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Showing posts with the label Employment

London spearheads Europe’s largest infrastructure project

Flagged off in 2012, the London cross rail project aims to achieve better connectivity within the UK. Deemed to be Europe’s largest infrastructure overhaul, the project aims to increase railway capacity by 10%. The project is expected to come on stream in December 2018. It will have 10 new stops, create 55,000 full time jobs, increase employment of female engineers as well as reach out to young students through various Crossrail programs for engineers. Will the UK’s rail overhaul help to buffer the impact of Brexit? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/london-spearheads-europes-largest-infrastructure-project/

Germany: The Eurozone’s economic powerhouse

Germany is the fourth largest global economy today. Its exports amounted to EUR107 billion in March 2015 – an all-time high since the 1950’s. Despite being the only European nation with a strong manufacturing base and rising employment rate, will Germany succeed to drive Eurozone’s stagnant economy? And what lessons does Germany’s economic success hold for the rest of the world? Germany’s resurgence With the second lowest unemployment rate in the European Union (EU) at 5.3 per cent, Germany’s economy has survived many setbacks. The economic success dates back to the Industrial Revolution due to the early adoption of coal production and rail transportation. Moreover, the fall of the Berlin Wall – the reunification of West and East Germany – and the expansion of the EU created huge market opportunities for Germany. Often regarded as the ‘Sick man of Europe’, Germany had almost lost hope of returning to rapid economic growth, undergoing recessions in 2003 and a dismal 1.2 p...

Putting electronic waste to good use

A pilot micro-factory has found a way to extract valuable metals from mobile phone devices. Developed by Professor Veena Sahajwalla at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia, this project aims to create a mobile and small-scale e-waste recycling solution to be deployed within poor urban communities. 6,000 mobile phones contain at least 140 grams of palladium, 340 grams of gold, 3.5 kg of silver and 130 kg of copper. Micro-factories can be set up in containers in urban areas and waste can easily be transported to waste sites, eliminating expenditure on shipping or trucking e-waste for long distances. This creates sustainable employment in poor communities. Will e-waste disposal turn into a profitable business for poor communities? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/putting-electronic-waste-to-good-use/

Australia’s food and beverage industry looks upbeat

One out of every three manufacturing jobs in Australia is in the food and grocery sector, which directly employs around 300,000 people. The food and beverage market in Australia is climbing greater heights, buoyed by a growing population with an appetite for good food. Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Office of Spire Research and Consulting, highlighted the key opportunities in this sector during his presentation at the Sydney Franchise and Business Expo in August 2015. As the population of Australia is set to reach 23.5 million in 2014, the food and beverage industry looks upbeat. A major portion of the population is present in the cities, like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. The weekly average household spending per person on restaurant meals in these cities is AUD32 –a ripe market opportunity. Bahar opined that food industry growth is directly proportional to the number of food outlets. With 58,602 commercial outlets and 15,954 institutionalized outlets recorde...

Gender parity crucial to unlock economic growth in Japan

Japanese women are increasingly pursuing professional aspirations but are being held back by rigid social norms that discourage mothers from working. However, as Japan realizes the important contribution that women can make to employment and innovation, social norms may be slowly changing. Is there a pathway to gender parity in Japan’s workplace? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his thoughts on Huffington Post, Japan – a globally acclaimed news portal. Only 10% of senior managerial positions are occupied by women, which is low when compared to comparable figures for the United States (42%) and France (38%). As in many other countries, women in Japan are often made to choose between their professional and personal lives in a way that men are not. Work-life balance is hard to sustain when they single-handedly take care of household responsibilities. Perera opined that Japan needs to overcome its societal norms about gender so as to b...

Indonesia: Demand for Branchless and Mobile Banking services emerges among MSEs

Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Indonesia make up much of the nation’s economic and employment activity. MSEs constitute 98% of all businesses and provide 94% of employment. To explore the market potential of this ‘unbanked’ segment, Spire Research and Consulting conducted a study to evaluate potential demand for Mobile Money and Branchless Banking services (MM & BB). The findings of the study were published in a report released by TNP2K, a public-private coalition of Indonesian and international agencies working towards poverty reduction. Spire’s study was conducted across four provinces, namely Bali, South Sulawesi, West Java and South Sumatra. 400 survey interviews with MSE owners and 16 Focus group discussions were conducted in August and September 2013. The findings revealed that MSEs can potentially make use of a number of MM & BB services wherein neither the gender nor the province of the MSE owner would be a hindrance. This is due to the fact that women fo...