The Irish Times letters page publishes a response to Brian Lube's thoughts on remote work earlier in the week. Rob Mac Giollarnáth (Co Kerry) elegantly counters that remote and hybrid working has given many workers "the flexibility to navigate the perilous waters relating to unaffordable rents/price of housing, lack of childcare places and severe deficiencies in transport infrastructure."

There's bad news for Amazon staff as the global consumption behemoth ratchets up efforts to "streamline bureaucracy" amid rising competition over artificial intelligence. Amazon has more than 6,000 staff in Ireland, with up to 325 now facing being laid off. The company aims to cut its global workforce by 16,000, and comes only a few months after the company announced it was excising 14,000 roles. Elsewhere it's reported that Microsoft and Meta continue to bet heavily on AI.

On the housing crisis, it's reported that construction has started on fewer than one in every two homes granted planning permissions as part of large residential developments over the past four years. Sticking with numbers, almost 500 company directors have faced sanctions over the last five years.

Meanwhile, the Leinster Express reports that prison officers joined with gardaí, members of the Defence Forces, and firefighters on Monday (26th) to demand that the Government resolve what they say is a pension "injustice" risking a lack of adequate financial support during retirement. The Secure Our Future campaign includes members of SIPTU, the GRA, AGSI, the Association of Garda Superintendents, the POA, PDFORRA, RACO and Fórsa.

Elsewhere, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been asked to examine claims made by a whistleblower regarding alleged governance and procurement issues at a Tusla facility in Cork City. 

Your Zen this morning is some Mozart, marking the boy genius' 270th birthday this week.

Have a great day. 

NS