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	<title>Rest of World - Labor</title>
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	<link>https://restofworld.org</link>
	<description>Reporting Global Tech Stories</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 10:01:16 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<copyright>Copyright 2026 Rest of World</copyright>
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		<title>The quiet layoffs sweeping China’s tech giants</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/china-tech-layoffs-alibaba-baidu-ai-pivot/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kinling Lo</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/china-tech-layoffs-alibaba-baidu-ai-pivot/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Alibaba reduced its head count by a third in 2025, while Baidu’s workforce declined nearly 7%. “There’s constant churn,” a Chinese tech worker said.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[Chinese tech giants are quietly shrinking their workforce — echoing a pattern playing out in Silicon Valley. In 2025, e-commerce major Alibaba reduced its head count by 34% as it...]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Bangladesh&#8217;s gig workers are stuck in gas lines as Iran-U.S. war strains fuel supply</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/gulf-war-oil-supply/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jesmin Papri</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/gulf-war-oil-supply/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The country gets 95% of its fuel from abroad.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[On a recent Saturday evening, a line of motorcycles stretched from a gas station in Dhaka. The queue snaked along the road for kilometers, its end out of sight. In...]]></content:encoded>
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	<media:credit>Sony Ramani/NurPhoto/Getty Images</media:credit>
	<media:description>Motorcycles and private cars line up for hours at a filling station in the Tejgaon Trust area of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on [Month Day, Year], as motorists attempt to purchase limited fuel supplies. Despite government assurances of a stable supply, many fuel stations remain closed for extended periods due to insufficient deliveries from depots, resulting in long queues and public inconvenience. (Photo by Sony Ramani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)</media:description>
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		<title>In the Gulf, GPS jamming leaves delivery drivers navigating blind</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/gps-disruption-gulf-gig-workers/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Divsha Bhat</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/gps-disruption-gulf-gig-workers/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The war has led to mass GPS-jamming,  forcing drivers to rely on memory, landmarks, and phone calls.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[As war raged across the Persian Gulf in the first week of March, delivery driver Saeed Ahmed continued making deliveries in Dubai. Navigating down Al Asayel street, the 32-year-old driver...]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Workers around the world are not getting what they want from AI</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/workers-ai-jobs-concerns/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adrian Brown</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/workers-ai-jobs-concerns/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A survey of workers in 60 countries found that a majority of those facing the threat of AI-driven job loss do not trust companies or governments to manage the transition fairly. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[Rarely has so much been written about the future of work — and so little asked of the people living it. Last year, Indian software services firm Tata Consultancy Services...]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>“It feels like Squid Game”: China’s workers scramble to keep up in the AI race</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kinling Lo</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-anxiety-openclaw-jobs-redundancy/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Employees are rushing to learn new tools as layoffs and automation fuel widespread AI anxiety.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[Earlier this month, nearly a thousand people lined up outside Tencent’s headquarters in Shenzhen to get a piece of software installed on their devices. The crowd — which included students,...]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>The Gulf war is reshaping how Asia works</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/asia-remote-work-gulf-war-energy-crisis-lpg/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:52:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ananya Bhattacharya</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/asia-remote-work-gulf-war-energy-crisis-lpg/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The global oil crisis triggered by the U.S.-Iran war is making Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Pakistan, and India get conservative with energy.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[The U.S.-Iran conflict is beginning to reshape how people work across Asia. On March 10, Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade urged employers to allow remote work where possible to...]]></content:encoded>
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	<media:credit>Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images</media:credit>
	<media:description>Signs reading 'out of stock' at a gas station amid rising petrol prices in Manila, Philippines on March 9, 2026. </media:description>
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		<title>Silicon Valley can’t import talent like before. So it’s exporting jobs</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/h1b-visa-impact-india-tech-hiring-faamng/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 09:09:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ananya Bhattacharya</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/h1b-visa-impact-india-tech-hiring-faamng/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and other U.S. tech giants are ramping up India hiring.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[If tech talent can’t come to the U.S., American companies will go where the talent is. Hiring by Meta, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, and Google has risen sharply in India...]]></content:encoded>
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	<media:credit>Rest of World/Shutterstock</media:credit>
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	<item>
		<title>What it takes to get an H-1B visa in Trump&#8217;s America</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/get-h-1b-visa-trump-america/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 08:00:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ananya Bhattacharya</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/get-h-1b-visa-trump-america/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An immigration lawyer explains the behind-the-scenes challenges of getting the coveted U.S. visa in 2026.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[The U.S. will open registrations for the highly sought-after H-1B visa in about a month. Each year, the visa category receives over five times as many applications as the number...]]></content:encoded>
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	<media:credit>Rest of World/iStock</media:credit>
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		<title>Death of an Indian tech worker</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/india-tech-workers-crisis-suicide/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Parth MN</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/india-tech-workers-crisis-suicide/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A wave of suicides and widespread AI-fueled layoffs reveal a workforce under extreme pressure.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[On a warm night last May, Nikhil Somwanshi sent his roommate a WhatsApp message asking him to tell his family that what was about to happen next was an accident....]]></content:encoded>
		<media:content medium="image" url="https://restofworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/sized_India_IT_Deaths_DSC4011-768x432.jpg" width="768" height="432" />
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	<media:credit>Sameer Raichur for Rest of World</media:credit>
	<media:description>Nikhil Somwanshi's parents home on 30th October, 2025 in Balad, Maharashtra, India. Photographer : Sameer Raichur for Rest of World</media:description>
		</item>
	<item>
		<title>What will tech jobs look like in 2026?</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/tech-jobs-2026-ai-layoffs-hybrid-work/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2026 08:17:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Itika Sharma Punit</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/tech-jobs-2026-ai-layoffs-hybrid-work/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here’s a roundup of research and predictions for tech workers amid the AI revolution.
]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[The tech job market in 2026 is being built on contradictions. Companies are laying off staff, insisting artificial intelligence will “do more with less” — yet they haven’t found ways...]]></content:encoded>
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	<media:credit>Munira Mutaher/Rest of World</media:credit>
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		<title>Data workers are being forced to work on-site during earthquakes and typhoons</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/philippines-disasters-bpo-workers/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Anita Zhang</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/philippines-disasters-bpo-workers/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the Philippines, BPO and AI workers say companies require them to report in person during disasters, citing client demands and safety compliance. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[Kyle Enero, a call-center employee, was at work one night on the 11th floor of an office tower in the Philippine city of Cebu, when the building began to shake...]]></content:encoded>
		<media:content medium="image" url="https://restofworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/GettyImages-2162586249-scaled-e1768417354537-768x432.jpg" width="768" height="432" />
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	<media:credit>Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images</media:credit>
	<media:description>TOPSHOT - People walk along a flooded street in Manila on July 24, 2024 amid heavy rains brought by Typhoon Gaemi. Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on July 24, triggering flooding in Manila and landslides in mountainous regions as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the seasonal monsoon. (Photo by Jam Sta Rosa / AFP) (Photo by JAM STA ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)</media:description>
		</item>
	<item>
		<title>In Chinese data factories, workers teach humanoid robots boring tasks</title>
		<link>https://restofworld.org/2026/china-robots-training-centers-workers/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=feeds</link>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Viola Zhou and Kinling Lo</dc:creator>
		<guid>https://restofworld.org/2026/china-robots-training-centers-workers/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Local governments are building training centers to address a shortage of robotic data, as China makes embodied intelligence a national priority. 
]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[Inside a brightly lit office in Shanghai, Kim’s task for the week was to pretend he was opening the door of a microwave. Wearing a virtual reality headset and exoskeletons...]]></content:encoded>
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	<media:credit>Zhejiang Daily Press Group/ Getty Images</media:credit>
	<media:description>Humanoid robots follow technicians to learn job skills at the data collection area of an embodied AI robot innovation center on September 14, 2025 in Shaoxing, of China. </media:description>
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