Women in tech and finance at higher risk from AI job losses, report says
Women working in tech and financial services are at greater risk of losing their jobs to increased use of AI and automation than their male peers, according to a report that found experienced females were also being sidelined as a result of “rigid hiring processes”.“Mid-career” women – with at least five years’ experience – are being overlooked for digital roles in the tech and financial and professional services sectors, where they are traditionally underrepresented, according to the report by the City of London Corporation.The governing body that runs the capital’s Square Mile found female applicants were discriminated against by rigid, and sometimes automated, screening of their CVs, which did not take into account career gaps related to caring for children or relatives, or only narrowly considered their professional experience.To reverse the trend, the corporation is calling on employers to focus on re-skilling female workers not currently in technical roles, particularly those in clerical positions most at risk of being displaced by automation.It is estimated that about 119,000 clerical roles in tech and the financial and professional service sectors, predominantly carried out by women, will be displaced by automation over the next decade.
Reskilling those affected by these job losses could save companies from making redundancy payments totalling as much as £757m, the report found.Upskilling staff would allow employers to focus on candidates’ potential rather than their past technical experience, the report found.It is estimated that up to 60,000 women in tech leave their roles each year for reasons including lack of advancement, lack of recognition and inadequate pay.Dame Susan Langley, the mayor of City of London, said: “By investing in people and supporting the development of digital skills within the workforce, employers can unlock enormous potential and build stronger, more resilient teams.Focusing on talent, adaptability and opportunity will ensure the UK continues to lead on innovation and remains a global hub for digital excellence.
”Recent surveys have shown that as many as a quarter of UK workers are worried that their jobs could disappear in the next five years because of AI, according to a poll by the international recruitment company Randstad.Union leaders have called on companies to commit to investing in workforce skills and training.The City of London Corporation found that women were being overlooked for roles even as difficulties in hiring talent meant more than 12,000 digital vacancies in these sectors went unfilled in 2024.Companies have tried to deal with worker shortages by increasing wages above the national average, but the report found that higher pay rates would not solve the problem.It warned that the widening digital talent gap was forecast to last until at least 2035 and that under this scenario the UK could miss out on more than £10bn of economic growth.
Software stock sell-off goes global amid fears over AI-led disruption – business live
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.A selloff in software and data company stocks that began in Europe yesterday has spread to Asia-Pacific markets, via the US, today.Software stocks slid from India to Japan, following losses on Wall Street overnight, on growing concerns that their business models will be devoured by AI.The trigger for the selloff appears to be an updated chatbot release from AI developer Anthropic, the company behind the chatbot Claude, designed to automate legal work such as contract reviewing, non-disclosure agreement triage, compliance workflows, legal briefings and templated responses.The news had an immediate impact in London yesterday, where information and analytics company Relx plunged 14%, UK publishing group Pearson fell by nearly 8%, and the London Stock Exchange Group fell by 13%
Zero net migration would shrink UK economy by 3.6%, says thinktank
The UK economy would be 3.6% smaller by 2040 if net migration fell to zero, forcing the government to raise taxes to combat a much bigger budget deficit, a thinktank has predicted.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said falling birthrates in the UK and a sharp decrease in net migration last year had led it to consider what would happen if this trend continued to the end of the decade.In this scenario the UK population would stop growing at about 70 million in 2030. The latest official figures showed the UK population was 69
Fairphone 6 review: cheaper, repairable and longer-lasting Android
The Dutch ethical smartphone brand Fairphone is back with its six-generation Android, aiming to make its repairable phone more modern, modular, affordable and desirable, with screw-in accessories and a user-replaceable battery.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The Fairphone 6 costs £499 (€599), making it cheaper than previous models and pitting it squarely against budget champs such as the Google Pixel 9a and the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, while being repairable at home with long-term software support and a five-year warranty
French headquarters of Elon Musk’s X raided by Paris cybercrime unit
Prosecutors have raided the French headquarters of Elon Musk’s social media platform X and summoned the tech billionaire and the company’s former chief executive for questioning as part of an investigation into alleged cybercrime.“A search is under way by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office, the national police cyber unit and Europol,” the Paris prosecutors’ office said in a post on X on Tuesday, adding that it would no longer be publishing on the network.It said in a statement that Musk and Linda Yaccarino had been summoned for “voluntary questioning” in April in their capacity as “de facto and de jure managers of the X platform at the time of the events”. Yaccarino resigned as chief executive of X in July last year.The French prosecutors’ announcement comes amid a hardening of European attitudes to social media firms
LIV Golf tour hits out at decision to only award ranking points to top-10 finishers
The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Tour has hit out at what it regards as victimisation from those presiding over the sport’s world rankings process, despite seeing their wait of nearly four years for recognition by the system finally end.It was confirmed on Tuesday that those competing in LIV tournaments will receive official world golf ranking points but only when finishing in the top 10. A statement from the OWGR board said this “recognises there are a number of areas where LIV Golf does not meet the eligibility standards set out”.Since LIV competition started in 2022, the OWGR has not given any reward to those performing in that domain. This has led to previously prominent golfers tumbling down the rankings; Cameron Smith is now 221st, Sergio García 363rd and Dustin Johnson 662nd
IOC president gives clearest signal so far that Russia could be at 2028 Olympics
The International Olympic Committee president, Kirsty Coventry, has given her clearest signal yet that Russia could be back for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.A day after the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, said he wanted Russia reinstated to international football, Coventry used her opening address to the 145th IOC congress in Milan to argue that all athletes should be allowed to compete in sport – regardless of their government’s behaviour.Her comments are likely to cause tension with Ukraine after the sports minister, Matvii Bidnyi, branded Infantino as “irresponsible” and “infantile” for attempting to draw a line between sport and politics before the IOC president ventured into the same territory.While not referencing Russia directly, Coventry said: “Throughout the campaign and in many of our conversations since, I have heard the same message from many of you. Focus on our core
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