job hunting, and for 22%, it’s even their main priority, a recent report from the European Investment Bank reveals. A big sustainable trend that’s growing across businesses in Europe is the adoption of shared office tools: apps, software, and online platforms that make it easier for employees to communicate and collaborate on tasks from remote locations — which is a win for hybrid arrangements. These tools also help companies reduce energy use and slash paper waste, which can make a big dent in emissions and help create greener career paths. Take big companies like Airbus and Volkswagen as strong examples — they’re already making big strides in terms of sustainability. Airbus uses carbon-neutral tools like Google Workspace to support flexible hybrid schedules, while Volkswagen has embraced VR training to cut down on paper waste.
The Chartered Management Institute found toxic workplace culture is bad news for employee retention. In the report shared by The Guardian, about one-third of workers in the UK quit their jobs because the culture in the organization was negative.
Although you’ve probably heard the doom and gloom predictions about artificial intelligence (AI) taking peoples’ jobs, you can also expect it to create new ones — at least 2.6 million globally by 2027, the World Economic Forum reveals. With Europe also leading the way with AI regulation — the European Parliament recently passed the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, the first of its kind worldwide — the industry is expected to boom within the next few years. In fact, a number of AI jobs are already popping up fast as the tech continues to evolve. Ethics officers, prompt engineers, and AI engineers are just some of the latest exciting, high-paying positions increasingly in demand.
A recently published report entitled IT Contingent Workforce Guide by Motion Recruitment has found that in the IT industry alone, one out of every five tech jobs is occupied by contract workers. Around 90% of employers said that they would be dedicating more funds to contractors rather than the hiring of employees and in a myriad of other industries, the contracting job market is on the rise. Factors such as the fear of a recession, market uncertainties, more stringent corporate budgets, and the rise of AI have led to a wish for shorter, project-oriented working relationships. If you wish to know why contracting may be a perfect fit for you, read on.