The battle for skilled workers is a global one

I have just read this article from CNN Money which rings very true. The market place is a truly global these days. And it isn’t just one country or a few countries chasing the talent it is most countries.

This article talks about Saudi Arabia opening a graduate university to attract skilled people. Even though Saudi Arabia is one of the most oil rich countries in the world it sees skilled people as its future. Changes in Europe to get skilled workers there, and India for years has been chasing good talent.

Some of the more developed countries will need to be careful if they want to retain the skilled work force. Developing countries are chasing and chasing hard. If things don’t change to make it attractive to stay in places like, US, UK, Australia or New Zealand. The skilled workforce will go elsewhere.

In the past country boarders and cost of travel were great barriers for the developed world. Those barriers no longer exist. Almost anyone will pickup and relocate if the incentives are strong enough. And the upcoming generations, don’t have such strong emotional ties that previous generations had that kept them in one place.

Vietnamese strike at Nike plant

This is an interesting story and one that will pop up more and more as the world continues to throw money at poorer countries. Have a look at the BBC article here. The Nike plant while it pays really well comparatively is still having staff going on strike.

The article puts it down to inflation. And inflation is definitely a major factor for it. However the inflation itself is because of the influx of outsourced opportunities into the country. Along side this is the desire for the common worker in these developing countries to get some of the bling that they are making for the 1st world.

Outsourcing is great for 1st world countries to reduce substantially the cost of delivering service and products. It is great for the developing countries as it brings lots of cash into their economies. Soon it is my belief that the employees of these developing countries will keep upping the price of doing business.

It has already started happening in India, the income growth there has been amazing. It will be interesting to see how soon it will be before skilled labour in these developing countries start to write off the efficiencies gained by the cheap labour.

La-z-boy heading to china too

Another manufacturer following the footsteps of Fisher & Paykel and Click Clack and heading off shore to china. See the NBR article here. In my role as a sales person, I call many people from many industries. Lawyers and accountants used to be the tightest & hardest people to get through to. I think these days, manufacturers are starting to head right up that list as well.

If you are pinching every penny to make a profit, you need to change how you do business or go out of business. I suppose that is why so many manufacturing companies are heading to greener pastures. Good luck to them.

surprise surprise more jobs going at Fisher & Paykel

Fisher & Paykel has again announced that more jobs will be heading offshore (read the article here). This shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone.

My guess is that within another 12 months and all manufacturing operations will be sent overseas. It just makes practical sense to do so. With labour in other countries so much cheaper, and being closer to some of their main markets the cost savings will become too much.

Even in the article it states “It could not give any guarantees to the rest of the company.” As margins shrink, reducing labour cost is one of the biggest factors that has the potential to make a difference to the numbers. It will be an interesting wait and see.

New Zealand companies expanding into Asia

Not 100% relevant to what we do but here is an interesting article from computerworld about three New Zealand IT companies signing a deal with a large Indian IT company to sell their services. Here’s the link

Yet another sign of how close the world is becoming.