EDITION 923
13 JUNE 2022

There is no escaping it: too much news is bad for you. It should come with a government health warning: “This intellectual diet is fine taken in small doses, and preferably in weekly instalments, via a well-balanced newsletter, such as 10 things from William Montgomery."

So, as another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. Please feel free to share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can also subscribe, learn and engage. I would be very grateful if you did.

William Montgomery
Editor and CEO of TEN

1. How to avoid burnout. Burnout is a state of mental and physical exhaustion that can zap the joy out of your career, friendships, and family interactions. Anyone can become exhausted. What is so poignant about burnout is that it mainly strikes people who are highly committed to their work. Burnout, however, isn’t always easy to spot. READ MORE >>

2. UK four-day week trial begins. The world's biggest trial of the four-day work week began in the UK on Monday morning. Organised by 4 Day Week Global, the six-month-long trial will see 70 companies – totalling more than 3,300 workers – test out a 100:80:100 working pattern: 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for 100% productivity. A wide range of industries is represented in the participating companies, including education, housing, recruitment, finance and hospitality. Lead researcher Juliet Schor said: "The four-day week is generally considered to be a triple-dividend policy – helping employees, companies, and the climate." Similar trials are being set up in Scotland and Spain. The Guardian

3. UK growth to be worst in G20 apart from Russia. Economic growth in the UK will be the worst in the G20 apart from Russia, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has forecast. The Paris-based organisation said the effects of high inflation and a further round of tax increases will be the main factors in the UK’s expected weak economic activity. OECD said the UK was unique because it was simultaneously facing high inflation, rising interest rates and increasing taxes. Financial Times

4. EU approves binding gender quotas. Gender equality will no longer be optional across corporate Europe, as the EU passed mandatory quotas to create more evenly balanced boardrooms. It means 40% of non-executive board seats will have to be filled by the "underrepresented sex" – meaning women in practice – in every listed company across the EU from mid-2026. At the moment only France, which already had a 40% quota for women in place, does better than the new minimal requirement. The target will be legally binding, with countries given the power to hand out fines and block boardroom picks if they ignore the law. Bloomberg

5. ‘Summer of discontent’ looming. A union leader warned of a “summer of discontent” after train drivers voted to join the biggest rail strikes in a generation. After a strike by 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, set for June 21, 23 and 25, was announced, two other unions have joined the fray: Aslef, representing drivers, and the Transport and Salaried Staffs’ Association, of non-driving staff. Strikes elsewhere across British infrastructure are being considered, including by members of the GMB and Unite unions working for British Airways at Heathrow. The Times

6. Public still ‘prefers Johnson to Starmer’. Keir Starmer would be a worse choice for prime minister than Boris Johnson, according the to a new poll. The study shows that the PM has a two-point lead over his opponent, despite Partygate, the cost of living crisis and the confidence vote in Johnson held by his own MPs. While 28% think Johnson would make the best prime minister, 26% opted for Starmer. Labour’s lead over the Tories has also narrowed to two points, compared with a three-point lead in the last poll a fortnight ago. The Guardian

7. PPE worth £4bn to be burned. Protective clothing worth billions of pounds bought early in the pandemic to stop NHS staff being infected is to be burned because it is unusable, a report has revealed. The Commons public accounts committee found that the Department of Health and Social Care has £4bn of PPE in storage that cannot be used by frontline workers because it is substandard. Labour leader, Angela Rayner, said “this absolutely damning report exposes the shameful and toxic waste of Boris Johnson’s Conservatives”. BBC

8. Record long Covid cases. Two million adults in the UK, or 3.1% of the population, have long Covid, the latest research from the Office for National Statistics has suggested. The figure - the highest so far - includes 376,000 people who’ve had symptoms for at least two years. The estimates were based on a survey involving nearly 300,000 responses that was conducted over four weeks in April. Fatigue was the most common symptom, followed by shortness of breath, a cough and muscle ache. Long Covid symptoms adversely affected the routine activities of 71% of respondents, with one in five saying that their ability to go about their day-to-day life had been “limited a lot”. The Independent

9. Coffee does bring you to life. Coffee drinkers, rejoice! You can stop feeling guilty about your caffeine compulsion, at least for today. A new study in The Annals of Internal Medicine says coffee drinkers have a 30% lower mortality risk than those who don't drink coffee. How did they come to this conclusion? Over a span of seven years, more than 170,000 people aged 37 to 73 were observed, and a larger number of non-coffee drinkers died within that time period compared to their coffee-drinking counterparts. Of course, as is the case with most studies, there are caveats: One medical professor highlights this is an "observational study" and does not prove coffee alone helps lower risk of dying. Other factors like diet and exercise were also likely at play. Moderation is key, and the "benefits of coffee tapered off" after 4.5 cups a day. The data was inconclusive for those who prefer coffee with artificial sweeteners. The Telegraph

10. The bottom line. More than 100 members of the House of Lords attended Parliament fewer than ten times in the last session. The Times