workers

the trauma of thousands of underpaid workers in developing countries

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He data labeling It is a necessary step so that learning models can understand them and thus learn. It’s the ScaleAI business, Alexandr Wang’s company recently valued at $29 billion. However, not everyone involved in data labeling enjoys this status. Much of this work is carried out by workers in poor countries, poorly paid and involves very unpleasant tasks. what’s happening. The advancement of artificial intelligence requires an enormous amount of data labeling. They count in AFP that this work is usually done by workers who reside in impoverished countries such as Kenya, Colombia or India. In addition to being very poorly paid, the job often requires them to review very unpleasant images. For example, for an AI to write an autopsy report, taggers must view hundreds of images of real crimes. The work. It consists of reviewing and labeling files, most often images. It does not require a degree, just knowing how to use a computer and demonstrating that you can think analytically. The ease of access means that many people in vulnerable situations turn to this type of work. The problem is that, to get a decent salary, they have to work long hours, up to 16 hours a day in some casesand also many times the content they must label is violent and extreme. AI moderators. It is a situation similar to the one that moderators of different platforms have been denouncing for years. We recently talked about the lawsuit that a former Chaturbate moderator had imposed on the company. There are other cases like that of Facebook moderators in Barcelona who denounced the company due to the psychological trauma that filtering all that content caused them. Invisible. The data labeling market generated 3.8 billion dollars in 2024 and is expected to grow to 17 billion in the next five years. However, those who make it possible work in very poor conditions. A Colombian worker tells AFP that data taggers are “like ghosts. No one knows we exist even though we are contributing to the technological progress of society.” Better conditions. There was no legislation in Kenya, but data taggers have been organized to achieve regulation and have better working conditions. They denounce the lack of psychological support they receive and demand formal employment contracts, a fair salary that reflects their work and the fundamental right to rest. This mobilization seeks to guarantee a more dignified work environment and protect the rights of these essential workers in the artificial intelligence industry. The platforms. The most mentioned is Remotasks, a subsidiary of Scale AI that has been the subject of protests in countries such as Kenya, Venezuela and the Philippines for defaults and problematic practices. The company defends himself and ensures that they offer “fair and competitive remuneration.” Last year closed its doors in Kenya after workers complained publicly. There are more like the Australian Appen or Sama, a subcontractor of companies like Meta and OpenAI that was sued in Kenya due to poor working conditions and also ceased its activity. The human cost. There is growing concern about the environmental impact of artificial intelligence, that requires large amounts of energy to run, especially due to the training and operation of complex models. However, there is not only an energy and natural resource cost, but also a significant human cost that seems to be going more unnoticed. Image | Christina Morillo, Pexels In Xataka | There are 60 countries that have signed an agreement for “open”, “inclusive” and “safe” AI. And two that don’t: the US and the United Kingdom

The BOE confirms that in 2026 workers’ payrolls will be cut by up to 95 euros for a good reason: pensions

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As of January 1, 2026, millions of workers in Spain you will see how your payroll It drops a little compared to December 2025. The reason, an increase in one of the withholdings that are applied to the payrolls of all workers aimed at guaranteeing the viability of the benefits of future pensioners. This adjustment, provided for in the Royal Decree-Law 2/2023 It can reach up to 95 euros per year for those with high salaries, although for the majority of workers it will barely exceed 43 euros per year. What is the MEI? Just like explain from BBVA, the MEI, or Intergenerational Equity Mechanism, is a withholding that is applied to working people on their payrolls and that serves to reinforce the Social Security Reserve Fund (popularly known as the “pension piggy bank”). As with other withholdings and contributions, part of the MEI falls on the company and another part on the worker. The objective of this retention is to compensate for the effects of demographic aging of the workforce and ensure that today’s younger generations, with a smaller population than Baby Boomers and Generation the full weight of pensions of the next 25 years. How is it calculated? This withholding is calculated as a percentage of the total salary base for which each person contributes and it is expected that this percentage will increase annually until 2029 and then stabilize. In 2026, this percentage will go from 0.80% of the salary base to 0.9%. Of this amount, the worker will assume 0.15% in 2026, and the company will pay 0.75% (to complete the total 0.90% planned for this year). Year Company Worker Total 2023 0.50% 0.10% 0.60% 2024 0.58% 0.12% 0.70% 2025 0.67% 0.13% 0.80% 2026 0.75% 0.15% 0.90% 2027 0.83% 0.17% 1.00% 2028 0.92% 0.18% 1.10% 2029 to 2050 1.00% 0.20% 1.20% And how much money does that mean? As the final amount depends on the contribution base of each worker, the MEI does not retain a fixed amount for everyone. By 2026, the maximum contribution base will be 63,180 euros per year. Therefore, for those who have a gross salary of 5,265 euros per month (in 12 payments), about 94.77 euros per year will be deducted from that maximum base. That is, about 7.89 euros per month. According to consolidated data from the ‘Salary Structure Survey’ of 2023, the most common gross salary in Spain is around 15,574 euros per year. This means that for workers with a gross monthly salary of 1,297 euros (in 12 payments), the 0.15% that is withheld from each employee as MEI would mean 1.94 euros on each payroll, adding up to a total of 23.34 euros per year. How much will it increase each year? The change in the MEI withholding will be applied automatically and has been increasing since its implementation in 2023, the year in which a withholding of 0.10% for workers and 0.50% for companies began to be applied, with a total of 0.60% on the contribution base. The objective is to reach 1.20% in 2029, divided into 1% retention for the company and 0.20% for workers. Once this objective is reached, withholdings will be frozen at that percentage until 2050. Pay more without receiving more. Unlike other withholdings that are applied to payrolls, the MEI percentage does not generate additional rights on the amount of the retirement pension, as would happen if the contribution base is increasedFor example. That is to say, this withholding does not have a direct effect on the pension, but rather is intended to make the pension system more solvent and viable for a longer time even if there is more retirees than active contributors. According to data of the Ministry of Inclusion and Social Security, in 2023 the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism contributed 3,437 million euros to the Social Security Reserve Fund, while in 2024 it was 3,799 million. The record increase in the number of Social Security contributors registered in 2025 means that the forecasts for contributions to the pension fund for this concept will increase to 4,623 million euros, leaving a total balance in this fund close to 14,000 million euros. In Xataka | Working beyond 67 years: Germany has broken its pension system and it is an advance for Europe Image | Unsplash (wjpzlvr), Pexels (Dany Kurniawan)

neighborhoods and whole blocks that are not for families, are for workers

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The idea that a company builds homes to attract or retain labor was promoted In the nineteenth centurywhen industrial paternalism promoted creation of whole neighborhoods Linked to factories, mines or siderurgies. All followed the same logic: guaranteeing accommodation, basic services and even a lifestyle for a captive template, often in areas where there was no previous infrastructure. What changes now is the context. It is no longer about so much business paternalism or “utopian” projects of social order. It is about responding to the real estate and demographic crisis. Retain labor. Yes, in Europe, the housing problem has become a direct obstacle to economic activity. In Brittany, the company Fenêtréa decided act After verifying that each available rent attracted hundreds of applications and that many candidates rejected positions due to lack of ceiling. Its director, Dominique Lamballe, launched the construction of the Horizon Brocelia Lot: 41 houses with garage, raised in Beignon, which can be bought or rented with priority for employees. The investment of more than seven million euros It seeks to guarantee the growth of a company that increases dozens of workers every year and prepares a new aluminum plant. In a rural region without adequate transport, the next accommodation becomes a survival condition for the company. The Spanish mirror: tourism. Spain offers even more visible examples, especially in tourist areas where the boom in the holiday rental has reduced the long -term to minimum offer. Meliá has been forced To buy a hostel In Menorca and to acquire land in Ibiza, Mallorca and the Canary Islands to create homes for their staff, after they stay employees in hotel rooms to avoid casualties. Spring Hotels has bought two unfinished buildings in Tenerife to transform them into 107 homes that It will lease staff and controls at subsidized prices, between 200 and 400 euros. Barceló and Gloria Thalasso They join To the search for solutions, aware that the lack of housing threatens the tourist model itself. The phenomenon reflects how, in the Balearic Islands or the Canary Islands, above all, hoteliers have gone from being pointed out as part of the problem to be forced to assume a role of residential promoters. Hotel zone in southern Gran Canaria The Irish case. In Ireland, the housing crisis has reached such magnitude that private companies have opted for Acquire block housing. Ryanair He bought 40 houses Next to the Dublin airport to allocate them to their crew, aware that without an insured roof there would be no way to recruit new staff. The measure raised criticism for absorbing part of the low new work, but its CEO defended That without her there would be no template. Other companies such as Musgrave, Supermacs or Killarney Hotels too They offer dozens of floors For subsidized rent. The unions denounce that salaries, well below the escalation of rentals, make it impossible to attract employees if accommodation is not included. The lack of public investment after 2008 left a void that now tries to cover private companies, often As a last resort. Central Europe and a road. The Czech Republic explores a different model, backed by the European Investment Bank and česká Spořitelna, which finances a 700 apartments project destined for public workers in the capital. With a budget of almost 190 million euros and energy efficiency criteria, seeks to guarantee affordable housing for teachers, nurses, police or officials who cannot assume market prices in a saturated city. The project, inspired by previous initiatives of Austria, is the first of this type in the country and intends to serve as a prototype For all central Europewhere the lack of housing threatens the provision of basic services. At the same time, it reinforces the idea that the problem has transcended the social and already impacts the functioning of the State itself. A shared symptom: living conditions work. Beyond specific cases, the phenomenon is already structural. In London, average rentals exceed 2,100 pounds And they have almost impossible for teachers, police and health personnel to live in the capital, which generates recruitment crisis in essential sectors. The disappearance of residential parks for officials He worsened the shortage. In Amsterdam and Dublin, young graduates jobs decline Checking that their salaries do not cover the rent. Even in medium cities like Rennes or Vigo, the rise of tourist rental Reduce the offer For residents and strength to companies to improvise solutions. Housing, traditionally seen as a social problem, has become a central variable for economic competitiveness. Riotinto Company workshop The precedents of the 19th century. We said it at the beginning, the decision that companies build houses for their employees inevitably remembers the workers’ colonies of The industrial revolution. In Catalonia, on the shores of Llobregat and the TER, they flourished Textile colonies that included homes, schools, chapels and economics under the control of the pattern. In Huelva, the Company River He lifted complete neighborhoods for his miners, such as Colonia Reina Victoria. Examples emerged in the United Kingdom As Port Sunlight from Lever Brothers or Bournville of the Cadbury, where the factory organized not only the work, but the social and cultural life of families. In France, The “Cité Ouvrière” De Mulhouse came to host thousands of workers. Those initiatives had a marked paternalistic dye: to ensure stable labor in isolated environments and, at the same time, discipline the working class under the umbrella of the company. Utopian and ordoliberal projects. In transit to the twentieth century projects with more ambitious aspirations appeared, since The garden cities from Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom to the workers promoted by large industries in Germany, influenced by Ordoliberalism. One was sought hygienic urbanismwith luminous housing, cultural and sports services, for altarii workers, chemical plants or car factories. Although presented as modernizers, they maintained the Structural dependence: The home was still linked to the company or the State. The difference with today is that New promotions They do not intend discipline to the population, but to respond to A real … Read more

Accenture does not want employees who do not know how to adapt to AI. That is why they will replace 11,000 workers with people who do know

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The Accenture Technology Consultant has announced a radical transformation of its template. In the last three months, the company has fired about 11,000 people from its ranks, a round of mass layoffs that will also combine with massive hiring rounds for a single reason: adaptation to AI. And is that according to They point From Accenture, those employees who fail to recycle in AI will have to leave the company. Change of strategy. “We are dispensing within a compressed period of people for whom recycling is not a viable way,” explained Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture, at a conference with analysts. The consultant has reduced her global workforce in more than 11,000 people in the last three months, from 791,000 employees to 779,000. The business optimization program will cost 865 million dollars, mainly in compensation. They are not just cuts. While they dispense with workers who cannot adapt, Accenture plans Increase your template Total in the next fiscal year in markets such as the United States and Europe. The company has doubled its number of professionals specialized in AI and data since 2023, from 40,000 to 77,000. Besides, They assure Having trained more than 550,000 employees in the foundations of the generative AI. “Our number one strategy is training”, assured Sweet, although also acknowledged that ‘the rhythm demanded by this new transformation does not allow everyone to wait’. Figures. Accenture billed 69.7 billion dollars in the last fiscal year, a growth of 7% that the company attributes directly to the mass demand of its clients to implement AI in its organizations. The generative AI projects represented 5.1 billion dollars in new hiring, compared to the 3,000 million of the previous year. “Our early investment in AI is paying off,” Sweet explained in the middle CNBC. Adaptation. Although Accenture presents AI as an expansion engine, the reality of the sector is more complex. The consultant foresee that income growth slows up to between 2% and 5% in this fiscal year. The demand for short -term consulting projects has been weak for two years, and the cuts in the spending of the US federal government, which represents 8% of its income, complicate the forecasts. Accenture actions They fell 2.7% after the ad, reaching its lowest level since November 2020. Mass layoffs in Big Tech. Accenture’s movement is not unknown. And is that great technology They have been replacing employees for some time traditional by specialists in AI. Microsoft has cut thousands of positions This year, but his CEO Satya Nadella confirmed In July that the total template remains “relatively unchanged” thanks to new hiring. Goal He fired 5% of his staff At the beginning of the year, although he later filled many of those positions with specialists in AI during the summer. Nor do all companies seem to be right in that balance, since Klarna, After breastfeeding their plans from AIhas reallocated engineering and marketing employees to customer service, as revealed by the Business Insider medium. What comes now. Accenture wait Save more than $ 1 billion with this restructuring, money that promises to reinvest in your business and workforce. “Each CEO and Board of Directors recognize that advanced AI is critical for the future. The challenge now is that most companies are not yet prepared for AI,” pointed out Sweet Cover image | Roberto Fiadone In Xataka | Bill Gates had a tendency to procrastination until he found an infallible remedy: Japanese companies

Spain, at the head in Europe in workers with stress or depression and we have the culprit: work

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In recent years, Spain has established itself as one of the European countries where they relate more workers Mental health problems with employmentstanding among the five countries With higher stress ratesdepression and anxiety linked to the work context, according to the latest survey OSH click 2025 that elaborates the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). The data places Spain among countries with worse indicators In psychological well -being work related, only surpassed by Greece, Finland, Cyprus and Poland. In Spain, work with too much stress. The survey reveals that 40% of Spanish employees interviewed by the European Agency for Labor Safety and Health, pointed to their job as main reason for stressanxiety or depression. This percentage of stressed employees leaves Spain only behind Greece (49%), Finland (45%), Cyprus and Poland (both with 41%) and well above the European average located at 29%. In addition to stress, employees point out Other symptoms and pathologies which also frequently relate to the workplace. 45% indicate generalized fatigue related to work, 42% report headaches or tired view and 37% identify muscle pains or bones caused by their work activity, figures equally higher than the average recorded by the EU. Companies look the other way. The European report links this increase in work stress to the low implementation of preventive measures by Spanish companies. While 44% of employees in the European Union claim to be exposed to time or Work overloadin Spain this figure amounts to 49%. In addition, Spain is one of the countries where you least consult the templates on psychosocial risks, standing at 34% of employees who affirm that the companies where they work take into account their indications on mental illnesses, compared to 45% of the European average, and far from countries with best practices such as Germany, where 65% of respondents affirm that in their companies they have been consulted. In Spain we are not very psychologist. An important point that highlights the survey is that, in Spain, the culture of Mental health assistance to social level, much less at work level. A good barometer of this is that the psychological advice in the work environment is still very limited in Spain, where only 28% of the people surveyed say they have this resource in their company, compared to 40% on average in the European Union. Finland is headed in this regard, reaching 78% of companies that offer mental health advice and assistance for their employees. This deficit in access to psychological support from the company itself contributes to enching the impact of mental health problems on the templates, as the report points out ‘WHO guidelines on mental health at work ‘ Posted by the World Health Organization (WHO). An obstacle to professional careers. As a consequence of the lack of culture of psychological well -being in Spain that the European report indicated, the belief that reveal a mental health problem It will involve a social and professional stigma that will negatively affect the development of the professional career. However, that feeling, although on different scale, is common to all EU countries. That fear of stigma makes 48% of European employees say that revealing that they suffer a mentally affecting a problem of their professional career. In Spain, this percentage rises to 54%. The study indicates that this fear is especially high among younger employees or those who occupy precarious jobs, still increasing their vulnerability in the labor market. More stress, lower medical. According to the AXA 2025 Mental Health Studythe disabilities related to mental health problems have climbed into among the diseases with greater affectation since 2016 in the Spanish work environment. Taa and as stood out The countryPandemia marked a turning point In temporal disabilities due to psychological and psychiatric problems, with a 72% increase in casualties. This has put on the table the need for Review prevention strategies and support for mental health within companies, an aspect where Spain still shows important deficiencies regarding the European environment. In Xataka | Only one in four Spaniards has rested on vacation. The culprits: job anxiety and inability to disconnect Image | UNSAPLASH (Vasilis caravitis)

Ford had 20,000 workers in the Colonia factory. Ten years later they are 7,600 because their electric cars are not bought

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Three years ago, Ford presented its short and medium -term road map for Europe. Then they announced seven new completely electric modelsof which they were commercial vehicles. Of the other three, only one was a Ford. And, in fact, it has ended up becoming the electric variant of a combustion car. We talk about Ford Pumaan electric car in which they have had to juggle to put an electric motor train. A car limited to the city because platform restrictions Combustion barely leave space for a 43 kWh battery. With its more than 34,000 euros of departure, it has become a difficult car taking into account that it moves on the highway between 200 and the 250 real kilometers of autonomy. The other two, as we said, are not Ford cars. The Ford Explorer and Ford Capri They are electric cars mounted on the Volkswagen platform. In both cases we have stressed that, dynamically, cars have a slightly more interesting tuning than that of the Germans, with more hard suspensions and a slightly more direct direction. However, if you mount one and another it is easy to verify that both models are mounted on the Volkswagen MEB platform. That is disguised with the vertical displaceable screen in depth and a speaker arranged as if it were a sound bar. But that’s it. The interface of a good part of the menus is Purely Volkswagen And, specifically, it is evident that it is a hardware and software mounted on the MEB platform. And that is bad news. For your touch controls or for your usability decisions. And they are also bad news for Ford. So much that it will fire a thousand German employees because their electric cars are not buying. The results of a failed strategy A thousand employees. That is the number that Ford will say goodbye to its neighborhood plant (Germany). They argue that “in Europe, the demand for electric cars is still well below the forecasts of the sector” and that, therefore, the plant will pass to a single shift in 2026, reducing its productive capacity, in words collected by Motorpasion. They explain in the middle that so far this year, Ford has sold 19,000 Ford Explorer units and Capri is still below. In fact, you have to go down to the fourteenth place between best -selling electric cars in Europe in the first half of the year to find the Americans. Cupra, Byd or Peugeot were above them. We could talk about bad results but Ford invested 1,000 million euros in Colonia to modernize the plant and get its electric cars out of there. With a productive capacity of 250,000 vehicles per year, the factory works at half a gas. Nor is it a good time to receive this news since The company is losing money this year and suffering with American tariffs. So much so that last year he earned 1.8 billion dollars and this year plays in red numbers. The result is also the consequence of a risky strategy: to offer two clearly differentiated products. In October 2024, Jim Farley, his CEO, said that the company was “leaving the market of boring cars to enter the market of iconic cars” to the magazine Car. The statements They coincided over time with the abandonment of classic vehicles in the European market such as party, Mondeo or Focus. And it continued: “We are good making a quick car (about Ford and the bronco sub -jack) and authentic SUVs. Look at the Raptor, we brought it from Mexican competitions and turned it into a car that can be used in the street. It is a great example of where I think our passenger cars should go (…) We can face Porsche with the Mustang, it is the best -selling sports coupe in the world. and be stronger and stronger “ In those words, Ford’s strategy was hidden. European emission regulations They aimed at 2025 of Milmillonarias fines. Finally, the sanctions were delayed to 2027 but, if applied, Ford needs to sell many more electric and few cars like the ones Farley mentioned since they exceed the maximum proposed emissions of 93 gr/km of CO2. The answer was the hug to the Volkswagen MEB platform. This has been criticized harshly by critics and the public. In their eagerness to reduce costs, decisions have been made as a profusion of tactile controls They bother in place of adding. And cars have not highlighted precisely for good autonomy or a groundbreaking price. But, in return, Ford has obtained two electric cars in the market with a minimum investment. The risk is almost limited to the modernization of the colony plant. So, There are two clearly differentiated business lines In Ford: Cheap cars (developed on the work of others) and expensive and representative cars that do not even refer to Ford. It is no accident that the Mustang, Bronco or Raptor have lost the Ford logo on their front. They are, in themselves, as families that work almost independently. The problem is that the public has not bought Ford’s bet. The Ford Explorer or Capri are not bad electric cars but you have to assume the youth errors of the MEB platform paid, in addition, at a high price. In what we have been, in Spain, 649 units have been bought between the sum of these two models. 649 units of the almost 21,000 registrations that Ford is registered at the end of August. The damage is especially bleeding in more powerful markets. In Germany, Volkswagen has managed to overcome with the ID.3a car that seemed dead but is the best selling in the electricity market. He is followed ID.7which also uses the MEB platform. The Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 They are positioned in the fourth position (add up to the same bag because ID.5 is only the Coupé variant of ID.4). You have to go down to the twelfth position to find the Ford Explorer. Capri is not among … Read more

We knew that North Korea has been infiltrating workers in companies in the West. Now we know how they do

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North Korea has been infiltrating teleworkors with false identities in United States companies. After that country became more hostile, the actor’s attention turned to Europe. According to the FBI, the Department of Justice and Googlewhat these employees pursue is to get income to finance the North Korea Nuclear Program. He modus operandi It was a great unknown. Until now. A framework without any improvisation. A cybersecurity researcher who responds to the name of Sttyk It was made with a database that has shown the environment Wired. The files include, according to Sttyk, “dozens of data gigabytes” and “thousands of emails.” From this information an organized workers’ structure is extracted in twelve groups, which in turn have approximately other twelve members. They respond to a general “master boss.” Organization in spreadsheets. The group works using the Slack communication tool, Google, Github and spreadsheets accounts. In the latter, an exhaustive follow -up of the works and the progress of the objectives, both economic and strategic, is made. They even collect the needs of specific jobs (required programming languages) of the companies to attack and their locations, with a record of whether there have been contact with the companies or progress of the process. How they get work. A few days ago, the BBC collected Jin-Su’s testimonya false North Korean teleworking that managed to defect. He said that most of the time of his work focused on acquiring fraudulent identities to request work. He went through Chinese, but aware that he needed Western identities, more attractive to the labor market, he got identities of people from Hungary, Türkiye or the United Kingdom. From there, the most involved workers in the process of getting work are the ones who most dominate English, although the fact that communications with technology companies are done by platforms such as Slack helps a lot. Also that many interviews are not made face to face, although that can be reversed with the proliferation of interviews made with artificial intelligence. Researchers have found identical curriculum among the suspects of being false workers. What jobs do they point to. We knew that false teleworkors were looking for employment in technology companies. The filtration is confirmed and limited to the areas: artificial intelligence, blockchain, Bots development, web development and mobile apps and desktop, CMS development, etc. The question of income. Jin-Su said that several works between the United States and Europe, earned about $ 5,000 per month. From what I entered, I had to pay 85% to North Korea, and even so, he said “it is much better than when we were in North Korea.” According to a United Nations report in March 2024, workers manage to generate between 250 and 600 million euros per year for their country of origin. The money they retain has a lot of value when they return to their country (many work from Russia or China, where they have more freedom), so the reasons for dropout lose weight. In parallel to this group of teleworkors operate the hackers that They steal cryptocurrencies To pass at the hands of the regime. Only in a blow in March this year they got 1,500 million, but in December 2024 they accumulated Other 1.3 billion in 47 blows. Working conditions that scare. The filtration presents a scenario that, although better than the one in North Korea, is nothing flattering for the workers involved in the plot. According to a Slack recording, the boss’s account stated in a message that “everyone should work more than at least 14 hours a day.” Although it sounds a lot, it does not perform from the model of some Silicon Valley companies or of the Elon Musk vision and its 120 hours per week. Images | Kremlin and Altumcode in Unspash In Xataka | Now we know everything that the new North Korea resort offers for 2,000 dollars. There is only one rule: be Russian

The Chinese industry has been pulling the prices of solar panels for years. Now 30% of its workers are on the street

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Chinese solar panel manufacturers achieved a crushing domain of the industry with a relentless recipe: mass production, constant improvements and increasingly low prices. Now that they have left out European and American competitors, The whole world depends on its technology. However, this apparent success story hides an internal crisis with serious consequences: a INSUSTANIBLE PRICE WARmillionaire losses and the silent dismissal of tens of thousands of workers. An unprecedented overproduction. Between 2020 and 2023, the Chinese government redirected huge resources of the real estate sector, then in decline, towards what it called the “three new growth industries”: solar panels, electric cars and batteries. This bet unleashed a fever of new factories and Colossal dimensions solar parks. The result was an unprecedented overproduction. According to Reutersthe world now produces twice as much solar panels it needs, most manufactured in China. This market saturation caused a collapse of prices to the point that many companies They started selling below their costs To give out to the stock, a situation that has been aggravated by the war of tariffs with the United States. The Chinese solar industry lost the amazing figure of 60,000 million dollars last year. The human invoice. The least known consequence of this crisis, despite the fact that companies They asked the government for a rescueIt has been a drastic reduction of personnel. The financial reports of the five largest photovoltaic companies in China (Longi Green Energy, Trina Solar, Jinko Solar, Ja Solar and Tongwei) reveal a 31% reduction of their templates, which means that they left 87,000 employees on the street. This figure is a mixture of direct layoffs and non -renovations due to salary or hours cuts. Diseases are a politically very sensitive issue in China, where employment is seen as the key to social stability. Therefore, none of the big companies have officially announced these massive template reductions. With the exception of Longi, who recognized a 5% cut of the template. Beijing tries to stop the bleeding. The main producers created an entity similar to OPEC to control prices and offer, But it didn’t go well. Before the disaster, the Chinese government took action on the matter. In early July, President Xi Jinping asked for the end of the price war. In addition, a fund of 7,000 million dollars was created to buy and close about a third of the lower quality solar panels in the industry. Is it enough? According to a Jefferies analysis, it would be necessary to eliminate at least one 20-30% capacity manufacturing for companies to be profitable again. However, many Chinese provincial governments, evaluated for their ability to create employment and economic growth, are reluctant to apply drastic cuts that affect their local companies. Image | Jinko Solar In Xataka | Neither in Taiwan, nor in China: the plan to manufacture the purest semiconductors in the world is to go to space

Italian workers have entered anger through Stellantis’s investments. Those who have taken Morocco, specifically

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Stellantis will invest in Morocco. A lot (very much) money. And that will have consequences in your investments in Europe. Especially in Italy where they aspired to see an approach of the company after the departure of Carlos Tavares. Now workers and politicians see how they will continue to vain in favor of North Africa. 1.2 billion. That is the Investment announced by Stellantis For Morocco. 1.2 billion euros that will be distributed in the country to expand the productive capacity of its plant in Kenitra, Morocco, to 535,000 cars per year. That means putting the country’s factory At the height of Vigo’sone of the company’s historical (before PSA). In recent years, Stellantis investments in Morocco have been constant. In fact, the company He began his journey on Moroccan soil in 2019 And in 2020 I was manufacturing just over 200,000 units. In 2030, the forecast is to exceed those more than half a million vehicles produced. Cheap. Stellantis’s intention has been, so far, of factories cheap options for the local market and its expansion by Europe. With the new agreement, the company has also announced that will manufacture hybrid engines in Africaa way to lower its offer of electrified vehicles. Later the known as Smart Car will arrive. This motorist production and three -wheel vehicles will be added to the current production of light grids. The company produces in Morocco Citroën Ami either Fiat Topolino. The latter were reason for controversy to include a flag of Italy which prevented its sale in the country Transalpino because the use of it is limited to products manufactured within its borders. A constant fight. This was just another episode of the open war between Stellantis and Italy. The automobile group It has Italian companies that historically they have had a great weight in the country: Fiat or Alfa Romeo, but also Lancia, Maserati or Abarth, who was born as the sports division of the first of them. Despite this, Stellantis has leaving aside the production of cars in the country. In recent years their layoffs have been famous in Italy and in 2024 the trend was confirmed: 70 years ago that Italian brands in possession of Stellantis did not produce so few cars in the country. The reasons are varied but are distributed between high productive costs and the way to get into the European emission rules. An effort that the company based on fuelmake more electrified And even Pausar Those who were not despite being the best selling. Finally, the automobile industry paws fines until 2027 with a last minute agreement. Italian anger. The departure of Carlos Tavares seemed to give a respite to Italian workers. Or at least, the decision to put Antonio Filosa (Italian) at the head of the company was seen as an approach to a country that had gone from having Fiat as one of its flags Let’s see how your plants They entered the auction to produce Chinese cars. Stellantis’s movement to invest more money in Morocco to the detriment of cars that could have been manufactured in Italy has raised Polvareda in the country. The toughest have been the members of the Government. In Panorama They point out that these have described the Moroccan investment as “absurd”, emphasizing that “for decades, the company has lived the money delivered by the Italian public coffers.” Of course, in the middle they qualify the “predictable” reaction. Also Carlo Cardone, from Azione, He has claimed John Elkannpresident of Stellantis, who complies with The Italian plan That the company put on the table and of which, they point out, no results have been seen, qualifying the movement of “the nth mockery” towards the country by Stellantis. And, at the same time, Samuele Lodi, spokesman for the FIOM union, stressed that investments From Stellantis in Italy they are freezing, they point to the inactivity of the government and emphasize that the situation (with the company) the situation has not changed, but has worsened. “And it emphasizes:” It is the confirmation that they look the other way. “ Smart Car. The harsh statements from Italy take strength after knowing that Stellantis’s investment will imply giving work to 3,000 employees and that it is estimated that the economic impact in the region can exceed 6,000 million euros, taking into account the component supply network from which they have to use. All this will be necessary to build the already mentioned light quadricycles, new three -wheeled electric vehicles and their most affordable hybrid options in the market such as the Fiat Grande Panda or the Citroën C3 whose low price must be decisive for face Chinese competition. Morocco takes strength. All these plans strengthen the Moroccan position as an African car. To Stellantis’s plans we must add the production that Renault has in the country But, above all, the steps that are taking place in the country to position yourself as an alternative attractive to produce electric cars. Morocco is in a key position. Its proximity to Europe allows a distribution that does not more expensive. At the same time, its commercial agreements with the European Union make it a cheap alternative to the south of them but without the economic barriers that it implies, for example, to bring cars from China. In fact, The Asian country itself is promoting investments In Morocco to try to turn the country into a bridge to Europe. Photo | Stellantis and Jack Walker In Xataka | The straps in oil completely sank Stellantis’s reputation. But it wasn’t the only

Ryanair workers have a good reason for passing passengers with too big suitcases: collect more

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When we approach the shipping doors, it is quite common that part of the airline team is responsible for looking sideways at passengers to see if We comply with the regulations of luggage and we do not carry excessively large bags in the cabin. In addition to because it is part of their work, Ryanair employees also have another motivation behind: collect more. The airline pay your employees 1.50 euros For each suitcase that detects that it does not meet the rules, a practice that the company’s own CEO itself, Michael O’Leary, not only defends, but even considers expanding. Why this happens. The Irish airline has confirmed that this economic incentive pays for its staff for catching passengers that carry luggage that exceeds the allowed dimensions. Those who catch can fall a sanction of up to 75 euros for billing it in the cellar. O’Leary justifies This policy as a way to “eliminate the scourge of passengers with excessive luggage.” The numbers that explain the business. Each employee can win up to 80 euros per month for this practice. Although it should be said that, according to the company, more than 99.9% of travelers comply with luggage standards. It should be said that the difference between what Ryanair pays to its employees for detecting a suitcase and what charges the passenger for sanction (up to 75 euros) is a considerable margin that contributes in part to the spectacular results that the airline has had. And is that Up to 820 million euros in the last quarter, shooting their shares 4.7% in the stock market after exceeding all forecasts. The growth of 7% in auxiliary income, where these luggage penalties are included, has been key next to the 21% rise in average rates up to 51 euros per ticket. Ryanair is not the only one. This practice makes employees at the boarding door also act as a kind of luggage guards. It is not for less, since if in addition to making passengers to comply with the regulations, they take a pinch, better than better. Todo esto teniendo en cuenta además que Ryanair anunció que would expand the dimensions of the permitted suitcases in cabin. Although the truth is that the practice is not exclusive to Ryanair: other airlines like Easyjet have also implemented similar schemes Through subcontracted companies such as Swissport, which pays 1.20 pounds for each pillada suitcase. The workers, who usually charge around 12 pounds per hour according to The Guardian, also face tense situations with passengers, since no one makes it funny to have to pay more just when you are going to ride on the plane. The context of the sector. Ryanair is now in a sweet moment, especially knowing that it has become the main airline in Spain by passengers with a growth of 20.6% this last quarter and maintains this country as its second most important market after Italy, with income of 772 million euros. The European Parliament Press so that airlines allow luggage in cabin and hand for free, but O’Leary predict that this proposal “will not prosper due to the lack of space in the airplanes.” According to its latest financial report, the airline operates with virtually 94% occupation flights, where approximately half of the passengers can carry two packages and the other half only one. And now what. Ryanair does not rule out increasing the incentives paid to its employees for detecting excess bulk, although O’Leary expects detections to decrease in the coming years as passengers adapt better to the standards. Meanwhile, the airline benefits from a European market with a limited capacity until 2030. “We will be at least five years old, until 2030, with the constrained offer,” Neil Sorahan accountfinancial director of the airline. This allows them to keep high rates and strict policies. For travelers, this means that we will have to take special care in the boarding gates, especially to comply with the regulations and not take an unpleasant surprise later. Cover image | Niels Baars and Anastasiia Nelen In Xataka | Ryanair’s new competition does not come from any European airline: it comes from India and has an ambitious plan

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