Worldcrunch
Machines replacing us humans: Depending on where you stand (and where you work!), this may sound like a dream or a nightmare. Societies have long been fascinated by the idea of handing over difficult jobs to robots, but individuals quickly start to fear what that may entail for their futures. For all the talk about […]
French managers are trying to transition from assessing attendance to assessing results, the American tradition. But their are drawbacks.
Ensuring employees’ happiness is picking up as a profession in France, but is it slowly becoming a manipulative strategy to generate more productivity?
The normalization of sexual harassment and inequality in the workplace is keeping women from going to work, and holding back the rise of India’s economy.
Whether you’re a bento devotee, daily cafeteria goer or three-martini luncher, you are being watched (and judged) by your colleagues.
Japan’s Senate passed a reform bill in June modifying the regulation of the workplace, and promoting new ways for employees to work. But things were already changing.
BEIJING — Chinese talk about ancient China as an “acquaintance” society, structured with a unique pattern of human associations. Such a pattern is also referred to as “difference in intimacy of relationship” and means that each person deals with their own social relations — close or distant, without regard for the people’s status — provided […]
Lewis Hine was an American sociologist and photographer, best remembered for his images of immigrants arriving in Ellis Island, and for shining a light on the brutal reality of poor children forced to work.
Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials have very different needs and expectations regarding workspaces. And yet, in many companies they’re expected to work side-by-side.
CAIRO — On a hot summer day in 2012, two smartly clad Filipina women arrived at the JW Marriott Hotel on Cairo’s ring road, toting handbags in the crooks of their arms as they had often observed their female employers doing. They lingered in the lobby for hours over small cups of coffee as they […]
Youth who neither work nor study number in the millions in Mexico, though not exclusive to it. The state should be laser-focused on this mostly female segment of the population.
Women have intrinsic qualities that can help them in the fluid, digitalized labor markets of the future. But first they must have equal access to technical education.
As more men are migrating into cities in search of a living, women are left with all the weight of the farming and family. That is not a sustainable model.
BUENOS AIRES — Eduardo Roverano, 61, inherited the family business, a Buenos Aires funeral home founded in 1883 by his great grandfather. “I have vague memories of when the funeral cart was drawn by black horses,” he recalls. “I began working at 15. And it wasn’t a desk job. They sent me to pick up […]
Exploitation of so much data by artificial intelligence could lead to the automatic evaluation of individual employee performance.
GUANGZHOU — After flocking to the megalopolis by the tens of thousands, Africans seem to be going sour on Guangzhou, or “Chocolate City,” as it’s been nicknamed by the Chinese. Home to the largest African community in Asia, Guangzhou, an important global trade platform located opposite Hong Kong, attracted scores of migrants starting in the […]
Technology is transforming how goods and services are sold, and may soon kick millions of workers out of a job. But certain professions can’t be replaced by bots.
-OpEd- PARIS — A lot is being said and written about the “Molière clause,” first introduced by Vincent You, an elected representative in the western French city of Angoulême, and which mandates the use of French language on construction sites. This is, first and foremost, a case of guaranteeing safety at dangerous sites. A large […]
A day in the life of an Uber driver in São Paulo.
Companies and universities in Argentina are encouraging naps to boost the productivity and mood of students and workers.
BUENOS AIRES — In the Argentine capital, always aiming to be on top of the latest trends, is part of the wave of turning staid office culture into hubs of creativity through shared workspaces. These workspaces, which are offices that freelancers share as a workplace, are found to foster useful interaction and creative activity. Many […]
A decade ago, the “Polish plumber” became the symbol of British fears of immigrants coming in poorer Europe Union countries. After the UK’s referendum to pull out of the EU, uncertainty reigns for all.
-Analysis- PARIS — It’s a company like any other, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. Except that in the BeMyApp offices, you’ll hear a dinosaur screech and a stream of puns. Jokes that fail to get a laugh are taxed. Employees and managers put 20 cents in a jar. It’s the “bad joke tax.” “Me, […]
PARIS — French workers are allowed up to four leave days to celebrate their entrance into a civil union pact. But if a partner or, heaven forbid, child should die, they get just two. Losing a parent or sibling warrants just one single day off work. And there’s no legal leave for the death of […]
The pursuit of happiness has been the endeavor of all people since the dawn of time. But can work, the central value of modern civilization, be the answer?
As boundaries between work and private life fall away, telecommuting has been a rising trend in recent years. But some now have begun to opt for living at work.
A new study finds that fathers who take more than two months of parental leave for the birth of a child see a sharp decrease in promotion opportunities and are often asked to go part-time, a scenario all too familiar to women.
ISLAM QALA — It’s almost midday when, under a blazing sun, the first bus transporting Afghans expelled from Iran arrives. At the border crossing of Islam Qala, in western Afghanistan and 460 miles from the capital Kabul, two metal sentry boxes are built opposite one another. Over one flaps the Iranian flag, on the other […]
As boatloads of desperate immigrants land in Italy, the debate is highly charged. One writer reminds his countrymen of their own emigrant past.
Germany is expected to lose more than 13 million inhabitants by 2060. Even when immigrants and higher birth rates are factored into the equation, Germany is growing too old too quickly. Only drastic political solutions, such as moving the retirement age u
At the border between Serbia and Hungary, the number of illegal arrivals has increased dramatically over the past few months. Syrians and Afghans who take the road in the Balkans cross paths with migrating Kosovars.
The “devs” who code our digital world are so rarefied and vital they can dictate their own terms. Companies do anything to recruit them, but like birds, they tend to fly. A look at this singular species.
The U.S. offers the weakest worker protections, Brazilian employees are entitled to serious severance, the UK’s mandatory notice period is the longest. A quick tour of the global pink slip.
HAMBURG — When Kathrin Fiesel talks about lunch breaks at her company, people can’t believe it: “You do what? You go dancing!?” Her employer, the e-commerce giant Otto, in Hamburg’s Bramfeld district, has for several months now been trying out alternatives to the classic visit to the canteen. One of the things they’ve come up […]
It’s become a corporate truism that making the boss look good makes employees look good. Some pro advice on how to actually make this most important business relationship work.
The neoliberal global system shows remarkable staying power. A German critic of the system explains how the so-called ‘sharing economy’ is the ultimate trick and triumph of capitalism.
Graduates who come back to Poland after earning prestigious degrees at Oxford or Cambridge often find themselves shut out of the labor market. Blame a mix of suspicion and envy.
GENEVA — Philippe Rey-Gorrez, founder of the software company Teamwork, has a passionate belief in what can be achieved in groups. And this self-taught IT engineer, officer in the French army at 18 and sports enthusiast has applied his passion to his work in a very real way: He offers the 280 employees of his […]
Much of the rhetoric around human resources strategy involves the idea that working in a team is the key to succees. But in some cases, researchers say, it can even breed laziness.
