1 Low oil era may dampen hiring in Middle East (Rohma
Sadaqat in Khaleej Times) Employer attitudes on hiring practices in the Middle
East remain unchanged, but a prolonged period of low oil prices may cause some
employers to become more cautious in their hiring patterns, a senior official
at ManpowerGroup has noted.
Jonas Prising, CEO of ManpowerGroup, explained that
despite the recent drop in oil prices, the outlook for the region remains
positive. “If economic activity were to reduce, then employers are going to
become more cautious in their hiring practices. We haven’t seen a change yet,
but you can expect to see some changes in the months to come,” Prising noted.
He explained that the shift in oil prices came about
very quickly, which is one of the reasons why there hasn’t been a change in the
hiring practices. In addition, he revealed that there are a lot of long term
projects and initiatives that will continue to drive the prosperity in the UAE.
About hiring practices, he said: “From an
organisational perspective, what is very interesting right now is the fact that
for the first time you have three or four generations working together in a
company at the same time. As an employer you now have to understand
generational differences, since different generations will have different expectations
from their workplace.”
2 UK trade deficit widest since 2010 (BBC) The UK's
trade deficit widened last year to £34.8bn, the biggest gap since 2010
according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It said a fall in
exports was largely to blame for the rising trade deficit. The value of
exported goods fell by £14.6bn compared to the previous year. Imports of goods
fell for the first time since 2009, down by £7.3bn.
December was a very unusual month as oil imports
surged by 37%. Economists say that firms are stockpiling oil because the price
has fallen so sharply. So despite a fall in the price of oil, the actual value
of oil brought into the UK jumped by more than 20% and contributed to a
widening trade deficit in December.
Economists say, however, that if you strip out the
effects of oil, the outlook for the trade situation is still not great. "Whilst
December's trade data are not as bad as they first appear, the strong pound and
weak demand from the eurozone are likely to prevent a material improvement in
the external position in 2015," said Paul Hollingsworth, UK Economist at
Capital Economics.
3 High on tech, low on civilisation (Javed
Hasan Aly in Dawn) Technologically the postmodern world may be at the apex of
scientific advancement; but where is it morally, sociologically? We are elated
at the proximities driven by the communications revolution. But in this global
village there is more hate than love, more disaffection than satisfaction, more
intolerance than togetherness.
Our hypothesis is that civilisations are not
clashing but global civilisation as a whole is degrading. Flesh has ousted the
soul as the focus of human endeavor. Technology is the thrust of all attention.
Geniuses are more enamoured of cyber war or command over cyberspace.
But where have all the philosophers gone? Buried in
their books in libraries unattended, philosophers of yore are yearning to see
another philosopher — political or moral — to lead this world of great
technologies to a higher level of human civilisation. So far this world does
not seem to cater to that yearning.
There are many contributors to this decay. In the
last more than half a century, the world has witnessed the entrenchment of
obscurantism in a vast swathe of the Muslim world, nurtured by global politics
to initially keep the emerging new Muslim states on a leash, amenable to
discipline by the West. These societies were encouraged to relapse into a
decadent worldview incongruous with the glorious Muslim civilisation between
the 8th and 13th centuries.
Somehow over a period of some 70 years Muslim societies,
even where these were politically strong, stopped growing intellectually. The
only saving graces were the inclusionary and universally tolerant Sufi orders. Slowly
Muslim societies declined and pursuit of knowledge gave way to legacy
degenerating into a debilitating nostalgia.
Does the world need philosopher kings? If that be an
impracticable ideal, the political leadership of the entire world needs to
recognise that compassionate humanity alone can crown this technologically
advanced era as a great civilisation. We need to make this world one niche of
humanity and compassion for all.
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