WEF Report...

World Economic Forum report said that India will face huge skills gaps in some job categories due to low employability over the next 20 years and also warned of a looming global labour crisis. The report said that increasing mobility among countries will be a key part of the solution.

Despite high unemployment, the global economy has entered a decade of unparalleled talent scarcity, the report added. If left unaddressed, it will put a brake on economic growth in both developed and developing countries, the report said.

The WEF report -- 'Stimulating Economies through Fostering Talent Mobility' made in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group -- demonstrates the magnitude of an impending global labour crisis by analysing talent shortages across 22 countries and 12 industry sectors and argues that talent mobility can stimulate economies in both developed and developing countries.

WEF also reported that the workforces of India and Brazil will grow by more than 200 million people over the next two decades by 2030, the developed world will need millions of new employees to sustain economic growth, the report said. Of these, the United States will need 26 million employees, and western Europe will need 46 million employees.

"Today's high unemployment rates mask longer-term talent shortages that may affect both developing and developed countries for decades," said Piers Cumberlege, senior director, partnership, at the World Economic Forum.

The global population of 60 years and older will exceed that of 15-years-old or younger for the first time in history by 2050. But, the talent crisis will start much sooner. Barring technological breakthroughs, the United States, for example, will need to add 26 million workers to its talent pool by 2030 to sustain the average economic growth of the two past decades, the report reiterated.

In most developing countries -- not affected by demographic shifts -- strong economic growth and the limited employability of the workforce will lead to large skills gaps in some job categories Industries will be particularly challenged by the shortages of highly skilled talent. "In today's global and fast-changing business environment, access to highly skilled people -- not just top talent, but also people who possess essential expertise -- is crucial to succeed and grow," noted Hans-Paul Burkner, global chief executive officer and president of The Boston Consulting Group, Germany.

Some industries, such as business services, IT and construction, are likely to experience significant skills gaps, regardless of geography. At the same time, certain countries, such as Japan, Russia and Germany, will face shortages of highly skilled employees in many industries. Increasing the mobility among countries will be a key part of the solution, the report argued. "The message here is that migration not only works -- it is the only solution," said Angel Gurr a, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, greater mobility can benefit not only nations that receive talent, but also sending countries, especially large ones such as India.

In addition to fuelling their countries of origin with remittance funds, many expatriates eventually decide to return home armed with skills and business acumen developed abroad. Receiving countries benefit from the contribution of highly skilled migrant workers to their economies.

The report calls on governments, companies, educational institutions and international organizations to collaborate systematically to address talent shortages and increase talent mobility.

Countries need to prepare for demographic shifts and a fast-changing labour market environment by defining adequate education and migration policies.

The report recommends several ways:

• Assess current and anticipate future skills shortages through strategic skills planning. Governments and industry associations should analyse capacity and productivity risks for each job type, such as mechanical engineers, and develop policies to mitigate anticipated shortfalls.
• Develop skills recognition mechanisms for native-born and migrant workers. Governments should invest in workforce development and ensure migrants are properly employed given their skills and work experiences.
• Design inclusive and comprehensive migration policies from students to experienced workers. Governments should ensure the proper integration of migrants, provide them with employment and language support and facilitate the portability of pension and social benefits.
• Integrate migration into development strategies of sending countries. Hosting and sending countries must collaborate to design policies that encourage talent circulation and ensure the transfer of migrants' skills.

Companies meanwhile, need to improve their talent management strategies as many businesses within five to ten years will face sizable talent shortages. These improvements include:

• Develop global talent management processes. Companies should make talent planning and management a priority and invest in global leadership development and management training.
• Assess current and anticipate future skills shortages through strategic skills planning. Companies should determine their need for workers in critical job categories by analyzing their strategy and productivity. They then need to compare this demand to the supply of internal and external candidates.
• Design and promote talent mobility programmes. Companies should develop attractive talent mobility programmes such as rotations or cross-company programmes to be more flexible and retain talented employees.
• Expand the talent pool for recruitment and grow talent internally, in a spirit of "talent well sourcing". Global companies need to recruit from broader talent pools by considering second- and third-tier universities, for example, and creating specific training programmes to ensure top capabilities are acquired.

What Are Employability Skills?

The two greatest concerns of employers today are finding good workers and training them. The difference between the skills needed on the job and those possessed by applicants, sometimes called the skills-gap, is of real concern to human resource managers and business owners looking to hire competent employees. While employers would prefer to hire people who are trained and ready to go to work, they are usually willing to provide the specialized, job-specific training necessary for those lacking such skills.
Most discussions concerning today’s workforce eventually turn to employability skills. Finding workers who have employability or job readiness skills that help them fit into and remain in the work environment is a real problem. Employers need reliable, responsible workers who can solve problems and who have the social skills and attitudes to work together with other workers. Creativity, once a trait avoided by employers who used a cookie cutter system, is now prized among employers who are trying to create the empowered, high performance workforce needed for competitiveness in today’s marketplace. Employees with these skills are in demand and are considered valuable human capital assets to companies.
Employability skills are those basic skills necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well on a job. These are the skills, attitudes and actions that enable workers to get along with their fellow workers and supervisors and to make sound, critical decisions. Unlike occupational or
technical skills, employability skills are generic in nature rather than job specific and cut across all industry types, business sizes, and job levels from the entry-level worker to the senior-most position.
What specifically are those skills, attitudes and actions, i.e., employability skills, necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well on a job? Employability skills, while categorized in many different ways, are generally divided into three skill sets: (a) basic academic skills, (b) higher-order thinking skills and (c) personal qualities. The three skill sets are typically broken down into more detailed skill sets
Although the academic skill level required by some entry-level jobs may be low, basic academic skills are still essential for high job performance. Ideally, new hires will have the ability and will want to learn. They also need the ability to listen to and read instructions and then to carry out those instructions. When asked for information, these individuals should be able to respond appropriately both orally and in writing, including recording and relaying information. Reading ability includes comprehending what has been read and using a variety of written materials, including graphs, charts, tables and displays. Entry level employees also need the ability to complete basic math computations accurately.


Perhaps even more important to job success than having good basic academic skills is having good higher-order thinking skills. The ability to think, reason, and make sound decisions is crucial for employees desiring to do well and advance. A person who can think critically, act logically, and evaluate situations to make decisions and solve problems, is a valuable asset. Application of higher order thinking skills in the use of technology, instruments, tools and information systems takes these higher order skills to a new level making the employee even more valuable. Employers will usually try to help valued employees seek and get more advanced training, thus widening the gap between those with higher order skills and those possessing basic academic skills alone.


If basic academic skills and higher order thinking skills are so important, why then are employers deeply concerned with personal skills? Because in most jobs, it is difficult to utilize workers effectively who lack personal skills. Entry-level employees with good personal skills have confidence in themselves and deal with others honestly and openly, displaying respect for themselves, their co-workers, and their supervisors regardless of other people’s diversity and individual differences. They view themselves as a part of a team and are willing to work within the culture of the group. They have a positive attitude and take the initiative to learn new things to get the job done. Rather than blaming others when things go wrong, they are accountable for their actions. They also have the ability to set goals and priorities in their work and personal lives so that resources of time, money and other resources may be conserved and managed.

These individuals practice good personal habits, come to work as scheduled, on time and dressed appropriately, and are agreeable to change when necessary.

Hurricane Igor strengthens to category four (AFP)

(AFP)

MIAMI — Igor, swirling in the central Atlantic and not a threat to land, strengthened to a powerful category four hurricane Sunday, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Igor "rapidly intensifies into a category four hurricane," on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, the NHC said in a special advisory.

The storm had maximum sustained winds near 135 miles (215 kilometers) per hour, with higher gusts at 1830 GMT. "Some additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours," the NHC said.

The center of Igor was 1,565 miles (2,520 kilometers) east of Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, traveling towards the west at nearly 14 miles (22 kilometers) an hour at 1830 GMT.

Forecasters said the storm could turn west-northwest on Tuesday and track the northern Caribbean, possibly heading toward Bermuda.

Meanwhile, a tropical depression formed off the coast of Africa, and a tropical storm warning was issued for the southern Cape Verde Islands.

Tropical Depression Twelve was expected to become a tropical storm later Sunday or Monday, according to the Miami-based NHC.

At 1800 GMT the storm was dumping rain on the islands, located off western tip of the African continent.

Early this week, powerful Tropical Storm Hermine slammed into far northeastern Mexico and then barreled into US territory, sparking flash floods on both sides of the border.

Hermine came on the heels of Hurricane Earl, which gained category four status at its height in the Atlantic Ocean, whipping up heavy winds along the east coast of the United States and Canada.

Basel iii

Breaking News

We will have the finalised Basel iii package before the 15th of September, 2010.

We believe that banks will have to hold Tier 1 capital of 9 percent (in Basel 2 we have 4%), including a 3 "conservation buffer".

At least 5 percent of Tier 1 will be pure equity or retained earnings.

If Tier 1 capital is less than 9%, banks will not be allowed to pay out dividends to shareholders.

In good times, banks have to allocate another 3%, the "anti-cyclical buffer". It simply means that in good times banks need Tier 1 capital of 12% in order to be able to pay dividends.

If we add 4% Tier 2 capital, we reach an interesting number: 16% (6 percent Tier 1, plus 4 percent Tier 2, plus 3 percent conservation buffer, plus 3percent anticyclical buffer).

Hedge funds are already shorting certain banks. Investors try to understand how much capital banks may need to raise in order to be able to pay dividends.

Next step: The G20 summit of leaders in November, where they will give their seal of approval

MTV Video Music Awards (VMA 2010) nominees are?

Sunday night could be the night of Lady Gaga, because the 24-year-old has 13 nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. This is the record in the history of the music awards. Also, rapper Eminem sits well in the pools, and he is one of the favorite nominees with eight nominations. According to the announcement, he will inaugurate the show, which also expects appearances from other stars such as Kanye West, Mary J Blige. Lady Gaga is nominated, among others, in the categories for pop video, video of the year and best video of an artist, while Eminem with “Not Afraid” could get the award for best video of the year and best hip-hop Video.

Among the Best new talents nominated are Justin Bieber, Kesha, Jason Derulo, Nicki Minaj, and the group Broken Bells. And in the category of best dance video is also included along with reggaeton star Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias. Their single “I Like It” will face “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. It is the twenty-seventh time that these awards are given at a ceremony, and on this occasion, it will be moderated by comic Chelsea Handler. Last year, the R & B diva Beyoncé took the video of the year award with her song “Single Ladies”, while Janet Jackson paid an emotional tribute to her brother Michael Jackson, who died a few months earlier. The story of the night, which made first pages, had the rapper Kanye West as leading man, when he blurted out to Taylor Swift that Beyonce deserved, more than her, the prize for best female video, which had been given to the country singer. When Beyoncé finally won the prize for best video of the year, she called on stage Taylor Swift and she gave her the word.

For Indian Stock market crash is inevitable…

For Indian Stock market crash is inevitable…

Indian equity has outperformed the global peers and became best performing market for the year by giving 6% return till august 2010 and this performance came up due to the consistent pumping of money by foreign funds .Global investment managers were in search of growth pockets to invest the money after the financial crisis to find best geography for the growth. The obvious choice was emerging markets however in emerging markets India was certainly the winner due to its growing GDP and consumption story so Indian market have received 60,329 crores of fund till September 2010.

Month	FII	DII
Jan	-302.9	-1,311.10
Feb	2,113.50	-697.4
Mar	18,833.60	3,806.40
Apr	9,764.50	1,616.50
May	-8,629.90	98.7
Jun	10,244.60	-1,092.50
Jul	17,120.60	-4,404.80
Aug	11,185.30	-3,169.60

The domestic mutual funds were the net seller in same tome by taking out 5151 crore between Januarys to September in the same period may was the only month when domestic funds were buyer by putting mere 98 crore in market however FII investment was positive in every month except January and may

Significant amount of money finds their way in developed market economy however those markets are flat or negative at this point of time.

FIG: FII and DII investment

Festive seasons are around the corner and funds have habit to reward their investors near Christmas so the FII profit booking is bound to come .Fundamentally Indian market is standing on the one leg because domestic funds and retail investors are sitting sideline while FII are consistent in the buying side when they turn negative the scenario will be bearish .Foreign funds don’t have option because only in emerging market they are in profit so they will sell some of their holdings in coming month precisely by October 2010.

Global perspective:

Following big losses for developed world equities in August, the rally was to be expected, because global markets were technically oversold. We are now entering what are normally the worst two months for markets and we will see new lows hit in October, at which point the market will discount the prospect of the mid-term elections in US ,in euro zone credit problem is still persisting Ireland is looking to spread their problem soon .

The indication has been coming from the bond market, which last month began to tell us there is really bad news out there. Following substantial buying in August, we have seen some selling but this will not last long enough.

Global market statistics in august.

US INDEX	JULY CLOSE	AUG HIGH	AUG CLOSE	%GAIN /LOSS
Dow Jones	10466	10698	10014	-4.30
NASQAQ	2254	2305	2104	-6.21
S&P 500	1101	1127	1049	-4.72

American markets were worst performing market in august, series of bad economic news propel the selloff at the wall street and the august emerged as the worst month for equity market in USA. Dowjone industrial average lost 4.30% of their value, NASDAQ composite lost 6.21% due to selloff in the technology sector, and S&P 500 lost 4.72% .There was only seven trading session when market went up.

EURO ZONE	JULY CLOSE	AUG HIGH	AUG CLOSE	%GAIN /LOSS
FTSE 100	5258	5410	5225	-0.62
CAC	3643	3777	3490	-4.19
DAX	6147	6351	5925	-3.61

Euro zone contributed similar manner as American indices here FTSE 100 was the best performer in the pack who lost slightly more than half percent while CAC of France lost -4.19% and DAX of Germany lost -3.61% in august only.

ASIA	JULY CLOSE	AUG HIGH	AUG CLOSE	% GAIN /LOSS
NIKKI	9537	9694	8824	-7.47
STRAIT TIMES	2987	3014	2950	-1.23
HANG SANG	21029	21294	20536	-2.34
SHANGHAI	2637	2687	2638	0.03

Asian market performance in august were better than developed world although NIKKI of japan tumble 7.47% while Hansang LOST 2.43% and strait times lost -1.23% however Shanghai composite closed flat in august.

INDIAN MARKET	JULY CLOSE	AUG HIGH	AUG CLOSE
SENSEX	17868	18401	17971	0.57
C&X NIFTY	5367	5543	5402	0.65

Indian market emerged as the winner in the September where all the market were crumbling in the august the Indian indices kisses their 31 month high although due profit booking lost their most of the gain in spite of this market able to close in green for the month where most of the market closed deep in red.

Amida research desk