Cost-cutting measures: Startups using layoffs to tackle tightening fund flow

Cost-cutting measures: Startups using layoffs to tackle tightening fund flow

At a time when investors are gradually tightening their purse strings on venture capital-backed e-commerce firms and tech startups — from $2.91 billion in September quarter of 2015 to $1.52 billion in December quarter to $1.40 billion in March quarter of 2016 and to $583 million in June quarter of the ongoing year — the investee companies are having to take a hard look at their growth oriented businesses. And it is the employees who are having to bear the brunt.

Since August 2015, eight of the poster-boys of the country’s e-commerce and technology ventures have reportedly trimmed close to […]

Who Took My Job: 7 Potential Job Killers You Should Look Out For

Who Took My Job: 7 Potential Job Killers You Should Look Out For

As technology becomes more and more advanced, it displaces more and more people from their jobs.

People can’t afford to merely hang on to their jobs anymore. What’s required is preparation for newer jobs and constant upgrading of skills.

Jobless growth is not just a concept limited to the column inches of the newspapers anymore. It is now a reality. Growth itself is not coming easy. Countries across the globe are trying every trick in the book to boost growth, from zero interest rates to quantitative easing to helicopter money, but such antics have yielded a mouse.Not just growth but job […]

All jobs susceptible to automation, says McKinsey Global Institute study

All jobs susceptible to automation, says McKinsey Global Institute study

NewsWrap Some of the activities that have the greatest potential for automation are physical activities that occur in predictable environments

It is not just low-skill, low-wage jobs that are affected by automation; some high-skill, high-wage jobs too, are susceptible to automation, according to McKinsey Global Institute, the business and economics research arm of consultancy firm McKinsey.

Take for instance, the task of collecting and analysing data. Some of it falls into the category of low-skill, low-wage. But, says Michael Chui, Partner, McKinsey Global Institute, some of the activities that fit into the category of collecting and analysing data are done by […]

Industrial Robots and Manufacturing Jobs – A Catalyst for Loss or Growth?

Industrial Robots and Manufacturing Jobs – A Catalyst for Loss or Growth?

The unknown is scary; change is often met with resistance, and people may ask themselves how such innovations will affect their livelihoods and lifestyles. By definition, disruptive technologies are innovations that create a new market and value network, ultimately displacing established market leaders, alliances, and the status quo. Historically, however, it’s been seen that as society becomes more educated, informed, and familiar with innovations such as e-mail, smartphones, and social networking, the acceptance and proven benefits begin to emerge as a result.

Similar to other industry shake-ups, the increasing introduction of robotics into the workplace has led to a common […]

85% of job loss in manufacturing due to automation; only 13% due to trade

Since talk about trade agreements that America is "losing" on still dominates the airwaves, I thought I’d bring this up as I’ve seen it floated around recently. Short of a Luddite-esque smashing of the machines – or maybe more of a USSR pointless job creation scheme – I’m not sure what the solution for the further automation of work is.

CATO @ Liberty – Have Trade Agreements Killed the Manufacturing Sector?

Yes, it’s true – fewer people work in manufacturing today than in the past. Peak U.S. manufacturing employment was 19.4 million workers in 1979, […]

All jobs susceptible to automation, says McKinsey Global Institute study

All jobs susceptible to automation, says McKinsey Global Institute study

Michael Chui, Partner, McKinsey Global Institute BIJOY GHOSH Chennai, August 23:

It is not just low-skill, low-wage jobs that are affected by automation; some high-skill, high-wage jobs too, are susceptible to automation, according to McKinsey Global Institute, the business and economics research arm of consultancy firm McKinsey.

Take for instance, the task of collecting and analysing data. Some of it falls into the category of low-skill, low-wage. But, says Michael Chui, Partner, McKinsey Global Institute, some of the activities that fit into the category of collecting and analysing data are done by those who have MBAs and other graduate degrees and […]

The future of work

The dog days of summer are waning, pools are closing, and parents are taking a deep breath as they get to send their kids back to school. It’s Labor Day. But Labor Day is about more than a last hurrah before getting back to work after a summer of fun. Established by the labor movement, it is an annual national tribute to the contributions workers have made throughout history to the well-being and economic strength of the United States.

As we mark the achievements of the past, Labor Day also represents an opportune time to pause and take a look […]

The Robots Are Coming. Welcome Them

Is it time to bow to our robot overlords? Last week analysts at Morgan Stanley , MS 0.16 % using data from an Oxford University study , predicted that nearly half of U.S. jobs will be replaced by robots over the next two decades. Ouch. Maybe we should build a wall.

Cars that drive themselves? Waiters you don’t need to pay (or tip)? Self-folding clothes? Are we headed toward a post-job future? Signs are certainly there. Abundant Robotics, a company spun from the same Stanford Research Institute that brought us the mouse and networked computing, has begun testing a robot […]

Garment factories to buy into automation

Investors in Cambodia’s garment industry are increasingly purchasing modern equipment as they look to produce higher value-added products to compete in the international market and counter rising labour costs, an industry insider said yesterday.

Ly Tek Heng, operation manager at the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said rising factory worker wages were thinning margins on the production of low-value garments and footwear in the face of fierce global competition.

“If we produce low-value products while the cost of labour keeps rising, we cannot compete,” said Heng. “So, big investors are going to use more modern equipment and machinery, which lets […]

Flipkart, Infosys, AskMe: Why recent spate of job cuts should worry us

Flipkart, Infosys, AskMe: Why recent spate of job cuts should worry us

New Delhi – In the last few days, newspapers have had screaming headlines of loss of thousands of jobs across the services sector.

On Monday , The Indian Express reported Infosys, the country’s second largest software exporter, has cut 500 jobs after the company recorded poor quarterly results were and lost a contract from RBS.

Over the weekend, reports said about 4,000 people were about to lose their jobs due to a suspension of operations at e-commerce website AskMe. Earlier Flipkart had asked about 700 underperformers to leave. Meanwhile, Snapdeal is shutting down a luxury fashion portal which could lead to […]