Clik here to view.
Indonesia’s controls on foreigners: first mining, now the jobs market
Days after imposing new rules on foreign ownership in mining, Indonesia has announced complicated new regulations on foreigners working for wholly Indonesian-owned companies. Ex-pat managers will be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Apple: China to profit from rising wages even if companies feel the pinch (a...
Apple’s decision to back wide-ranging pay and labour reforms at the Chinese factories of Foxconn, its biggest contract supplier, will clearly raise costs at both companies. But the Apple empire will...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Indonesia: on the up, unevenly
The wealth controlled by the super-rich in Indonesia grew nearly 50 per cent in the last year, as the commodity boom has lifted their collective net worth to $125bn. Sounds pretty rich, doesn’t it?...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Africa’s future: jobs and taxes
Amid the excitement about Africa’s growth potential, it’s worth keeping things in perspective. Without wanting to dampen the mood too much, the The African Economic Outlook for 2012 does quite a good...
View ArticleClik here to view.
S Korea: long slog to a tricky future
On the face of it South Korea’s unemployment levels should be the envy of the world, with figures published on Tuesday showing the jobless rate falling last month to just 3.1 per cent. Compare that to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
China’s labour shortage: getting worse
Considering the state of the world economy, a labour shortage is the last thing you’d expect Chinese factory owners to have to worry about. But finding workers in southern China is worse than last...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lonmin: killings cast a long shadow
The killing of more than 30 striking miners by South African police on Thursday has shocked the country and the industry and reverberated around the financial markets. Shares in Lonmin, the platinum...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Relief for Apple as labour monitors recognise reforms at Foxconn
Apple fans can sleep a bit easier while they’re waiting on line this autumn to upgrade to the iPhone5. The independent auditor of Foxconn, the Apple supplier, says that the Chinese group that made...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bangladesh: a poisoned supply chain
Bangladesh is widely known as significant exporter of garments to major Western brands in Europe and the US. Less noticed has been the rapid growth of its leather industry, which last year exported...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Manila cancels visas for Chinese staff amid concern over control of power grid
The State Grid Corporation of China has made a public protest over recent moves to cancel visas and work permits for 28 of its technical staff in the Philippines, where it owns a big chunk of the power...
View ArticleClik here to view.
S Africa: miners’ leaders pledge to work for stability – but warn of risks
Leaders of South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Monday pledged to try to stabilise labour relations in the troubled industry. But Frans Baleni, general secretary, and Senzeni Zokwana,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Guest post: For Brazil, the sweet dream is over
By Marcos Troyjo of Columbia University The timid expansion of Brazil’s GDP in the past 12 months at under 1 per cent deals a hard blow to the notion that its policy makers had devised an economic...
View ArticleChina: Foxconn plans first representative labour union vote
Foxconn, the contract manufacturer whose biggest customer is Apple, is preparing genuinely representative labour union elections in its factories in China for the first time, a powerful sign of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Saudi Arabia’s Sabic facing un-Saudi problems
Saudi Basic Industries Corp, Saudi Arabia’s biggest publicly-traded company, has a very non-Saudi problem: striking workers. The Riyadh-based petrochemicals behemoth is facing the wrath of the labour...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Huawei hit by protests over illegal workers in Indonesia
Huawei, the Chinese telecoms group, is the latest international investor to feel the brunt of Indonesia’s increasingly vocal trade union movement. Union activists and current and former employees have...
View ArticleChina: rising wages will drive economic change under new leadership
Higher wages and rising labour costs lie at the heart of the economic questions facing China’s leaders as they gather this week in Beijing for the National People’s Congress. For hard-pressed exporters...
View ArticleClik here to view.
S Korea: temporary workers winning permanent contracts
South Korean companies are facing growing public pressure to convert contract workers to permanent staff amid increasing calls for a so-called “economic democratisation,” which is likely to improve...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Guest post: after the Rana Plaza disaster, Bangladesh needs independent,...
By Ifty Islam of Asian Tiger Capital Partners The collapse of Rana Plaza, the eight-storey building housing garment factories in Savar, near Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has seen more than 300...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hyundai: one labour dispute resolved, but a few still remain
After that ad, and a drop in profits, some good news for Hyundai. To the relief of many investors, the labour union has ended its seven-week dispute with the company over weekend work. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
South Africa: miners push ahead with job cuts despite Motlanthe’s plan
Kgalema Motlanthe, South Africa’s deputy president, on Friday unveiled a draft agreement for sustainable mining – a government attempt to bring some stability to the sector. It’s about time. In recent...
View Article
