Independent audit receives mixed reception outside the State

Reactions across the cluster were mixed following the release of an independent audit into the recent workplace reforms in the Caldari State.

Claiming to have seen the results of the reforms better than any others outside the State, the Khanid Kingdom and Amarr Empire both offered their support of the changes. Carthum Conglomerate spokesperson Maktina Obasa said the corporation had benefitted from the flow-on effects of success inside the State. Partly owned by the Caldari mega corporation Lai Dai, Ms Obasa said that Carthum stood to profit from the improved efficiency of its partner corporation.

Khanid Innovations Chief Researcher Ohulainen Pesabato was similarly impressed. "The many reforms encouraging scientific innovation and development are to be applauded," she said. "We were greatly pleased to see the Caldari State continuing to build upon the strength of its scientific community. As always, we look forward to further collaboration and the building of beneficial friendships between their scientists and ours."

Meanwhile back inside State borders, Protectorate Director Suvasemi Aikinen was busy defending the reforms from Minmatar and Gallente detractors, whose most repeated claim was that the corporate elite were as corrupt as ever. Standing in for an ill COO Janus Bravour as he answered the press, Mr Aikinen shot back in emphatic refusal of their claims.

"I'm aware of the statements and find them utterly ridiculous. From day one we've been meeting this challenge head on. We began by immediately redistributing assets to those who truly earned them and have followed this up by granting increased oversight of the mega corporations through the Caldari Business Tribunal. Corporate executives and those in upper management are more accountable and under more scrutiny than ever before ... in line with their subordinates."

When asked why these reforms and others had been left out of the report, Mr Aikinen said it was due to them being "notoriously difficult to measure," adding that the Federation "knew this all too well and...evidently preferred political point scoring to substantive debate."

Despite the brief appearance of Protectorate Directors Bravour and Aikinen, official comments on the report from the State have been largely relegated to lower-level officials. Mr Aikinen explained the move, claiming that "those involved directly in daily operations of corporations were some of the best placed to understand and elaborate" on the reforms and how they benefitted workers.