Employment, Skills and Human Capital
Haiyan, Mangkhut, Yutu. In September 2018, we co-launched the “Energy Efficiency and Electric Vehicles” report with the Rocky Mountain Institute. The report covers scenarios and recommendations on how accelerated renovation of buildings can pave the way for the electric vehicle (EV) revolution, while keeping global warming below 2°C. For millennia, the finance industry has been a primary culprit in global warming. Now it’s time for finance to right its wrongs and provide the solution. The cybersecurity industry is facing a jobs crisis. According to recent estimates, India alone requires an additional two million cybersecurity professionals in the next two years. Some put the global estimate as high as 3.5 million by 2022. Salaries are tracking these demands, with graduate level analyst positions in the US touching $100,000 per annum, the highest of any profession. A visit to one of the world’s major urban centres has lost none of its appeal, but which cities attract the most tourists?The numbers of international visitors travelling to over 600 metropolitan destinations – including both business and leisure arrivals – have been compiled in a new report by Euromonitor International in its annual Top 100 City Destinations 2018 report. To create a more accurate picture of tourism, the survey excludes some traveller types, such as domestic visitors, day trippers, people in transit and cruise passengers. Drones are supplying blood to a network of 21 remotely located transfusion clinics in Rwanda, helping save lives every day across the country. How broken is Europe? In the near pitch-dark, you can hear them before you see them – millions of cockroaches scuttling and fluttering across stacks of wooden boards as they devour food scraps by the tonne in a novel form of urban waste disposal. Japan, in a major policy shift, has enacted a law to let in more foreign, blue-collar workers to ease a labor shortage, despite criticism it was too hastily crafted and risked exposing the workers to exploitation. What the internet looks like to users in the U.S. can be quite different from the online experience of people in other countries. Some of those variations are due to government censorship of online services, which is a significant threat to internet freedom worldwide. But private companies – many based in the U.S. – are also building obstacles to users from around the world who want to freely explore the internet. Migrants tend to be healthier than the residents of wealthy countries they travel to, such as the United States, and often help fight diseases by becoming healthcare workers in those nations, according to a study published on Wednesday. Over the summer, Microsoft President Brad Smith called for governments to take a closer look at how facial detection technology is being implemented across the globe. This week, he returned with a similar message — only this time the executive is calling out fellow technology purveyors to help address myriad issues around the technology before it becomes too pervasive. What we measure affects what we do. If we focus only on material wellbeing – on, say, the production of goods, rather than on health, education, and the environment – we become distorted in the same way that these measures are distorted; we become more materialistic. It is impossible to say when the next financial crisis will erupt, let alone how long it will last or how damaging it will be. But there is no doubt that the risks the world faces merit a more holistic approach – one that accounts for the serious and escalating threats posed by climate change. As we mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) this week, we might pause to reflect upon how relevant it is today in a world dominated by finance. “Highly”, you might say. After all, surely the global financial crisis and its austerity-driven aftermath have made that painfully obvious? The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting will take place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland from 22-25 January under the theme, “Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” What’s the economic benefit of diversity? A recent study has uncovered fresh evidence linking exposure to air pollution with an increased risk of developing autism. Over the last two years, the movement for fairness and equality between men and women has found renewed energy and conviction around the world. In public life, in politics, in business and across different economic sectors, women and men have been working for change and a world where economic opportunity is no longer shaped and constrained by being a man or a woman. Ten years ago, a top South African physicist called on Africa’s educators to nurture scientific achievement by improving the capabilities of the continent’s youngest researchers. But despite significant improvements, much more work is needed to return Africa to the pinnacle of innovation that it once occupied. It’s easy to be envious of the leaders of Fortune 500 companies. Americans have Taylor Swift, Maroon 5 and Bon Jovi. On the other side of the world, South Koreans have equally big names like BTS, Hyuna and Girls’ Generation. If you are a procrastinator, you’re in good company. Some of the greatest minds in the world — including Leonardo da Vinci — were famous procrastinators. Journalist Andrew Santella explores the upside of putting things off in his new book, Soon: An Overdue History of Procrastination, from Leonardo and Darwin to You and Me. It’s a funny and insightful look at how we’ve become so good at getting distracted — and why it’s not always such a bad thing, unless you want to be more productive. Cai Li, a janitor in Shanghai, developed a serious addiction to news app Qutoutiao, lured by gossipy articles about celebrities and the cash she gets from reading them. Abdi Addow likes to have oodkac for breakfast, the jerky-style beef cubes that Somalis usually eat with injera flatbread. Addow especially loves his mother’s serving, but since he doesn’t live with her in the Somali capital, he logs online and uses a third-party delivery service to bring it to him from her place.Show Agenda posts
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We can’t rid Asia of natural disasters. But we can prepare for them
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
How building renovations can speed up the electric vehicle revolution
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
How the finance industry can save the world
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
Why the Fourth Industrial Revolution needs more arts graduates
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
These cities attracted the most tourists in 2018
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
In Rwanda, high-speed drones are delivering blood to remote communities
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
Want a fairer society? This economist says he has the answer
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
Billions of cockroaches are being farmed in China to tackle food waste
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
Japan to open door wider to foreign blue-collar workers
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
Why geoblocking means the web is no longer worldwide
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
Migrants are ‘healthier and live longer’ than residents in their host countries
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
Microsoft calls on companies to adopt a facial recognition code of conduct
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
How GDP distorts our view on what is important
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
We’re faced with a choice between destruction and the status quo. This is what we need to do
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
Human rights can help fix the economy. Here’s how
Tuesday 11th of December 2018
Davos 2019: Meet the Crystal Award winners
Monday 10th of December 2018
Hiring more female leaders is good for profits. Here’s the evidence
Monday 10th of December 2018
This study of children in Shanghai links air pollution to autism
Monday 10th of December 2018
How do we really feel about women leaders?
Monday 10th of December 2018
How Africa can rebuild its scientific talent and return to the pinnacle of innovation
Monday 10th of December 2018
This is how CEOs of multi-billion dollar companies spend their time
Monday 10th of December 2018
Here’s what other nations can learn from Korea’s pop music industry
Monday 10th of December 2018
Why procrastinating like Da Vinci and Darwin can be a good thing
Monday 10th of December 2018
This Chinese news app will pay you to use it
Monday 10th of December 2018
Somalia’s e-commerce businesses are rising against all odds
Monday 10th of December 2018
Gender Parity
What’s the economic benefit of diversity? Over the last two years, the movement for fairness and equality between men and women has found renewed energy and conviction around the world. In public life, in politics, in business and across different economic sectors, women and men have been working for change and a world where economic opportunity is no longer shaped and constrained by being a man or a woman. This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform The battle for gender equality is gaining ground in both the developed and developing world. But when countries are hit by crises, women and girls are worse affected than males, according to a new report. Nearly half of women across South Africa are subjected to violence by an intimate partner. This in turn negatively affects about one in four children. A child who is exposed to violence in the home also risks being abused and will, quite reasonably, fear for their own safety. A new book explores how African-American women celebrities, producers, and even audiences use “postracial” discourse to refute the idea of postracialism itself. It took a Nobel Prize before Canadian physicist Donna Strickland got promoted to a full professorship. As anecdotal evidence that women have to prove themselves even more than men to earn a job promotion, her story is hard to beat. Who’s happier, men or women? Research shows it’s a complicated question and that asking whether males or females are happier isn’t really that helpful, because essentially, happiness is different for women and men. In 1994, something remarkable happened at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. This past year, the #MeToo movement has seen celebrities, politicians, journalists and many high-profile people discuss experiences of sexual harassment and violence in the workplace – in all their multiple forms, including psychological abuse and intimidation. Like much of the world, Scotland has a problem with gender equality when it comes to science, technology, engineering and maths. From a very young age, outdated assumptions about who is suited to STEM subjects often mean girls are steered away from them. Those who do pursue them in school and university face many barriers in their careers that lead to the notorious “leaky pipeline”, where women are seen in lower and lower proportions at every stage of seniority. The first global award recognizing the achievements of women with disabilities aims to break through stereotypes to show their skills as leaders and problem solvers, its founder said on Monday. Tunisia is pushing forward with legislation that would give women equal inheritance rights, despite drawing criticism from some Islamic scholars. Japanese fathers are undergoing an image makeover. Despite some progress, the gaps in labor force participation between men and women remain large. To take just one example, no advanced or middle-income economy has reduced the gender gap below 7 percentage points. Hundreds of women took part in a race in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Friday to campaign for an end to violence against women and push for acceptance of women running in public spaces. The pay gap between men and women in the United States is realistically far wider than the most commonly used figures, according to new research showing women earning less than half of men’s incomes. Britons are the most comfortable of the G7 nations with being led by women, a survey found on Tuesday, while Germans – with Europe’s longest-serving female head – ranked poorly. A paradise for women. How one country closed its gender gap.⇒ Explore: Gender Parity Approximately 70 percent of deaths from cancer happen in low- and middle-income countries There is a growing concern that transport networks are magnets for sexual predators who use rush-hour crushes to hide behaviour and as an excuse if caught Where’s the most dangerous place to be a woman? It’s been a little more than a year since actress Alyssa Milano posted on Twitter: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.” That came on the heels of stories by The New York Times and New Yorker about allegations of sexual assault by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Getting support to ask for a pay rise or to fight workplace discrimination will become easier for British women on low incomes with the launch of a free legal aid service, rights groups said on Friday. Iceland is honoured to be a frontrunner in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, and as Prime Minister I am frequently asked about Iceland’s progress, and how we got to where we are. However, I am rarely asked where we should head from here and what we could do better. Show Agenda posts
View more Gender posts
Hiring more female leaders is good for profits. Here’s the evidence
Monday 10th of December 2018
How do we really feel about women leaders?
Monday 10th of December 2018
The hidden face of conflict – maternal mortality
Saturday 8th of December 2018
Why do humanitarian crises disproportionately affect women?
Friday 7th of December 2018
The important link between violence against women and children
Friday 7th of December 2018
How black women are pushing back on the ‘postracial’ myth
Friday 7th of December 2018
Do women have to do more than men to prove themselves in the workplace?
Friday 7th of December 2018
Men and women experience happiness in different ways. Here’s why
Friday 7th of December 2018
Women’s rights in Asia – how far have we come?
Thursday 6th of December 2018
We need a global convention to end workplace sexual harassment
Thursday 6th of December 2018
How gender inequality could damage Scotland’s economy
Wednesday 5th of December 2018
The first global women’s disability award aims to break stereotypes
Wednesday 5th of December 2018
Tunisia wants to change inheritance rules to boost gender equality
Tuesday 4th of December 2018
Make way for a new superhero: the devoted Japanese father
Tuesday 4th of December 2018
When more women join the workforce, everyone benefits. Here’s why
Tuesday 4th of December 2018
Egyptian women race in Cairo to campaign for end to violence
Tuesday 4th of December 2018
The US gender pay-gap is bigger than first thought
Monday 3rd of December 2018
This is how rich countries feel about women in power
Friday 30th of November 2018
A paradise for women, future hiring and other top stories of the week
Friday 30th of November 2018
This workshop is dedicated to helping cancer patients feel beautiful
Thursday 29th of November 2018
Over half of women in five of the world’s biggest cities say safety is their biggest concern
Wednesday 28th of November 2018
Why home is the least safe place to be a woman
Tuesday 27th of November 2018
One year on from the #MeToo movement, what exactly has changed?
Monday 26th of November 2018
UK charities launch legal aid to change the gender pay gap
Friday 23rd of November 2018
How to build a paradise for women. A lesson from Iceland
Friday 23rd of November 2018
