attached is a document with different responses of
labor trends of different countries kindly read each countries labor trend and
respond on the following:
1. what was interesting ? why its interesting? what do you think about their labour trend and some recommendations.? what do conclude from each labor trend. kindly discuss each labour separately .
Additional Files1. what was interesting ? why its interesting? what do you think about their labour trend and some recommendations.? what do conclude from each labor trend. kindly discuss each labour separately .
1.
South
Africa experienced a recession just as the US which had a good blow to the
countries labor market. In 2009, 870,000 were unemployed with a total
number of 13.8 million unemployed. The country was not facing people that
were looking to work, it turned into a matter of a population that was no
longer looking for work. Surprisingly the workforce had more women
working than men and inspire of this significant difference, the unemployment
rate was so high for women that it still did not equate for the amount of men
out of work, the rates still stayed the same (which brings me to question on
what was considered worked and if it was recorded on the books). The
“generation x” faced an even higher rate of unemployment due to the practice of
the younger workers losing their jobs before the adults. To compare this
with education, the majority of the individuals that were laid off work were
mainly the individuals holding a level of education less than secondary
education, and with little to no skillset. Industries that were
attempting to stay afloat were mainly the manufacturing industries (the
majority of organizations that operate in South Africa is factories) which
reduced employee morale and increased the unemployment rate by the reduction of
hours, the workers were no longer encouraged to work. Based on this
research on the reaction from the recession, South Africa’s labor force and
organizations response in attempt to survive the turmoil seems to have an
inverted problem. It is not keeping employees, but motiving the
population to come back to work. The obvious factors would be to increase
incentives that are cost effective or no cost at all, partner with local
non-profit organizations to strengthen the community outreach (get involved
within the communities, supporting the people of the country – this is free
advertisement for the organization and motivating individuals to work through
the services and outreach programs). The workforce can still be revived
but this brings a different IHR approach which requires in my opinion community
engagement. (based
off 2010 report on South Africa labor market)
2.
I
chose to investigate the labor trends in Switzerland. Switzerland has one of
the strongest economies in the world despite the economic recovery challenges
in Europe. According to the 2013-2014 Global Competitiveness Report, it is
because of Switzerland’s labor market efficiency, high investments in R&D,
excellent infrastructure, low unemployment rate, stable macroeconomic
environment and an enhanced business sector (Schwab and Sala-i-Martin 2013,
p.12) that make Switzerland the #1 most competitive economy in the world.
"While
Switzerland demonstrates many competitive strengths, maintaining its innovative
capacity will require boosting the university enrollment rate of 56.8 percent,
and also increasing the participation rate of women in the economy (86 percent)
which continues to trail many other high-innovation countries" (Schwab and
Sala-i-Martin 2013, p.12) Also, "Switzerland has a top-notch labor market
that is both flexible and efficient in deploying its talent. Employee
protection and the interest of employers are well aligned, with strong
employer-employee relations (ranking 1st), and with conflict resolution resting
on social dialogue rather than responding with strikes" (Schwab and
Sala-i-Martin 2013, p.14). Moreover, “Unlike many other countries,
Switzerland’s labor force is growing, thanks to the migration of particularly
skilled labor, boosted by the bilateral agreements on free circulation with the
European Union that entered into force in 2002”(Schwab and Sala-i-Martin 2013,
p.14).
Based
on my research, the labor participation rate for women in Switzerland is the
major focus in the labor market today. Also, “an inadequately educated workforce"
is ranked the #1 most problematic factors for doing business with Switzerland
(Schwab and Sala-i-Martin 2013, p. 358). According to the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2014 forecasts, Switzerland’s
unemployment rate will drop to 4.1% this year (In comparison to almost 7% for
the U.S.).
Weighing
all of these factors, the staffing approach I would take for Switzerland would
be to focus on retaining skilled labor whether through expat programs or
partnering with local universities to support internships. It will be very
important for MNE’s in Switzerland to utilize innovative talent and recruit
from applicant pools that meet the necessary skills and abilities of the jobs
available, even if that means recruiting outside of Switzerland through
third-country nationals.
3.
For this thread I chose to research Germany and their labor trends. Currently
in Germany the unemployment rate is at 5.1% which has been on a downtrend the
last few years. The youth unemployment rate is at 7.4% which is down from 8.2%
in January of 2012. I think that more jobs are becoming available because the
economy is doing well which means more people are employed. Both of these rates
are among the lowest in Europe.
Aside
from the unemployment rates, another factor are the people. In the 1970's the
birth rate took a big plunge and ever since has been at about 1.4 which is well
below the replacement rate of 2.1 in order to maintain steady population
levels. At the same time, the life expectancy has continued to rise which means
Germanys population is aging. The labor market has seen an effect because of
this and the amount of young skill professionals can be hard to find.
If
I were a company I would take full advantage of the vocational training and education
system in order to hire bodies that are able to be trained exactly how you want
them to be.
4.
For
this post I chose to look at Chile. For decades, Chile has been known to global
firms as being a mining giant, because of their large copper and other mineral
deposits. While MNE hired local labor for mining related positions, Chile has
hardly been known as the next big thing in offshoring skilled and technical
positions. However, Chile is working diligently to change this, and actually
has a very well educated population of younger workers, who are primed and
ready to enter the international market.
In
a study by Duke University’s Center on Globalization, Governance &
Competitiveness, the primary element that is preventing further utilization of
Chile’s workforce is a lack of English speakers, even in well-educated,
technical workers.
The
study, commissioned by the government of Chile’s Office of Economic
Development, suggests that Chile could be ripe for development if this capacity
could be developed further. Specifically, Chile could be a South American hub
for telecom and other industries, which would move the presence of MNE’s from
Mining to something more sustainable, better paying, and more in line with
economic development on a macro level.
5.
As of October 2013, the unemployment rate in Australia was 5.6% (Sydney Morning
Herald, 2013), which is pretty good by international comparison. I was
surprised to find that agriculture, fishing, and forestry was one of the only
industries that has had a decrease in labor in the past few years. While
deciding on which country to choose, I found that Australia is not the
only country with a decline in agriculture (Ireland is also among them).
Given that world populations are only increasing, and everyone needs food, I am
surprised at the decline in agriculture.
Australia
expects the labor market to have an increase of over 8% in the amount of
potential employees with a bachelor's degree. This teamed with the fact
that their industries of architecture, engineering, and computer science have
increased by over 16% in the past five years would suggest that Australia is an
excellent place for a firm to grow internationally in those fields. They
will be able to recruit a lot of young employees with degrees and an interest
in those fields.
Construction
is also on the rise, which makes sense due to population increases. More
buildings and other structures are needed as cities continue to grow. An
architecture firm teamed with its own construction division might be an
interesting choice for Australia, as the two will work hand in hand.
I
would recommend any firm moving into Australia use poly-centric hiring to help
reduce the headache of obtaining appropriate visas, etc. The candidate
pool in Australia should be pretty good given the expected growth of those with
bachelor's degrees.
