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From the Indian auto-sector to the Malaysian palm oil industry and Canadian apple farms, there are huge shortages of labour that are already slowing the global economic recovery …

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The recent explosion in Beirut could probably have happened anywhere around the World, but probably not on such a large scale …

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According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a lack of human capital is a critical factor seriously impeding the economic development of Latin America …

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According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), international trade has fallen 19% year-on-year and is now at a record low …

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The billion-dollar question facing all multinationals is how far should they “cut labour to deal with the next 2 to 3 years?” What cannot be relied upon are GDP forecasts, because they are too generalised and say nothing about demand over the longer term or in a particular sector …

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Back in 2018, McKinsey reported extensive research indicating that a huge driver towards overall income inequality during the last two decades had been automation …

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When temperatures rise employers often revert to the use of fans, especially in large workspaces such as factories and warehouses …

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When intelligent robots take over the majority of workplace tasks the term “human resources” will either apply to a shrinking element in the enterprise, or it will need to be changed to encompass the new resources, and a greater emphasis placed on human-machine interaction …

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What is worrying for employers trying to predict the seriousness of the ongoing health emergency around the world is that there is such huge variation between countries in terms of infection and mortality rates …

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We have been reminded recently that COVID-19 is not the only deadly virus that could infect employees …

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It is a curious fact that when there are large-scale events, it can have direct repercussions for demographic trends …

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Whatever other factors intervene, the second most important statistic for employers to watch (after GDP) is consumer price inflation (CPI) …

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Because of the step change brought about by the global health crisis, it is not relevant – and often misleading – to consult official statistics as a guide to anything but very short-term actions …

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Not only has the global health crisis put a temporary halt to air travel, but it has also probably reduced demand for good, due to a decline in the desire for mass tourist travel and the need for regular business trips …

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Although there have been improvements in the apparent number of coronavirus cases across the European continent, the Middle East and parts of Asia, there is continued high growth in Russia, India, Brazil, and parts of Africa …

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