Twenty-one thousand jobs. One government tracker. Two banks that forgot their own RTO policy. Hot enough for you?

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This fortnight's Paper Cut covers four stories that connect in ways nobody is saying out loud. AI is reshaping the workforce faster than governance can follow. RTO mandates are cracking under the weight of their own inconsistency. Employee surveillance is expanding without legal frameworks to match. And California became the first US state to formally track what AI is doing to employment in real time.

We cover the structural pressure on the consultancy model and what PwC's 2026 AI Jobs Barometer says about the two-speed labour market. We look at the Wharton research on why RTO mandates are rarely about productivity, and what Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan revealed about their own policies by making a World Cup exception. We break down what AI is doing to senior talent across every career stage, from Gen Z graduates to experienced baby boomers. And we examine why less than 5% of companies are achieving transformational outcomes from AI, while burnout and unsanctioned tool use are both rising.

Plus The Cut List: Oracle, Lucid Motors, Shopee, Diageo, Lazada, Bungie, and the broader Singapore and Australia workforce picture.

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