Employment 28 March 2026 - 20 May 2026

Barrett Business Services Stock Rose Friday as Market Waits on Jobs Data
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Barrett Business Services Stock Rose Friday as Market Waits on Jobs Data

Barrett Business Services ended Friday at $32.54, up 1.31%. The stock finished the shortened U.S. trading week about 3.2% above its May 22 close, getting a boost ahead of the company’s June 5 dividend. Around 340,000 shares traded, more than recent daily volume in the same price table. The next regular session for the stock is set for Monday. Nasdaq holds its standard trading hours from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays. The exchange was shut May 25 for Memorial Day, so there were just four trading days for investors last week.
May 31, 2026
Meta Sends 4 A.M. Layoff Emails as AI Drive Threatens 8,000 Jobs
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Meta Sends 4 A.M. Layoff Emails as AI Drive Threatens 8,000 Jobs

Meta sent layoff emails at 4 a.m. today, moving to cut about 8,000 jobs as Mark Zuckerberg presses ahead with the company’s AI push. Meta Platforms started sending layoff notices to staff on Wednesday, beginning in Singapore at 4 a.m. and continuing across time zones. The Facebook and Instagram parent is axing about 8,000 jobs worldwide. Workers in the U.S., Britain and other places were told to work from home as the company sent out the emails.
May 20, 2026
Tesco PLC’s Equal Pay Fight Just Got Harder After Court Ruling
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Tesco PLC’s Equal Pay Fight Just Got Harder After Court Ruling

Tesco Stores Ltd, the Tesco PLC subsidiary, lost nearly all arguments in its Court of Appeal push to shape the assessment of evidence in its lengthy equal pay dispute—a blow to Britain’s largest supermarket as it fights on in a separate tribunal. Judges threw out every ground except one, leaving the litigation to proceed. The final decision is still pending. This case has fresh urgency, with Tesco revealing around 62,000 claims so far from both current and ex-hourly store workers—a figure that’s likely to climb as the legal fight drags on. Those bringing the claims argue that jobs in stores and distribution centers should count as equal work when it comes to pay. Tesco, for its part, maintains that it’s
May 14, 2026
South32’s Eskom Power Deal Puts 29,000 Aluminium Jobs in Play
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South32’s Eskom Power Deal Puts 29,000 Aluminium Jobs in Play

South32 Ltd is pushing to lock in a fresh electricity deal for its Hillside Aluminium smelter by 2029, looking to sidestep the kind of power-price clash that shuttered its Mozal site in Mozambique. At the 30th anniversary celebration for Hillside, Chief Executive Graham Kerr told reporters the Richards Bay operation could keep going “20-30 years” if a competitive power contract materializes, according to Business Day. Timing’s key here. Hillside’s cut-rate Eskom contract wraps up in 2031, and smelters can’t run without big, reliable power—cheap juice is non-negotiable if you want to stay in the game. On March 15, South32 shuttered Mozal, moving it to care and maintenance after it couldn’t lock in enough low-cost electricity, according to Reuters.
May 10, 2026
Commerzbank’s 3,000-Job Cut Bet Could Decide the UniCredit Takeover Fight
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Commerzbank’s 3,000-Job Cut Bet Could Decide the UniCredit Takeover Fight

Commerzbank plans to cut as many as 3,000 additional jobs and is lifting its profit guidance for 2026 and 2030, stepping up its resistance to UniCredit’s unsolicited takeover bid. The move comes just days after the Italian lender officially launched its offer to Commerzbank shareholders. UniCredit’s stake in Commerzbank sits just below 30%, a level that puts it close to crossing a crucial German takeover threshold. Berlin, meanwhile, continues to hold its own 12% in the lender, a bank that’s critical for providing financing to Germany’s Mittelstand—the country’s backbone of small and mid-sized manufacturers.
May 8, 2026
Federal Bank EPFO Payments Go Live: What Changes For Employers Paying PF Dues
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Federal Bank EPFO Payments Go Live: What Changes For Employers Paying PF Dues

Federal Bank has rolled out Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation payments on its net-banking portal, offering customers an added digital option for settling Employee Provident Fund dues, according to the bank. The EPF serves as a retirement savings vehicle for much of India’s organised workforce. Timing is key here, with EPFO aiming to route more employer payments straight through direct bank connections. The retirement fund announced last year that starting April 1, 2025, its roster of empanelled banks would expand to 32. Payments made via these banks hit the investment pool on T+1—just one working day after the transaction—whereas payments through an aggregator take T+2.
May 8, 2026
Cognizant Layoffs: 15,000 Jobs May Be at Risk as Project Leap Puts India Workforce in Focus
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Cognizant Layoffs: 15,000 Jobs May Be at Risk as Project Leap Puts India Workforce in Focus

Cognizant is reportedly preparing to slash between 12,000 and 15,000 jobs globally as part of its Project Leap shake-up, with India likely to absorb the largest share of those reductions, according to several Indian media reports published Wednesday that quoted unnamed sources. The Nasdaq-listed IT services giant hasn’t specified the number of positions that could be impacted. Just days after Cognizant outlined Project Leap’s expected $230 million to $320 million price tag—mostly hitting in 2026—the reports surfaced. The company earmarked $200 million to $270 million for severance and related personnel expenses; severance, in this context, refers to compensation for employees affected by job cuts.
May 6, 2026
KPMG Job Cuts Expose Big Four Pressure as Staff Uproar Builds
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KPMG Job Cuts Expose Big Four Pressure as Staff Uproar Builds

KPMG’s efforts to trim costs are drawing fire from its UK workforce, as frustration mounts over the handling of a current redundancy process. According to City A.M. on Wednesday, employees affected by the UK consultation have criticized what they describe as inadequate communication from management. A KPMG spokesperson, for their part, maintained that the firm “continues to support our people throughout the consultations.” Timing is key here. KPMG’s U.S. unit had already slashed roughly 4% of its advisory staff, trimmed its audit partner roster, and exited federal audit contracts—making what could have been isolated payroll shifts into a larger experiment in how the firm handles staffing in a post-pandemic world. The UK complaints landed right as these changes were unfolding.
May 6, 2026
Coinbase Layoffs: 700 Jobs Cut as Brian Armstrong Bets on AI in Crypto Slowdown
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Coinbase Layoffs: 700 Jobs Cut as Brian Armstrong Bets on AI in Crypto Slowdown

Coinbase Global announced Tuesday it’s cutting around 700 positions—about 14% of its workforce—as part of a restructuring drive aimed at slashing costs and repositioning the crypto exchange for the artificial intelligence era. AI software, the company noted, can handle tasks, write code, and assist with decisions that previously required more people. Coinbase expects to wrap up most of the plan by the second quarter, with estimated charges between $50 million and $60 million, mostly related to severance and termination benefits, according to a filing. The timing isn’t great for crypto exchanges: when customer trading drops, so does revenue. “April trading activity across digital asset exchanges has slowed,” Jefferies analyst Daniel T. Fannon wrote in a note quoted by Reuters. That
May 5, 2026
Cognizant Layoffs: Up To 15,000 Jobs May Be At Risk As India Braces For AI Shake-Up
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Cognizant Layoffs: Up To 15,000 Jobs May Be At Risk As India Braces For AI Shake-Up

Cognizant Technology Solutions, which trades on the Nasdaq, is considering slashing between 12,000 and 15,000 jobs globally, according to a Moneycontrol report on Tuesday that cited several sources. Most of the layoffs could hit India. As of publication, the company hadn’t replied to Moneycontrol’s requests for comment. The potential cuts highlight a bigger shift underway in India’s tech services sector, where artificial intelligence—software that automates coding, testing, and support—is starting to reshape pricing and staffing models. Cognizant has rolled out Project Leap, its restructuring plan designed to speed up the transition to an AI-first way of operating. Clients, though, are still holding back on discretionary IT spending.
May 5, 2026
WiseTech Global Faces Fresh Fair Work Fight as AI Job Cuts Roll On
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WiseTech Global Faces Fresh Fair Work Fight as AI Job Cuts Roll On

WiseTech Global is facing a Fair Work Commission claim from Melina Green, the logistics software company’s former head of tax, the Australian Financial Review reported on Sunday. Green, identified by the newspaper as a recently dismissed senior executive, has lodged a case with Australia’s employment tribunal following her termination. It’s a tricky moment for WiseTech. The company’s pushing ahead with one of Australia’s most high-profile AI-driven restructures, just months after announcing plans in February to cut around 2,000 jobs—roughly 29% of its workforce—over the next two years. Speaking to Reuters at the time, Chief Executive Zubin Appoo declared that “the era of manually writing code” for core engineering is finished. Marc Jocum, who’s senior product and investment strategist at Global
May 3, 2026
Glencore plc’s 19% Copper Jump Is Only Half the Story as Trading Profits Build
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Glencore plc’s 19% Copper Jump Is Only Half the Story as Trading Profits Build

Glencore plc posted a 19% bump in first-quarter copper production, reaching 199,600 metric tons, compared with 167,900 tons the previous year. The Swiss commodities group said its marketing division is still positioned to top the upper end of its annual earnings target, with energy and metals markets continuing to see volatility. That’s relevant now, as Glencore draws support from both its mining and trading operations. Output of copper—a key material for electric vehicles, power infrastructure, and charging stations—is running higher. On the trading side, Glencore’s teams are capitalizing on fractured supply chains in crude oil, refined fuels, and sulphuric acid. Chief Executive Gary Nagle described first-quarter output as “largely in line” with what the company anticipated, adding that its full-year
May 2, 2026
Whitbread Shares Sink as Premier Inn Owner Puts 3,800 Jobs at Risk in Restaurant Exit
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Whitbread Shares Sink as Premier Inn Owner Puts 3,800 Jobs at Risk in Restaurant Exit

Whitbread PLC plans to close or offload its last 197 branded restaurants, shifting entirely to a hotel-centric food offering. Roughly 3,800 jobs are now on the line across the UK and Ireland as Premier Inn’s parent company rolls out its largest strategic shakeup to date. Whitbread said it expects the overhaul to make it a higher-margin “pure-play” hotel operator. Shares finished the day in London deep in the red. Whitbread faces a dual squeeze—rising UK expenses like business rates and National Insurance, plus investors demanding better returns from its hefty property portfolio. The revamp comes after a fresh look at capital allocation and property holdings, prompted by activist Corvex’s campaign to shake up the strategy late last year.
April 30, 2026
Glencore plc South Africa Power Deal Faces Nersa Test as Smelter Jobs Hang in Balance
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Glencore plc South Africa Power Deal Faces Nersa Test as Smelter Jobs Hang in Balance

South Africa’s energy regulator on Wednesday kicked Glencore plc’s chrome smelter rescue proposal into the public arena, inviting written feedback and announcing a hearing on Eskom’s revised pricing deals with Samancor Chrome and the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture. That move brings the sought-after power tariff breaks to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, or Nersa, following several weeks of debate on restarting smelters without triggering another round of layoffs. Electricity costs are now the decisive factor for South Africa’s ferrochrome sector. Producing ferrochrome—an alloy of chromium and iron that’s key for stainless steel—demands hefty energy use; steep power tariffs have eroded the country’s edge, putting South African players behind Chinese rivals, despite still holding significant chrome ore reserves.
April 22, 2026
Glencore Extends South Africa Smelter Job-Cut Deadline to April 7 in Eskom Power Talks
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Glencore Extends South Africa Smelter Job-Cut Deadline to April 7 in Eskom Power Talks

Glencore’s South African chrome joint venture extended the deadline for its retrenchment talks to April 7, giving Eskom more time—another week—to wrap up internal sign-off on a discounted electricity rate. The Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture confirmed that a 62 South African cents per kilowatt-hour rate has in-principle approval, though the final commercial terms are still being hammered out. The additional week is pivotal: the outcome of the tariff could determine if the planned job cuts are still avoidable and whether the venture can sustain its ferrochrome operations commercially. On Tuesday, Merafe told shareholders it had already lodged a counterproposal back on March 12, and the partners agreed to push the Section 189 consultation—a process under South Africa’s Labour Relations Act regarding
April 1, 2026
KPMG UK Layoffs: Up to 440 Audit Jobs at Risk as Low Attrition and Weak Demand Bite
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KPMG UK Layoffs: Up to 440 Audit Jobs at Risk as Low Attrition and Weak Demand Bite

KPMG’s UK audit division is bracing for potential layoffs, with a redundancy consultation that could put as many as 440 jobs on the line. Bloomberg noted that close to 600 audit staff received notice their positions might be cut. The proposal would trim about 6% from a business that currently employs around 7,100 people. This shift is notable, hitting even the typically stable audit divisions of the Big Four. With a cooler hiring climate, voluntary departures have slowed, and softer consulting demand is pushing firms to scrutinize expenses. KPMG’s January numbers underline the story: audit sales up 5% in 2025, but advisory revenue slipped 3%.
March 30, 2026
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