AGP Executive Report

Engineering Regulation & Skills: Malaysia is moving proposed amendments to the Registration of Engineers Act 1967 to strengthen the Board of Engineers Malaysia’s regulatory and enforcement powers, with a parallel push to boost TVET for a more job-ready workforce. Workforce Inclusion: Indonesia is targeting 100,000 people with disabilities for job readiness through government-backed vocational training and skills modules, emphasizing competence over “pity.” HR Tech & Hiring: Jobsdb by SEEK held its HR Conference 2026 in Hong Kong for nearly 500 HR leaders, focusing on AI-driven talent matching and a new “Personalised Targeting” feature. AI Governance for HR: The EU AI Act’s latest enforcement phase raises immediate transparency and AI literacy expectations for employers, even as some employment-related obligations are deferred to 2027. Global Mobility & Payroll Complexity: A $50mn funding round for BIPO spotlights the growing HR challenge of managing payroll and compliance across distributed teams. Health Workforce Training: AIIMS Delhi launched a customised retina training programme to tackle specialist shortages by training more than 100 ophthalmologists over three years. Evolving Workplace Expectations: A report on US hiring in Europe highlights structural differences like notice periods that can derail recruitment plans mid-process.

Leadership & HR Appointments: Georgia Tech names Karin Elliott interim vice president and chief HR officer, starting Sept. 1, to keep HR services steady during a leadership transition. Workforce & Pay Transparency: A Reddit debate spotlights a hiring friction point: recruiters asking candidates for current CTC before interviews, with job seekers pushing back and sharing outcomes. AI & the Future of Work: KPMG research finds only 46% of people globally are willing to trust AI systems, raising a new HR leadership challenge around “algorithmic trust.” Global HR Tech: WasabiCard launches a global payroll solution aimed at easing cross-border payment headaches for distributed teams. Local Governance & Public Sector HR: Piqua, Ohio, narrows its city manager search to two finalists, with a public meet-and-greet set for Aug. 28. Education Access & HR Impacts: Morocco’s education union protests proposed fees for civil servants pursuing public higher education, arguing it undermines equal access. Employment & Localization: Saudi Arabia’s HADAF reports hiring 329,000 Saudis in H1 2026, up 23% year-on-year. Employer Branding: Forbes’ Best-In-State Employers 2026 spotlights five Baton Rouge organizations, including FMOL, for workplace culture and advancement.

Teacher Retention Crisis: Arizona public schools are losing teachers at twice the national rate, with pay lag, burnout and personal reasons driving exits—while districts that improve retention focus on transparent pay, useful prep and mentorship, and stronger teacher voice. Employer Hiring Freeze: In the UK, CIPD data shows firms stuck in “low-hire, low-fire” mode after employer National Insurance changes, with only 62% planning to recruit and retail hit hardest. AI Literacy Becomes HR Compliance: Ireland’s AI Office has opened and EU AI Act rules now make AI literacy a live requirement—raising the stakes for HR teams using AI in hiring and discipline. Workforce Localization Push: Saudi Arabia will require 70% Saudization for private-sector project management roles from Feb. 14, 2027, targeting manager, engineer and specialist occupations. People-First Health Workforce: Kenya’s Health Summit 2026 spotlights whether reforms can deliver better access and workforce outcomes, with health workforce and accountability on the agenda. Disability & Inclusion in Practice: Zanzibar launches a 3-year AI and cybersecurity capacity program for public servants and citizens, emphasizing skills as the missing ingredient for safer digital government.

Workplace & HR Risk: A former ABC News field producer filed a wrongful termination lawsuit alleging inappropriate sexualized comments by Matt Gutman, plus claims of discrimination, hostile work environment harassment and retaliation after she sought mental-health accommodations. Labor & Compliance: Pakistan’s goods transporters paused a nine-day wheel-jam strike for 40 days after government talks, aiming to address axle-load rules, customs changes and fuel-price daily determinations. Workforce Policy: Saudi Arabia will require 70% Saudization for private-sector project management roles from Feb. 14, 2027, with a published procedural guide for compliance. Education & People Management: Rider University remains on Middle States probation over finances after layoffs, benefit cuts and property sales, as a recent accreditation visit highlighted ongoing staffing strain. Digital HR/Systems: Kuwait Airways signed a KD 5.8m ERP contract to unify HR, procurement, inventory and reporting across its operations. Inclusive Hiring: Qatar Chamber reaffirmed support for disability inclusion in the labor market, stressing training, accessibility and ongoing HR readiness. AI & Careers: Stanford research says early-career women in AI-exposed entry roles see slower employment growth than men, pointing to concentration in routine cognitive work.

Teacher retention pressure: Arizona public schools are losing teachers at about twice the national rate, with over 14% leaving after 2024-25, driven by pay gaps, burnout and personal reasons—while districts that improve pay transparency, mentorship and voice are trying to buck the trend. Inclusive employment governance: Qatar’s National Bank of Bahrain has expanded its Equal Opportunities Committee to strengthen inclusion across hiring, women’s empowerment, youth development, accessibility, training and workplace experience. Workplace safety via skills: The UK’s RoSPA warns that OSH skills shortages could undermine safer, healthier workplaces, urging better recruitment, training pathways and retention as risks evolve with AI and an ageing workforce. Disability inclusion in labour markets: Qatar Chamber reiterates its push to empower people with disabilities beyond hiring—covering training, rehabilitation, accessibility and ongoing HR support ahead of the 2028 Global Disability Summit. Education pipeline for hospitality talent: Vatel Bahrain keeps applications open until Sept 12 for 2026–27 bachelor’s and its 18-month MBA, with HR-focused curricula aimed at senior roles in tourism and hospitality. Equal opportunity in practice: NBB’s committee will also monitor representation and career barriers, aligning internal governance with national and international equality priorities. Recruitment and compliance scrutiny: A Pakistan commentary flags concerns that NAFSA technical hiring may be routed through Pakistan Single Window, arguing credibility and scientific integrity in HR systems will decide whether reforms succeed.

Enterprise AI & HR risk: China’s courts ruled that AI-driven automation isn’t an automatic legal reason to fire workers, pushing employers to meet redundancy standards and justify pay cuts. Workforce inclusion: Bahrain’s National Bank of Bahrain expanded its Equal Opportunities Committee to cover women’s empowerment, youth development, wellbeing and career barriers. Public sector HR modernization: A government report says 92% of public sector modernization targets were completed in the first half of 2026, with more digital services and citizen-experience measurement. Future of work & travel: The bleisure boom is reshaping work arrangements and travel as a talent strategy, not just a perk. HR in healthcare: Bangladesh’s PM urged rebuilding trust between doctors and patients, linking service quality to skilled human resources and governance. Disability employment: Qatar Chamber reaffirmed support for persons with disabilities through training, accessibility and ongoing workplace support. Global HR policy: Singapore’s Marriage and Parenthood Reset workgroup flagged childcare costs, housing and workplace culture, calling for “good HR” and employer-employee balance. Workplace conduct: The MBTA will pay nearly $500K to settle a chief communications officer case tied to a 2024 incident, with leadership emphasizing a fair workplace.

Equal Opportunity Governance: National Bank of Bahrain has set up a new Equal Opportunities Committee to strengthen inclusion and accessibility, with a mandate covering women’s empowerment, youth development, wellbeing, work-life balance, and monitoring representation and career barriers. HR Leadership Expansion: SHRM is deepening its Sri Lanka footprint by appointing Oshana Dias as Country Lead, supported by SHRM’s consulting team, to expand access to certifications and HR consulting. AI and Workforce Design: A FICCI-BCG report says Indian banks must redesign operating models for agentic AI—moving beyond digitising workflows so employees can focus on higher-value decisions. Hiring Tech and Talent Fit: Brix argues hiring bottlenecks come from lost business context between managers, HR, and tools, not from a lack of candidates. Workplace Rights and Pay: A WASA wage impasse has triggered PSA pressure for the acting HR director’s removal, after stalled proposals and blocked negotiations. Labor Action in Healthcare: Glasgow health visitor team leaders in Scotland have issued notice for short strike action/work-to-rule over alleged failure to follow agreed job evaluation processes. Compliance and Training: Malaysia’s LHDN opened registration for a Budget 2027 taxation seminar (online), with HRD Corp-registered employers able to claim training costs. Global Mobility Policy: UAE outlined three categories eligible for a Green Residence Permit without a sponsor—investors, skilled workers, and self-employed foreigners.

Workplace & HR Policy: University of Utah will move staff to at least three in-office days a week by Jan. 1, with supervisors deciding which roles stay remote and staggered schedules needed for space. AI & Hiring: Info-Tech Research Group says agentic AI prototypes stall when teams lack production discipline, pushing for guardrails and stronger evaluation before scaling. Software Sector: Workday shares jumped nearly 18% after reports of potential buyout talks with Silver Lake, boosting confidence in enterprise HR and finance software despite AI disruption fears. Training & Skills: Malaysia’s Inland Revenue Board opened registration for a National Taxation Seminar (Budget 2027) with two Zoom sessions and notes HRD Corp training-cost claims for registered employers. Health Workforce Funding: Maryland awarded $80M under its Rural Health Transformation program to expand primary care access, emphasizing partnerships and tech-enabled integrated care. Hospitality Talent Gap: India’s hospitality industry faces a 55–60% skilled manpower shortfall, with new training approaches highlighted as hotels keep expanding. Employer Branding: Forbes named 90 New Jersey organizations among the state’s top employers, with Google ranking No. 1. Internships: Mariners Landing and Liberty University launched a hospitality internship program for students, offering 50–200 hours of supervised experience.

Enterprise AI Partnerships: IBM and OpenAI struck a strategic deal to help large firms deploy secure enterprise AI across core operations, with a dedicated OpenAI Practice and thousands of consultants planned for certifications. Talent Pipelines: Big employers are teaming with colleges to build “industry-ready” AI talent via shared labs, course design, and hands-on projects. Workforce Mobility: India and Japan discussed tailored support for talent mobility, aiming to move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches to meet sector shortages. Public Sector HR/Governance: South Africa’s RAF inquiry draft flags staff purges, long-vacant senior roles, and governance failures tied to major claims liability understatements. Labour Relations: A union in Trinidad and Tobago says WASA wage talks are stalled and blames HR for not advancing cost proposals. Hiring & Inclusion: India’s AISATS will hire widows and dependents of deceased armed forces personnel for airport roles, starting with a first batch at Delhi. Education as HR Strategy: Indonesia’s president expanded school renovations nationwide, targeting completion by 2029, including pesantren schools. Safety & Compliance: A court case on collapsed ship stowage hooks highlights employers’ non-delegable duty to manage visible workplace hazards. Gig Work Reform: Malaysia’s Gig Workers Act took effect in April 2026, adding injury insurance, dispute mechanisms, and a consultative council for minimum earnings.

Workforce Shortages: A Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities survey found 94% of northern municipalities struggle to attract qualified staff, with senior management, public works and finance hardest hit. Workplace Safety Liability: A court split responsibility for a stowage-hook collapse, assigning 80% to the shipowner and 20% to the employer for failing to flag an overloaded area—reinforcing that employers can’t wash their hands of safe systems. Enterprise AI & HR: IBM and OpenAI expanded their partnership to embed models like GPT-5.6 into IBM Consulting Advantage, targeting workflow modernization and cybersecurity across functions including HR. Youth & Skills Pipelines: Kuwait Petroleum backed youth dialogue on International Youth Day, while Cambodia’s labour minister urged scholarship recipients heading to South Korea to return with advanced AI and engineering skills. HR Recognition: Brandon Hall Group named winners of its 2026 HCM Excellence Awards, spotlighting measurable human capital impact. Local HR Impacts: A small Maine newspaper, The Ellsworth American, laid off staff, citing staffing and expense sustainability.

Workforce Policy & Costing: The UK government’s proposed ban on zero-hour contracts faces pushback after analysis suggests it could cost employers up to £3bn a year, even as ministers argue it will improve income security for workers. AI at Work: A new HR-focused approach is emerging to manage AI use in performance reviews, with companies moving from “AI leaderboards” toward coaching-style grading of AI fluency. HR Risk & Compliance: Prediction markets raise fresh workplace risks when employees use insider knowledge for personal profit, putting HR teams on alert for confidential-information handling. Youth Talent Pipeline: UAE Islamic bank DIB launched its first Youth Council to give young employees a structured voice with senior leadership over two years. Workplace Inclusion: Menopause support is still missing men from the conversation, with experts urging employers to bring managers and male colleagues into training. Global Skills & Health Workforce: Nigeria’s Academy of Medical Sciences calls for urgent action on healthcare worker shortages and high maternal mortality. Security & Staff Data: Scotland’s prosecution service says hundreds of staff may have had personal details accessed in a cyberattack, raising serious HR privacy and safety concerns.

AI & Pay Communication: Research from Korn Ferry finds only 16% of employers are confident managers can explain AI-driven pay and reward changes, raising trust risks when compensation decisions lack clear talking points. Cybersecurity & HR Continuity: Suisun City, California, kept City Hall and HR services closed through at least Friday after a cyber attack shut down its IT network, with recovery efforts mindful of staff burnout. Data Privacy for Franchise HR Ops: Wizardline Technologies won EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and UK certification, expanding its PULSE Data support for Domino’s franchise operators and the HR/payroll partner ecosystem. Workforce Policy Pressure (UK): Labour’s proposed ban on zero-hours contracts could cost British businesses up to £2.9bn a year, with major impacts in hospitality, health and social care, and the arts. Structured Hiring Tools: Textio added value programming to Lavalier, letting teams measure candidates’ values and competencies directly from structured interview responses. Global Talent & Skills: Vietnam plans to train 10,000 AI professionals by 2030, while the Philippines’ IT-BPM sector leans on global capability centers to protect higher-value jobs. Health Workforce & Access: A U.S. bill (HR 8804) targets Medicare home health fraud and aims to protect reimbursement for legitimate providers amid workforce shortages. HR Leadership Moves: HashtagOrange appointed Arundhatii Grover Jain as DGM for People & Culture, focusing on workforce strategy and employee experience.

Workforce pressure in ANZ: A new “Cost of Not Living” report says 36% of employees feel less engaged from financial stress, with 61% (Australia) and 64% (New Zealand) reporting performance changes—HR leaders are now dealing with pay, retention and day-to-day employee experience at the same time. Health and HR risk: Research links early-life sugar restriction to lower dementia risk, while another study ties midlife smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure to fewer dementia-free years—useful context for employers thinking about long-term wellbeing. Public-sector HR planning: Liberia’s Civil Service Agency trained HR directors from 109 spending entities on FY2027 manpower planning and budgeting, stressing staffing decisions tied to institutional needs and fiscal reality. Inclusive development enforcement: Liberia’s President Boakai put ministries on notice to accelerate the ARREST Agenda, warning officials could face removal over delays and weak reporting. Rehabilitation-to-work pipeline: Indonesia’s Manpower Ministry will train and help place people after drug rehabilitation, aiming for decent jobs without discrimination. AI skills at national scale: Vietnam approved a programme to train and upskill AI talent—targeting 10 million workers with basic AI skills by 2030 and building a larger expert pipeline. HR in practice—payroll modernization: Invercargill City Council went live with TechnologyOne HR and Payroll for about 550 employees, moving from separate systems to an integrated platform. Hiring market signal: South Korea’s entry-level job postings rose 13% in the first half, led by cosmetics, banking/finance, semiconductors and pharma.

TVET & Skills Pipeline: Malaysia’s D’Tandoor and UNITAR launched a culinary education programme aimed at aligning training with labour-market needs, with the HR minister stressing tighter industry–school cooperation. Digital Skills for Government: Kuwait’s CAIT ran a workshop to review Google Cloud and Microsoft partnership projects, focusing on training and capacity-building under the national digital skills roadmap. AI Governance & Accountability: AI Governance World Conference 2026 in Las Vegas added major governance experts and authors, including leaders from OpenAI and other firms, as the event spotlights AI readiness and oversight. Healthcare Workforce Gap: CHG Healthcare acquired KREWE Anesthesia to expand CRNA staffing and managed anesthesia services amid a growing shortage. Workplace Relations: SSM Health asked the NLRB to revisit a nurses’ union election certification at St. Mary’s, citing fairness issues ahead of the next review. Leadership Moves: NBC News named Tammy Fine vice president of talent development, while Regions Financial reshuffled executives as Dave Keenan nears retirement. Hiring Support for Veterans: JBLM will host the Hiring Our Heroes career summit with workshops and a hiring fair for military families. AI in Compliance: Avalara discussed how agentic AI for tax compliance is constrained by the need for “penny-perfect” accuracy. Recruitment Ethics: A viral “tattoo for an interview” tactic is drawing HR pushback for undermining belonging and strategic hiring.

Workforce Planning in Public Sector: Malaysia’s public service urged a shift from headcount-first thinking to capability-based talent management as it prepares for future roles. HR Cybersecurity: India’s tech firms face claims of leaked employee-related data, highlighting how old HR information can outlive systems and controls. Employee Pay Pressure: A Dayton Daily News Payroll Project found surging overtime costs in Ohio local governments, with some workers topping $100,000 in overtime. Job Loss Support: Malaysia’s HR ministry will back 541 Panasonic employees facing retrenchment with income protection, job matching and reskilling. Global Talent Mobility: Pakistan and Japan signed a $2.2m grant to expand scholarships and training for Pakistani civil servants in Japan. Skills & Hiring Signals: South Korea’s young hires most often hold top grades of a national computer proficiency certification, underscoring demand for practical data-handling skills. HR Leadership Appointments: Gulf Bank named Hamed Al-Tamimi as CHRO to strengthen national talent pipelines. Workplace Policy & Trust: A Norfolk council report shows many staff and members seek permission to work abroad, raising questions about oversight and expectations. Employee Experience Tech Scrutiny: A new look at employee appreciation platforms questions whether digital recognition is genuinely meaningful or just more notifications.

Workforce Discrimination: NHS staff report racism at a five-year high, with 9.26% of workers saying they faced discrimination from patients or the public in 2025, pushing unions to demand action. Job Loss Support: Malaysia’s HR ministry (KESUMA) is stepping in for 541 Panasonic employees facing retrenchment, using income protection, job matching and skills training via Perkeso and labour offices. HR Policy & Rights: Bangladesh’s cabinet cleared drafts including a National Human Rights Commission Act (with a chair and four commissioners, prioritising ethnic and disadvantaged groups) alongside bank resolution and visa policy updates. Hiring Tech & AI Workflows: Upwork launched an MCP server to let AI tools create job posts and shortlist freelancers directly on the platform, aiming to blend agents and people. Employer Branding: National Bank of Kuwait was named LinkedIn’s top employer in Kuwait and banking for 2025, highlighting employee development and wellbeing. Workplace Equity Recognition: Sarasota Memorial Health Care System earned Forbes’ top employer for women in Florida, citing pay equity, culture and leadership representation. Restructuring Watch: Bloomberg reports Imperial Brands plans to cut thousands of jobs in the U.S. and Europe, with first-phase reductions hitting HR, finance, procurement and supply chain.