Birthday cakes cut for these bankers, the hidden value of older workers, and more top news

The news professionals in Asia are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation on today's stories in the comments and share the Daily Rundown with your network.

Staff at some Indonesian banks will no longer enjoy birthday cakes, free coffee or even after-hours air conditioning as companies launch austerity drives. Firms have slashed budgets for entertaining clients and even limited drinking water for employees, as the industry faces a downturn. While 50,000 banking jobs have been cut globally this year, generous Indonesian laws make it costly to retrench staff, resulting in a different form of belt-tightening. ? Join the conversation.

Workers over 50 years should be seen as a "game-changing opportunity" rather than a burden for the economy, Singapore's Straits Times reports. Older workers have a strong capacity to leverage their experience and networks to gain new skills and solve complex problems, making them better entrepreneurs and innovators. The silver-haired can increase that "crystallised intelligence", as Oxford’s Sarah Harper calls it, by starting their own firms and learning new skills. Conversely, it may actually be the young and lower-skilled whose jobs are more at risk, she suggests. ? Join the conversation.

Japan's tourism economy has emerged a winner from hosting the Rugby World Cup. The event drew over 400,000 international visitors, with a Nikkei survey showing some spent more than double that of tourists' average spend last year. With train stations and hotels already adding English signs, Western tourists are feeling increasingly at ease in Japan, which will prove a boon for next year's Tokyo Olympics, travel news site The Skift reports. The economic impact delivered to Japan from the tournament amounted to some 437 billion yen (US$4 billion), organisers have said. ? Join the conversation. 

Describing yourself as “stressed” at work may actually be masking a whole different set of problems, the ABC says. Susan David, a Harvard Medical School psychologist, says that using the word typically masks something more specific. We may say we are stressed when we actually aren’t, she argues. Instead, we might be feeling “disappointed, unsupported, or worried." The best way to overcome this is to build an alliance and sense of trust with your reporting manager. Workers should be able to speak openly, "without fear of repercussion." ? Join the conversation.

Personality tests may have their flaws, but used properly they can benefit both the tester and the testee, according to BBC Worklife. Business coaches say that they "prompt self-awareness" and much-needed communication between colleagues. Yet, critics believe that many of the tests were created by authors with no formal psychology training and that they don’t make accurate predictions over employee behaviour. ? Join the conversation. 

Idea of the Day: It may be just as important to "unlearn" a skill, as it is to learn a new one, says author and speaker Bernard Marr. ? Join the conversation.

"What worked yesterday isn’t necessarily the best strategy for tomorrow, so openness to unlearning skills is also important."

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments, and hit “share” to tell your network what you think.

— Yunita Ong