Op-ed

It’s no surprise the pandemic completely changed everyone’s lives, with a good majority of employees leaving their jobs because they are not only wanting more from their careers, but needed more support from their workplace. Much has been made of “The Great Resignation," with work itself evolving, it reflects a reprioritisation of personal choices on a global scale — creating a discontinuity that should be of great concern to every leader.

Sub-saharan Africa accounts for the least crypto transaction volume of any region studied by Chainalysis, with $100.6 billion in on-chain volume received between July 2021 and June 2022. This represents only 2% of global activity, and 16% growth over the year prior. However, numbers can be deceiving, as deeper analysis reveals that Africa contains some of the most well-developed cryptocurrency markets of any region, with deep penetration and integration of cryptocurrency into everyday financial activity for many users.

A new approach to towers, growth of neutral hosts, and an expansion of private networks. Those are three strong trends to consider in telecom infrastructure for 2022. A strong recovery post-pandemic has further accelerated the transition of society moving to digital platforms.

Workplaces are being hit with a new kind of issue that is decimating businesses faster than the impact of COVID. It is called ‘reteam-itis’. Businesses all over the country have been operating from home remotely for the better part of three years. Some have transitioned to a hybrid model where staff come into the office occasionally for meetings and townhall events, but for the most part, workers have been doing the bulk of their work from home.

Dear Prime Minister, I ask that you take action to protect Australian Franchisees, by establishing a public register of Franchisee feedback which scores Franchise businesses annually on their support and treatment of Franchisees, and also that you act to protect Franchisees against gross mistreatment, as in the G.J Gardener Homes case.

In the first two quarters of 2022, Netflix lost almost 1.2 million subscribers. Investors began running for the hills and some pundits claimed that the streaming giant’s downfall was imminent. The panic continued when the company cut four percent of its workforce to get its costs in line with “slower revenue growth”. How bad is this malaise? Well, Netflix is certainly under the weather. But this is not the terminal or even critical illness some are suggesting.

There is an increased risk of ransomware attacks in 2023 threatening to leak people's and businesses’ valuable data if ransom demands aren’t paid. There will also be optimisation of social engineering used in scam attacks, taking advantage of economic hardships and energy crisis fears. In addition, expect increased malicious activity overall, as open-source malware becomes more accessible, and cybergangs recruit hacktivists to join their causes.

Much has been discussed about the “Great Resignation”, with recruiters lamenting the diminishing supply of talent posing serious economic risks. Amidst the doom and gloom, current economic signs do point to a glimmer of light at the end of the talent crunch tunnel. With the VC boom coming to an end, VCs like Sequoia Capital and Y Combinator are warning of choppy waters ahead. The second quarter of 2022 foresees a drop of 27% in funds invested in start-ups compared to the first quarter, and down 25% from the same quarter last year. The boom that pumped money and talent into start-ups has passed its peak. 

Six months ago, I sat at my desk, staring at the blank page, thinking about the beginning of my new novel.  I am so proud for being a renowned and award winning mystery novelist, and my publisher was expecting another gritty, engaging novel that would draw readers in. I wanted something a little different for Georgiana Germaine (the protagonist and heroine of the series) this time. I wanted her to address important public agendas in my own special way. I considered the tone and theme, and more importantly, what I wanted to convey by the end of it. As I mulled different ideas around, I started thinking about important topics in the news today, what’s being talked about, and what isn’t being talked about enough.  

When it comes to creating more gender balanced experiences in the workplace, there is still work to do. While the latest findings from the Employee Experience (EX) Trends research from Qualtrics shows there are no significant gaps in the core employee experience metrics between men and women in the workplace- such as engagement, intent to stay, inclusion, well-being, and meeting employee expectations - this does not tell the complete story.