Month: October 2010

Facebook is no longer just a tool for networking, it’s also a convenient way for employers to check on data of potential employee candidates – data of which isn’t found on the standard resume. It’s fascinating how with a simple click of a few buttons, an employer can check photos to see how often you’re caught haphazardly drunk on camera, or look at wallposts to see whether you’re behind on mortgage payments.

The recruitment process now, with the use of online background checks, is all the more difficult to be accepted through. The more times your name comes up in a Google search, the less privacy you have. The less privacy, the higher the chances that something nasty may show up on an image search – like one airport security guard who was fired for Twittering plans about (jokingly) blowing the airport up.

Background checks are becoming increasingly popular, and whilst it still requires the applicant’s consent, turning down a background check won’t help with your employment chances.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/jobs/10search.html?ref=technology

British Airways has always established itself as a ‘Premium Airline’, with quality staff, somewhat more cushioned seating, LCD screened entertainment sets as well as other perks. But recently, upon Willie Walsh’s new management there’s been multiple strikes, walk-outs and picketing on the streets from BA staff. Basically, staff are fed up of being treated with a bland Theory X expectation: offer wages slightly above the industry average, and the staff will do their job more effectivley.

But this was not the case in BA, as accounts from staff tell of verbal abuse and harassment from senior managers, poor rest hours in between flight shifts, many redundancies and forced pay cuts. Walsh is a controversial manager in the sense that despite being able to generate some profits for BA to kep the shareholders content, there is still the underlying fact that if he continues to allow the company to mistreat staff, this will hinder business relations, lead to increased labour turnover and maybe at one point, he will no longer have the quality staff he needs to keep the premium BA brand image up to standards, which may lead to a lack of customers and sales revenue.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/oct/10/unite-talks-british-airways-cabin-crew

The world eyes the Chinese Yuan and it’s acclaimed ‘dirty float’ in the currency markets. The US has repeatedly attempted to persuade the Chinese government to appreciate the Yuan’s value, but time and time again, China has turned around and said statements along the lines of ‘there is no such manipulation of the Yuan’, and as this article states, China blames “rich nations” specifically for ‘low interest rate’ policies which have triggered currency market problems (most likely due to the Hot-Money effect), in turn affecting developing countries.

The ‘Price-Bubble’ issue has thus emerged as a potential problem in the future – where investors chasing higher interest rates in emerging economies begin to buy the currencies of these countries, hence making the currency appreciate in value and causing exports of emerging economies to be less price competitive over time, as well as an appreciation in their property markets.

However, unlike developed countries, the population growth of emerging economies like the BRIC’s (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is growing at an increasingly exponential rate, and business is still booming within the regions of Asia and even Middle East, whom have arguably not suffered as severely during the recession. Thus it is questionable to ask whether it is really a ‘Global recession’ or merely a ‘Western recession’.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11508918