- The UK Faces Labor Shortages
- Fauci: There Will Be No More Quarantine In The USA
- China’s Manufacturing PMI Drops To 15-Month Low
The UK Faces Labor Shortages
Companies worldwide are struggling to find employees to meet the increasing demand in the wake of the pandemic.
In the UK, which is trying to heal the wounds of Brexit and the pandemic, the problem of finding qualified personnel in almost all sectors is growing. The problem is even more significant in the UK, where EU citizens are predominantly employed in the services sector, especially in the accommodation, catering, and logistics sectors.
According to the job posting search engine Adzuna, job postings in the UK increased by 45 percent in the late March to mid-June period. Tony Wilson, Director of the Employment Studies Institute, states that unless immediate action is taken to fill the job gaps, the country will face labor shortages, high inflation, and long-term unemployment next year.
Many shops in England are closed because they cannot find staff to work. In transportation, it is estimated that there is a shortage of 100 thousand heavy vehicle drivers in the country, and the fact that 25 thousand had to return to their countries after Brexit caused the problem to grow even more.
Supermarket chain Tesco has announced that it has started giving a £1,000 sign-up bonus to heavy-duty truck drivers for recruitment.
Staff Assist UK Business Development Manager Franco Aiello underlines that the most affected sectors are transportation and logistics. There is a big problem, especially in truck driver employment, and the worker shortage has reached alarming levels.
Noting that British businesses have difficulties in reaching a qualified workforce with the effect of Brexit and short-time working allowance, Aiello says that the employees prefer a complete employment package, and the market has become an employee-led market. Fauci: There Will Be No More Quarantine In The USA
Fauci: There Will Be No More Quarantine In The USA
Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that quarantine would not be declared again to curb the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country. Fauci said on Sunday that things would only worsen as the Delta variant is causing an increase in cases, mostly among unvaccinated people.
Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week” program that a sufficient percentage of Americans are vaccinated to avoid quarantine.
According to Reuters analysis, the average number of new Covid-19 cases reported nationwide has nearly doubled in the past ten days.
Even if states do not resort to re-isolation, the spread of the Delta variant could still threaten the economy.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari noted that the Delta variant has caused caution among millions of unemployed Americans and could slow the recovery of the US labor market.
The rise in delta variant cases is also shaking the world. It is quarantining regions of Asia that have seen an increase in cases, with countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam that have previously been relatively successful in containing Covid-19.
Starting today in Australia’s largest city, Sydney, unarmed soldiers will assist the police in checking whether people who test positive are in isolation.
In France, where the government is battling the fourth wave of infections, thousands protested for the third weekend in a row against introducing a mandatory health card, proving it will be necessary for entry into many public spaces.
China’s Manufacturing PMI Drops To 15-Month Low
Private Caixin manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which gauges China’s manufacturing sector activity, came in at 50.3 in July, matching the official released PMI, down from 51.3 in June and at the lowest point since April 2020.
Logistics efficiency was affected by regional flooding in China, the COVID-19 epidemic, and a persistent chip shortage. Because of the high cost of raw materials, the purchasing power of manufacturing companies has increased, although at a slow rate. According to the Caixin poll, businesses had to deliver orders with stored products, and the number of manufactured products was on the decline.
The weaker results in the private survey, mostly export-oriented and covering small manufacturers, are broadly in line with the results in the official survey released Saturday, which showed activity growing at the slowest pace in 17 months.
“The economy is still facing huge downward pressure,” said Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group, in comments released alongside the data. High product prices brought down demand, especially for consumer goods and intermediate goods, said Wang.
“Market demand was sensitive to product prices, which limited enterprises’ pricing power,” said Wang.
The pandemic affected overseas demand; thus, export orders climbed somewhat quicker than the previous month but remained slow. For the fourth month in a row, factories added more workers.
An index of confidence in the year ahead slipped to the lowest level in 15 months.
