“Finding and winning the right talent continues to be a priority and a challenge for business leaders. It’s more important than ever to evaluate your strategic workforce needs to understand not only the skills and capabilities required today but also those that will be needed to execute future strategic initiatives. Given the shift to hybrid work, work from anywhere (WFX) and in-person, it’s important to make sure you are fostering an inclusive environment to avoid a two-tiered organization in which in-person and distributed workers are treated differently.”
– Bert Miller, President & CEO, MRINetwork
EMEA
Britain’s financial sector is being urged to do more to help workers struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, despite a slew of top banking names providing one-off payments to low earners. The move is a logical one, as the banking industry is reaping the rewards of the higher inflation rate that is strangling so many others. The U.K.’s biggest banks have made billions of pounds as a result of the Bank of England’s latest rate rise, with Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds and Santander holding as much as £673.5 billion at central banks by the end of June, according to analysis by British newspaper The Times.
While these support measures may be welcome boosts for employees, they may not go far enough, said Ruth Thomas, chief product evangelist at compensation software and employee management company Payscale. One-off financial perks may not be the best way to keep hold of employees, Thomas said. They want access to earning progression over the course of their employment, she told CNBC. “In the context of rising cost of living costs and wage inflation, employees make their own assessments of fair wages. With a buoyant labor market, moving jobs still is the fastest way to increase your pay.”
Read more at Britain’s Banks Told to Tackle Wealth Inequality Despite One-off Payments | CNBC.
ASIA PACIFIC
Although the hybrid workplace is here to stay, it also comes with IT security issues. This is what the recent IDC report, “Security in Hybrid Work Era,” revealed. The report focused on IT security among Asia Pacific organizations and the challenges they face when implementing security in a hybrid work model.
Based on respondents’ answers, security has become a top priority for IT leaders in this region. In particular, security teams are concerned about “employees’ access to insecure devices, networks, and data resources.” This is also known as shadow IT — the use of IT-related software and hardware without the formal approval of the company’s IT department.
Among organizations, 51% said they are concerned about devices accessing sensitive information on unmanaged devices and networks. Moreover, trends indicate that cyberattacks are now the fastest-growing crime on a global scale. Organizations recognize this and have put their money where their mouths are since security has become the second-largest IT investment in the Asia-Pacific region.
The report provides insights on organizations’ security infrastructure and other areas of investment. It also includes recommendations on how to strengthen overall IT security for organizations. Vendors targeting this sector of IT security will also find cases that could help them in building their campaign for their products.
Read more at Asia-Pacific Businesses Raise IT Security Concerns Amid Hybrid Workplace Adoption | Financesonline.com.
THE AMERICAS
A recent report from Deloitte presents an overall analysis of the 2022 economic situation in Latin America, as well as a brief overview for each economy of the region.
In 2021, Latin America rebounded from the pandemic-induced economic contraction of the last two years. Growth prospects, however, remain moderate this year because of a series of domestic and international challenges. Inflation is showing no signs of abating, which runs contrary to what was expected. The lingering disruptions caused by strained supply chains globally are now compounded by the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The most visible fallout of this situation has been a spike in commodity prices, although in terms of GDP growth, most Latin American countries have been barely affected.
High commodity prices have also forced the region’s central banks to accelerate the upward trend of interest rate hikes, which will make financing more expensive and economic growth slower. Nonetheless, the prevailing economic environment, shaped largely by high commodity prices, presents an opportunity for many Latin American countries, especially for major exporters of commodities, to invest the additional incoming dollars in productivity-increasing capabilities and, in the process, lay the groundwork for long-term economic development.
Read more at Latin America Economic Outlook | Deloitte.