Analyzes & Data

Candice Guillot, group director of employee experience and HR performance at Talan (7,000 employees), outlines for mind RH her vision and strategy for introducing artificial intelligence at the company. She explains how the use of AI enables the technology-driven transformation and innovation consulting firm to "maximise the efficiency" of its employees, make "more informed decisions" and "enhance" its performance.

On 17 July 2025, BPCE and its trade unions signed a second agreement on jobs and career management within the banking group. The text places generative artificial intelligence at the core of its skills strategy and introduces measures in anticipation of the forthcoming law on older workers. It also establishes dedicated social dialogue on the use of generative AI.

Italy’s labour market continues to suffer from limited pay transparency and a persistent gender pay gap. The forthcoming implementation of the EU pay transparency directive — still awaiting transposition — could help address these issues, provided it drives a genuine cultural shift.

Artificial intelligence recently caused plans to cut jobs in German companies. However, several studies point to its use being perceived as promising for productivity but slow to take hold in an uncertain economic climate. Furthermore, the dissemination of AI-related knowledge is currently only evident in large organisations.

In August, the Federal Association of the German Footwear and Leather Goods Industry (HDS/L) informed the IG-BCE trade union – for the construction, chemicals and energy sectors – that sportswear manufacturer Adidas was to change its membership of the employers' association. As of 1 September, it has switched from ordinary membership to membership without a collective agreement. Behind this decision, which has been described as a "spectacular move", lies the refusal to agree to several union demands, including that of a collective framework for the group's highest salaries.

Rising life expectancy and ageing populations are prompting more European countries to increase the retirement age in order to safeguard pension systems. Analysis by mind RH found that a third of the 31 countries surveyed have opted to link the retirement age to life expectancy, allowing regular adjustments as working lives lengthen. Between 2020 and 2024, the employment rate among 55- to 64-year-olds in the EU rose from 59%to more than 65% on average.

Between 2024 and the summer of 2025, La Poste Group (200,000 employees in France) created a programme for around 10 employees who were trained and then graduated in cybersecurity with the help of specialist company Sysdream. They benefited from a dedicated internal upskilling programme, the so-called 'marked routes’, designed as part of the group's social agreement. The project responds to a growing need for cybersecurity in a company undergoing rapid change due to its digitalisation.

On 8 July, Leem, the professional body for pharmaceutical companies in France, concluded its first sector-wide agreement with the CFE-CGC, CFTC, FO and Unsa unions on the integration and retention of older workers. Extending the scope of mandatory talks set out in the July 2025 law on the employment of experienced staff, the deal will take effect on 1 January 2026 for three years.

In January 2025, Belgian chemicals group Syensqo (formerly Solvay), which employs 13,000 staff, struck a deal with its European Works Council and Global Forum on the use of artificial intelligence. The agreement commits the company to carrying out HR risk assessments before introducing AI systems, to making the technology part of social dialogue at European level, to training staff and to limiting job losses linked to its rollout. Several months on, the company's HR director Hervé Tiberghien answered questions from mind RH about the implementation of the agreement, intended to allay fears.

A decade on from Angela Merkel's 'Wir schaffen das' ('we can do this') speech on 31 August 2015, in the face of a sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany, researchers and media outlets are conducting more studies on how well the migrants who arrived in Germany during that period have integrated into the labour market. The findings suggest integration is largely succeeding, despite a tougher economic and political climate.

In July, the UK parliament’s Committee on Human Rights delivered a stark warning: British firms are falling short in tackling forced labour within their supply chains. MPs and peers on the committee called for tougher laws, including mandatory due diligence requirements, to close the gap.

As of 1 July 2025, the average annual increase in the national minimum wage in the European Union is well above the rise of the cost of living. It stands at 6.4% for an annual inflation rate of 2.3% at the end of June. Only four European countries out of the 22 that have a minimum wage have implemented a second increase since the beginning of the year, including Greece, which crossed the threshold of €1,000 gross per month in April.