Lewis Silkin study shows nearly 80 per cent of employers are unable to look beyond a year ahead, with the Employment Rights Bill creating additional challenges

Political uncertainty and regulatory ambiguity are stopping businesses from doing the long-term planning their employees need, a new study has shown.

Close to 80% of employers are struggling to plan beyond a year ahead, the survey of almost 700 organisations by law firm Lewis Silkin has shown.

Lucy Lewis, partner and chair at Lewis Silkin, said: “Economic pressures, and political and regulatory change narrow the planning window even further… reactive tactics which mean that transformation programmes or workforce redesign get sidelined.”

One in four UK organisations cited preparing for and adhering to the Employment Rights Bill as a principal challenge, with the sweeping changes to workers’ protections set to impose costs on businesses.

The contentious Bill received final approval to become legislation in December after prolonged debates in the House of Lords regarding ‘day one’ entitlements, as reported by City AM.

As the Act becomes embedded in law, Tarun Tawakley, partner at Lewis Silkin, noted: “Over the next 12–24 months, expect cautious hiring, legally anchored policy-setting and a premium on disciplined execution.”

As well as those pressures, escalating employment costs have emerged as a key factor pushing British firms towards short-term, reactive strategies. The uptick in employer national insurance contributions (NIC) alongside a 4.1% increase in the national living wage has generated considerable recruitment challenges.

Smaller businesses face particular pressures from taxation, employer contributions and the cumulative administrative burden of compliance.

With the majority of these businesses expecting their organisations to invest more heavily in technology than people over the coming year, the survey highlighted the anticipated cultural implications.

Nearly half (49 per cent) of organisations anticipate cultural resistance, including fears about job losses or mistrust of AI outputs, which could hinder the adoption of new technologies.

Lisa Farthing, head of worksphere and HR consultancy at Lewis Silkin, said the upskilling challenge “is becoming more acute as employment law rights continue to expand and employees’ awareness of those rights grows, placing greater importance on effective training, coaching and people management.”

Disney’s long-running leadership drama is heating up again as activist investor Nelson Peltz accuses outgoing CEO Bob Iger of shaping the company’s succession plan to keep control behind the scenes.

The clash centers on Iger’s choice of theme parks chief Josh D’Amaro as his successor, a move Peltz claims is designed to justify Iger’s continued influence at the company.

In comments to The Wall Street Journal, Peltz said Iger favored D’Amaro over entertainment executive Dana Walden so he could stay involved after stepping down.

“Iger needs a reason to stay on,” Peltz said, arguing that choosing a parks executive over a Hollywood veteran creates space for Iger to remain a guiding force.

D’Amaro, 54, is set to take over as CEO next month, while Iger will stay on as a Disney director and senior adviser through the end of the year.

Walden, once seen by many as the top contender for the role, was instead named president and chief creative officer, a newly created position. The decision has raised questions about whether Disney’s leadership transition will truly mark a clean break or repeat past mistakes.

Peltz pointed to Disney’s troubled last succession as a warning. In early 2020, Iger handed the CEO job to Bob Chapek, another parks executive, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shook the company.

Iger remained as executive chairman, which led to overlapping authority and internal tension.

Disney Board Defends Succession

Chapek’s short tenure was marked by clashes with talent, employee unrest, political backlash in Florida, and growing losses in streaming. In November 2022, Disney’s board fired Chapek and brought Iger back as CEO.

According to Peltz, history could repeat itself. He predicted that Iger may later claim D’Amaro lacks movie business experience and step in again to “guide” the company. Disney has not commented on Peltz’s latest remarks.

The Disney board, however, has defended the new plan. Board chairman James Gorman said the succession process was handled carefully and unanimously approved.

He noted that D’Amaro has spent years on Iger’s operating committee and has worked closely with film leaders, including helping bring major franchises like Avatar into Disney’s parks.

Peltz has been a vocal critic of Disney for years. Through his hedge fund, Trian Fund Management, he built a large stake in the company in late 2022 and launched multiple proxy fights, arguing Disney lost focus and failed at leadership planning.

After losing a high-profile shareholder vote in April 2024, Peltz sold his entire Disney stake for a significant profit.

Originally published on vcpost.com

The Kospi index added 6.8%—a bigger snapback than last April’s rebound following President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff plans.

Leading the charge was index heavyweight Samsung Electronics, which surged more than 11%. Samsung is the world’s top memory-chip maker and a leading smartphone producer.

Tuesday marked Samsung’s biggest one-day gain since October 2008, as the global financial crisis roiled world markets.

A U.S. exchange-traded fund tracking Korean shares, the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY), gained about 4% in Tuesday morning trading.

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The paper shutters Sports desk, curbs local and international coverage. (0:15) AMD plunges despite earnings. (1:02) Bitcoin extends selloff as Michael Burry warns of a crypto death spiral. (2:15)

The following is an abridged transcript:

The Washington Post announced sweeping layoffs, cutting about one-third of its staff and gutting major parts of the newsroom as owner Jeff Bezos and his leadership team struggle for a path to profitability.

Staffers described the day as a “bloodbath,” and the moves signal a sharp narrowing of the Post’s ambitions as it looks to right the ship, with reports of steep losses — including an estimated $100M in 2024.

The paper is dismantling its Sports desk, closing the Books section, and suspending the daily Post Reports podcast. International coverage is also being scaled back, while the Metro desk — once the heartbeat of the paper in the Watergate era — is being heavily reduced.

The cuts come after weeks of internal concern, including public pleas from journalists urging Bezos to change course. And during the layoffs Zoom meeting, one reporter described the mood as “funereal.”

Among active stocks, AMD (AMD) is plunging despite beating on both the top and bottom lines.

J.P. Morgan analyst Harlan Sur said the big question is whether AMD can show real operating leverage — and until it does, the stock may stay under pressure, especially with potential margin risk as it ramps MI450/Helios later this year.

Eli Lilly (LLY) is bouncing back after topping Street forecasts with its Q4 results and 2026 outlook. Its GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound beat revenue expectations, with both up more than 100% from a year ago.

Uber (UBER) is lower after missing Wall Street’s lofty Q4 profit expectations, as a shift toward cheaper rides and higher insurance costs weighed on results. But the company also updated its autonomous vehicle plans, aiming to operate AVs in 15 cities by year-end.

AppLovin (APP) is sliding after AdExchanger reported on CloudX, a new AI-infused startup that could shake up the mobile advertising stack. The report said CloudX will use large language models to automate work typically done by engineers and ad ops teams.

And MGM Resorts (MGM) is rallying after BetMGM said 2025 was a record year, with net revenue reaching about $2.8B and adjusted EBITDA of $220M, driven by strong growth in both online sports betting and iGaming.

In today’s trading, bitcoin (BTC-USD) resumed its slide after a crypto selloff in the previous session that wiped out nearly $470B in market cap.

And “Big Short” investor Michael Burry warned the selloff could turn into a self-reinforcing “death spiral,” potentially causing lasting damage to companies that have spent the past year stockpiling bitcoin.

In a Substack post seen by Bloomberg, Burry argued that bitcoin has been revealed as largely speculative — failing to establish itself as a debasement hedge like precious metals.

“Sickening scenarios have now come within reach,” he wrote. If bitcoin falls another 10%, Strategy (MSTR) — the world’s largest corporate crypto treasury — could be billions in the red and “find capital markets essentially closed.” Further declines, he said, could push crypto miners toward bankruptcy.

And in other news of note, Claude is getting a little salty with ChatGPT.

Nearly three weeks after OpenAI (OPENAI) confirmed it would begin testing ads inside its near-ubiquitous chatbot, competitor Anthropic (ANTHRO) declares itself above the ad dollar.

Anthropic said: “We want Claude to act unambiguously in our users’ interests. So we’ve made a choice: Claude will remain ad-free.” The company added that users won’t see “sponsored” links next to their conversations, and Claude’s responses won’t be influenced by advertisers or include third-party product placements they didn’t ask for.

Anthropic didn’t mention ChatGPT or OpenAI by name, but the message is a pretty clear shot across the bow — and the debate over ad-supported AI is now echoing across the entire sector.

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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) announced Tuesday that it would be laying off newsroom employees along with other staff across the company, according to the outlet.

About 50 positions will be cut as part of the layoffs and roughly half are newsroom positions, according to the AJC, which is 15% of the paper’s total staff.

“We’ve made these difficult decisions because we believe they will best position us to continue to accelerate the AJC’s growth,” President and Publisher Andrew Morse said, according to the paper. “We have invested heavily in our editorial, product and business teams over the last three years, and we’ve seen direct results from that investment.”

The paper previously announced in August that it would be cutting jobs and scrapping its print edition starting in 2026, with the final issue scheduled for Dec. 31, 2025.

BROADCAST BIAS: MEDIA CIRCLE THE WAGONS TO PROTECT THEIR ANTI-TRUMP REPORTING

Copies of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are seen on a newspaper rack on Aug. 28, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Elijah Nouvelage / Getty Images)

“As we grow, we must be agile and ensure we are devoting resources where they will have the most impact for our audience,” Morse said. “While these changes are difficult on a personal level, they will best position the AJC to continue delivering journalism worth paying for.”

The decision to eliminate the print paper resulted in the “elimination of about 30 full- and part-time jobs involved in designing and distributing the newspaper” as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shifted to digital-only publishing.

Staffers were alerted on Tuesday that the AJC offices would be closed Wednesday, and it would be a remote workday.

ATLANTA NEWSPAPER STUNNED BY DEMOCRATS PICKING CHICAGO FOR 2024 NATIONAL CONVENTION: ‘SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOE’

 Print copies of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are seen on a newspaper rack inside a Kroger supermarket on Aug. 28, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Elijah Nouvelage / Getty Images)

Employees affected by the layoffs will be briefed in meetings on Wednesday and will receive severance packages, according to the paper.

Morse told the AJC that the paper’s owner, Cox Enterprises, believes the transformation to digital only will be beneficial in the long term.

“We are not taking our foot off the gas,” he said. “Cox remains deeply committed to the AJC, our team remains deeply committed to growth, and we will continue to invest in areas that are critical to the growth of our organization.”

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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published its last print edition on Dec. 31.  (iStock / Getty Images)

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Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.