Welcome to the newest edition of Hacking Work International Newsletter!

Here’s what you can expect every two weeks:
Updates on the global job market; the latest developments in leadership and organisational culture; valuable insights into professional and educational landscapes; modern perspectives on careers; and the evolving nature of work.

In today's email:

• The end of anonymity on Glassdoor?

• Pay transparency: a Pandora's box

• Opportunity map: most popular industries in every country

• Managers feel exhausted from serving all sides

• Discriminating against women, the universal language of the global workforce

  • Buzzkill in Chief: You work remotely? You won’t get promotions.

  • Quick Reads: Byte-sized news

  • Did You Know? Gender bias occurs frequently on LinkedIn

  • Layoffs Highlights

  • Businesses that operate 100% remotely claim to be the most productive

    • Mind Hack: 4 ways to integrate chronoworking into your team

    • Recommendations: What to read

The end of anonymity on Glassdoor? Freedom of speech silenced

Recently, the Glassdoor platform sparked outrage when it added a new feature that required users to verify identities with their complete name, job title, and organisation, thereby giving up anonymity.

Many users have used anonymity to submit reviews about firms, reveal flaws with company culture, and negotiate higher salaries. Glassdoor's shift raised concerns about personal data protection, with the potential of information becoming subject to court orders or data leaks.

Glassdoor attempted to calm the situation by stating that it has previously declined more than 100 requests to expose users' identities. However, many users are sceptical, believing the new tool violates the platform's essential ideals of free speech and anonymity.

It remains to be seen how the fresh feature will impact the quantity and quality of reviews published on the platform.

Pay transparency: a Pandora's box for organisations?

A poll of more than 5,700 CEOs and HR experts conducted at the end of 2023 found that 60% of US organisations include wage ranges in job adverts. The rise over the previous year is 15%, and of all employers who practise pay transparency, 21% do so because it is mandated by law, while 39% do it irrespective of laws.

Pay transparency appears to boost employee engagement. Furthermore, employees at companies required by law to provide transparency demonstrate an interest in the subject by asking more inquiries regarding their salaries. On the other hand, 14% of leaders report that staff departed because they spotted higher-paying employment in other organisations, and 11% discovered that they were paid less than other employees for a similar role.

However, 13% of companies are against pay transparency. Reasons include the cost of creating systems to standardise and publish pay structures, as well as a reluctance to expose information about pay levels to competitors.

Opportunity map: which industries employ the most people in each country

Looking for work can be challenging, especially if your abilities are not applicable to the country you live in. A map created by Resume.io and Visual Capitalist using LinkedIn job ads shows which industries hire the most people in each country.

Globally, the IT industry has the highest amount of job adverts. This trend emphasises the value of digital skills and the growing demand for specialists in this field. Recruitment is ranked second, showing organisations' need to identify skilled workers quickly and efficiently, particularly in competitive areas.

Regional variety is also maintained, as the leading industry differs greatly from region to region. For example, agriculture employment accounts for a sizable proportion of available positions in Moldova, whereas construction industries employ the majority of workers in the United Kingdom.

Managers feel exhausted from serving all sides

Middle managers around the world face a challenging situation: they are overworked, have too many duties, and receive little training and support to manage them. According to a Capterra survey, half of them feel overwhelmed by their tasks, and 43% are burnt out.

Managers confront increased demands as a result of remote and hybrid working (they are expected to do more than ever before), management pressure to deliver outcomes, and employee expectations for additional help and guidance. According to Gartner, one in every five managers would decline this responsibility if given the opportunity because they do not feel equipped to lead change in their businesses.

The issue becomes even more apparent for female executives. They are far less likely to obtain continued management training than their male counterparts. This lack of support pushes many new managers "overboard"; 40% are already seeking for other positions.

However, there is hope for improvement: 59% of leaders want to invest more on management development initiatives. Technology can also have a significant impact. 76% of managers are positive about artificial intelligence, believing that automating monotonous administrative chores will save up nearly half of their time.

No country in the world provides equal chances for women in the workplace

The World Bank discovered that the gender disparity worldwide is substantially bigger than previously anticipated. According to recent studies, narrowing this gap has the potential to increase global GDP by more than 20%. The analysis evaluates for the first time how 190 countries are executing current rules to safeguard women, revealing a "shocking" disparity between legislation and practice.

The tenth edition of women, business, and the law report examined how childcare and safety legislation affected women's labour market involvement in 190 countries.  The survey finds that women's safety globally is poor with a score of just 36 out of 100.

This means that women receive only one-third of the legal protection required to protect them from domestic abuse, sexual harassment, child marriage, and femicide. Although 151 countries have laws prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace, just 39 of them address abuse in public places or on public transportation, leaving women vulnerable on their way to work.

98 of the 190 economies analysed have passed equal pay legislation, but only 35 have implemented pay transparency or enforcement procedures to close wage discrepancies. Globally, women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by males.

“All over the world, discriminatory laws and practices prevent women from working or starting businesses on an equal footing with men,” said Indermit Gill, chief economist of the World Bank Group.

News on Layoffs:

• Unilever lays off 7,500 individuals or 5.9% of its workforce. The news coincided with the decision to spin off the ice cream divisions (Magnum and Ben & Jerry's).

• PwC Australia will slash 329 jobs. The move is part of a larger restructuring following a national incident in which a former partner divulged the government's tax plans.

• Shell, the oil major, is slashing at least 20% of its transaction team roles to save expenses.

•  At least 1,600 employees of Webasto, a major automotive supplier, are to be laid off. The cuts will take place in Germany.

• The world's largest manufacturer of photovoltaic panels, Longi Green Technology Energy Co, will lay off a third of its workforce. The industry is facing overcapacity and intense competition.

• Stellantis is laying off about 400 US workers in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs. The spokeswoman declined to disclose the exact number of employees to be laid off, but a source confirmed it would be about 400.

Businesses that operate entirely remotely claim to be the most productive

The entire back-to-office policy discussion can be reviewed in light of the recent Impact of Technology in the Workplace report. 64% of remote firms perceive themselves to be highly productive, compared to 54% of those who prefer a physical office presence and 53% of those who use hybrid working. Furthermore, remote businesses recruit at a 44% higher rate. The survey also emphasises the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI): 72% of organisations that utilise AI on a regular basis report much higher productivity than the rest.