On today’s show:

Walmart is lowering the starting salary for some new hires as part of its new wage structure strategy.
https://themessenger.com/business/walmart-slashes-starting-salary-for-some-new-hires

Nearly 1 million California workers are poised to win major salary increases following a summer of high-profile strikes in the entertainment and hospitality industries. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-12506255/California-fast-food-workers-20-minimum-wage-new-deal-labor-industry.html

Zoom’s return to the office shows the dangers of a muddled employer value proposition writes Stephanie Pryor in The Drum in which she explains why so many brands are messing up their internal communications with their workers. https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2023/09/12/zooms-return-the-office-shows-dangers-muddled-employer-value-proposition

In the UK, the average worker has £28,000 in stranded pension pots, according to new research from wealth manager Netwealth.
https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/news/average-uk-worker-has-28-000-in-unclaimed-pensions

Staying in the UK: Strike action could affect almost 3,000 schools and local authorities across England and Wales, after GMB union began balloting members for strike action over this year's pay offer.
https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/workforce/gmb-ballots-for-strikes-over-national-pay-offer-12-09-2023/

It will take 63 years for the UK’s median gender pay gap to close completely if the rate of progress up until now were to continue, according to business advisory firm BDO.
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/closing-the-gender-pay-gap-bdo-report/

Wages grew by 7.8% in the three months to July 2023, keeping pace with inflation for the first time in over a year despite a rise in unemployment and hiring slow-down, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/news/wages-outstrip-inflation-while-unemployment-grows

In 2018, the UK government held a consultation on whether ethnicity pay gap reporting should be mandatory.
https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/news/government-urged-to-back-mandatory-ethnicity-pay-reporting

Drivers on one of Europe’s biggest minicab networks will be able to choose whether to become a worker or remain self-employed in a breakthrough for modern-day working practices.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/ride-hailing-app-freenow-offers-091536543.html

One year after implementing a flexible work policy, Pinterest has a more distributed workforce and a wider pool for recruiting, according to an article in HR Dive.
https://www.hrdive.com/news/pinterest-flexible-work/692998/