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Proactive Technologies, Inc. Worker Development News |
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More Education Alone Won’t Fix Flat or Declining Wages, But Appropriate Compensation and Stable Job Markets Can Make College Worth It |
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Having several degrees myself, I can say that I am a strong believer in higher education. I sometimes take issue with the quality and relevancy of courses or degree programs, but I would always encourage an individual to consider the value of acquired knowledge to their life plans and the additional doors it may open.
I say this even though many of us who have achieved a higher degree silently questioned how much of their degree really mattered, or how much was forgotten for lack of application when an opportunity to apply it came along too late.
All said, two major trends influence my need to add a caveat to my encouragement to pursue higher education. First, be aware of the endless increases to the cost of higher education and, second, be cognizant of the instability of target job classifications and careers that not only renders a two or four-year degree irrelevant but, today, may leave the graduate empty handed and swamped with student loan debt. Even if the graduate is able to find a job it their expected field, the shock of unexpectedly low and flat wages may harness them to an unfulfilling job for life and sliding backward with all-consuming debt.
According to the Huffington Post, the cost of a college degree in the United States has increased “12 fold” over the past 30 years, far outpacing the price inflation of consumer goods, medical expenses and food. Referencing a Bloomberg study, college tuition and fees have increased 1,120 percent since records began in 1978. Using a chart to explain its findings, Bloomberg reports that the rate of increase in college costs has been “four times faster than the increase in the consumer price index.” It also notes that “medical expenses have climbed 601 percent, while the price of food has increased 244 percent over the same period.” Additionally, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, since 2013 the tuition costs continued on its upward path.
While education costs have skyrocketed and with student loan debt reaching $1.5 trillion, wages for graduates have continued to stay flat or decline. While it is still true that advanced degrees have a tendency of leading to higher starting wages and higher wage caps for the field, the number of fields this still holds true for are dwindling as these jobs are redefined, relocated or staffed with foreign workers invited to work for less. This makes working out of student loan debt slow, laborious in itself and often impossible. Read More
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“Realistic Job Previews” Can Be a Useful Tool for Measuring a Prospective Employee’s Transferable Task-based Skills |
by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
The hiring process can be difficult for both the employer and the prospective employee. A wrong decision can cost each party a lot of time, money and opportunity. An unwanted outcome based on the employer not providing an accurate picture of the job, work environment and work expected to be performed can be avoided with a “Realistic Job Preview.” (“RJP”).
Wikipedia points out that “Empirical research suggests a fairly small effect size, even for properly designed RJPs (d = .12), with estimates that they can improve job survival rates ranging from 3–10%. For large organizations in retail or transportation that do mass hiring and experience new hire turnover above 200% in a large population, a 3–10% difference can translate to significant monetary savings. Some experts (e.g., Roth; Martin, 1996) estimate that RJPs screen out between 15% and 36% of applicants.
When RJPs are less effective, “According to researchers there are four issues that challenge RJP:
1. Recruiters do not share RJPs during interviews. (Rynes, 1991). Read More
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Education-Employer Partnerships That Work |
By Frank Gibson, former Program Manager-The Ohio State University - Alber Enterprise Center, currently and Independent Workforce Development and Management Consultant
A lot is being said these days about “employer-responsive” worker training programs. I think all educational institutions want to believe they have all the answers to all of the challenges employers face. Although I have found that we had many of the answers for many disciplines, it was important to realize our limitations and either find other resources to fill the gap or be truthful with the client so that they might look elsewhere for those answers and solutions.
While a program manager for The Ohio State University - Alber Enterprise Center, which I worked at since its early beginnings in 1996, I learned the value of listening to the employer and providing them what they needed. The Center was founded on the premise of providing educational and technical consulting services to business enterprises throughout the region to help them grow and prosper. Whether to help them train their workers to the latest in technical skills or train their management on the latest management theories and best practices, the Alber Center assembled an extensive network of institutional and private training providers to meet their needs and continued to expand their network to help employer-clients maintain their competitive best.
While we felt The Center did a good job of providing foundation skills for all levels of an operation, we recognized that an educational institution cannot, and really should not, provide employer-specific, task-based training. It is not economically feasible for The Center to maintain the staff and expertise to service every small, medium and large enterprise in our region on processes that are unique to each. It takes a high level of maintained excellence to perform the necessary job and task analysis, develop the employer-specific training materials, train the employer’s staff to effectively implement structured OJT and mange this “systems approach” to build on the foundation our other programs provide.
The Alber Center realized it could partner with such an organization, Proactive Technologies, Inc., early on in 1996 to provide that level of service to its customers in a partnership that provides “turnkey” project services to employers. This approach combined related technical instruction provided by OSU-Alber Center and its network of specialists and structured on-the-job training provided by Proactive Technologies and its staff. Employers that The Center worked with over the years had been not only receptive, but some clients had continued to utilize this approach for over 20 years. And today, many of these visionary employers realize that they were among the first to embrace and implement an approach for which other employers still to this day only wish and hope to experience.
I retired from the Alber Center in 2016 but continued to partner with them on projects of mutual interest as I began my own consulting business. The Ohio State University made the decision to close the Alber Center in 2020.
Today, I continue to help employers, and local and regional government agencies, with workforce development projects, often partnering with Proactive Technologies, Inc. Their approach to worker development may be unique in its comprehensiveness, but its practicality and efficiency is still a "no-brainer" for CEOs and General Managers. Read More
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Appreciating the Value of Labor |
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
For expanding and improving businesses that have the capital for the investment in new equipment or processes, attempting to become or remain competitive, the level of investment is not as important as the return on that investment. This consistent practice of determining where to best place capital for the highest return should apply to labor. What is “paid” for labor is not as relevant as the value it adds to the operation and, ultimately, profit; the return on worker investment.
The lack of appreciation for the difference between a “training cost” and a "training investment” is understandable because it is rarely contrasted. The college textbook entitled Financial Accounting: An Introduction to Concepts, Methods and Uses, defines “direct labor cost” as the “Cost of labor (material) applied and assigned directly to a product; contrast this with indirect labor cost.” Indirect labor cost” is defined as, “An indirect cost of labor (material) such as supervisors (supplies).” There is no mention of an expected return on investment. Generations of cost accountants have been taught that there is no good that comes for higher labor costs, which to them is determined by the level of staffing and wage levels. There is no differentiation between strategic labor costs and uncontrolled labor costs.
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"The profit from, and value of, most worker’s labor comes from task-based work, so all inputs that drive workers to high-performance, high-capacity output are investments."
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As discussed in many articles in past issues of the Proactive Technologies Report, although labor costs are considered direct costs from an accounting standpoint, they should be more importantly considered as an investment in the operation’s overall level of competitiveness. Operations may vary as to the level of return on investment from labor, but each worker’s cumulative expertise gained while employed becomes an asset to the operation akin to intellectual property and, therefore, wages and compensation paid to develop a worker are an investment.
As many operation managers have found out, drastic moves like reducing the wage rates by 20%, 30% or more, while expecting to maintain the same output quantity and quality, chases off the workers with the gained technical expertise…because they can leave. Read More
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Proactive Technologies, Inc. Worker Development News
Industry News
Financial News
International News
International Trade News
Education and Workforce Development News
Training and Organizational Development News
Quality News
Science
Cyber and IT News
Human Resources Management News
Environmental, Health & Safety News
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If interested in attending one of the presentations below, click on the title, then select a date/time and press "Send." An online presentation invitation and link will be sent to you. On the date and time of the event, just click on link in email invitation and it will connect you to the presentation. No special equipment required.
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Onsite and group presentations
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Economic Analysis |
Gross Domestic Product, 4th Quarter and Year 2020 (Second Estimate)
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, reflecting both the continued economic recovery from the sharp declines earlier in the year and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including new restrictions and closures that took effect in some areas of the United States. The increase was 0.1 percentage point higher than the "advance" estimate released in January. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 33.4 percent. Read Report
Personal Income and Outlays, January, 2021
Personal income increased 10.0 percent (monthly rate) while consumer spending increased 2.4 percent in January as provisions of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act enacted on December 27, 2020, began to take effect. Read Report
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census |
Advanced Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in January increased $8.5 billion or 3.4 percent to $256.6 billion. January 2021: +3.4° % change; December 2020 (r): +1.2° % change. Read Report
Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
New orders for manufactured goods in December increased $5.2 billion or 1.1 percent to $493.5 billion.
December 2020: +1.1° % change; November 2020 (r): +1.3° % change. Read Report
Household Pulse Survey - Phase 3 February 24th, 2021
What is the Household Pulse Survey?
The U.S. Census Bureau, in collaboration with multiple federal agencies, is in a unique position to produce data on the social and economic effects of coronavirus on American households. The Household Pulse Survey is designed to deploy quickly and efficiently, collecting data to measure household experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. Data will be disseminated in near real-time to inform federal and state response and recovery planning. Read Data
Small Business Pulse Survey - Phase 4 February 25th, 2021:
The Small Business Pulse Survey (Business Pulse) measures the effect of changing business conditions during the Coronavirus pandemic on our nation's small businesses. Business Pulse complements existing U.S. Census Bureau data collections by providing high-frequency, detailed information on the challenges small businesses are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic as well as their participation in federal programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program. Read Report
Monthly State Retail Sales
The Monthly State Retail Sales (MSRS) is the Census Bureau's new experimental data product featuring modeled state-level retail sales. This is a blended data product using Monthly Retail Trade Survey data, administrative data, and third-party data. Year-over-year percent changes are available for Total Retail Sales excluding Nonstore Retailers as well as 11 retail North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) retail subsectors. These data are provided by state and NAICS codes beginning with January 2019. The Census Bureau plans to continue to improve the methodology to be able to publish more data in the future. Access Tables
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U. S. Department of Labor Statistics |
Consumer Price Index
In January, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis; rising 1.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in January (SA); up 1.4 percent over the year (NSA). Read Report
Producer Price Index
The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 1.3 percent in January, as prices for final demand services rose 1.3 percent, and the index for final demand goods advanced 1.4 percent. The final demand index moved up 1.7 percent for the 12 months ended January 2021. Read Report
Job Openings and Labor Turnover
Job openings were little changed at 6.6 million on the last business day of December. Hires decreased to 5.5 million; total separations were little changed at 5.5 million. Read Report
Unemployment Rate for States
Unemployment Rates for States, Seasonally Adjusted. Read Report
Job Creation - Employment Situation Summary - January, 2021
The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 6.3 percent in January, while nonfarm payroll employment changed little (+49,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The labor market continued to reflect the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. In January, notable job gains in professional and business services and in both public and private education were offset by losses in leisure and hospitality, in retail trade, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing. Read Report
Civilian Labor Participation Rate
For a 20 year chart of the U.S. Civilian Labor Participation Rate. Read Report
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Cornell Law School - U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index |
U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index
For December 2020 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index (JQI)® has been revised to a level of 81.24, down by 0.91% from its revised level one month earlier and reflecting a higher proportion - relative to the prior month - of U.S. production and non-supervisory (P&NS) jobs paying less than the mean weekly income of all P&NS jobs (“Low Quality Jobs”), relative to those jobs paying above such mean. The JQI remains heavily impacted by the extraordinary disruption in the number and composition of private sector production and non-supervisory jobs since the beginning of the U.S. impact of the COVID19 global pandemic, with regard to which the following additional special factors should be noted: Read Report
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Job Quality Index Rises as Low-Quality Jobs Fall in January |
Coalition for a Prosperous America
The Job Quality Index (JQI) rose 0.54 to 79.36 in the February reading as the decline in low-quality jobs prompted a small increase in the JQI. The JQI, produced by the Coalition for a Prosperous America in partnership with academics from Cornell Law School, measures the ratio of high-quality to low-quality jobs where high quality is defined as weekly wages above the mean weekly wage and low quality as weekly wages below the mean weekly wage. The JQI is limited to production and nonsupervisory (P&NS) workers, excluding management and business owners. Read Report
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Carmakers Face $61 Billion Sales Hit From Pandemic Chip Shortage |
Area Development – Bloomberg, Katrina Nicholas, Keith Naughton, Gabrielle Coppola and Debby Wu
When buyers came back, the auto industry didn’t have enough semiconductors. Chip foundries were busy supplying gadget makers.
When the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan in 2011, ocean water flooded factories owned by Renesas Electronics Corp. Production at the swamped facilities ground to a halt—a major hit for Renesas, of course, but also a devastating blow to the Japanese car industry, which depended on Renesas for semiconductors. Lacking chips for everything from transmissions to touchscreens, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota were forced to shut down or slow output for months. As the perils of just-in-time manufacturing and the dangers of relying on a single supplier for key components became obvious, automakers vowed to steer clear of similar snafus in the future. Read Article
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January Manufacturing Sustains Growth, Supply Difficulties |
IndustryWeek - Ryan Secard
The Industry for Supply Management’s manufacturing index fell to 58.7%.
The manufacturing sector continued growing for an eighth straight month in January as the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Manager’s Index for sector growth fell 1.8 points to 58.7% compared to December. The overall economy also grew, sustaining a parallel streak with manufacturing.
The ISM’s biggest indicators for the direction of the manufacturing economy, production and orders, both continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate than they had in the last month of 2020. The new orders index fell 6.4 points to 61.1%, and the production index fell 4 points to 60.7%, and both held on to an eight-month growth streak. Read Article
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Daimler to Split Mercedes-Benz from Truck Business |
IndustryWeek - Staff
Daimler AG announced February 3 it would spin off its truck-building business from its Mercedes-Benz luxury-car company to form two independent enterprises. The final decision on the split will be made in Daimler’s third-quarter 2021 shareholder meeting.
Ola Källenius, chairman of the board for Daimler and Mercedez-Benz, noted in a statement that Daimler Trucks and Mercedes-Benz have different technology paths and capital needs. Daimler Trucks, the world’s largest truck and bus manufacturer, “supplies industry leading transportation solutions and services to customers,” said Källenius, while Mercedes-Benz is best known for its luxury consumer vehicles. Read Article
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A Heightened Focus on Reshoring |
Area Development - Brian Gallagher, Vice President, Corporate Development, Graycor Southern
As costs and risks of lengthy supply chains become even more apparent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more U.S. companies may consider reshoring their operations to the Americas.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the risks inherent in the global supply chain, particularly the worldwide reliance on China for medical supplies. The supply chain turbulence experienced during the pandemic undoubtedly will impact future business decisions, extending beyond medicine to other industries, including electronics, aerospace, automobiles, defense, consumer products, and technology.
Incentivizing Reshoring
Manufacturing companies accelerated moving production to low-cost manufacturing countries (known as offshoring) in the early 1990s. In the rush to globalize, key manufacturing sectors were abandoned in the United States. But now that the vulnerabilities of doing so have been exposed, there is talk of “de-globalization,” or reshoring. Read Article
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The US Has an Emerging Industrial Policy. Biden Should Build on It |
IndustryWeek - Keith B. Belton
It does involve the government picking winners and losers, but in a targeted manner as might be expected of a nation that values capitalism.
President Biden wants to see U.S. factories humming. “American manufacturing was the ‘Arsenal of Democracy’ in World War II, and it must be part of the engine of American prosperity now,” he said upon signing his “Buy American” executive order on January 25th. Two days later, he issued another order that would replace the federal motor vehicle fleet with American-made electric vehicles.
These executive actions are just the first steps in the Biden manufacturing plan, which includes massive new investments in infrastructure, workforce training, and green technologies; reform of international trade rules; and tax incentives to re-shore manufacturing jobs. Read Article
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Automakers Report Strong Sales for End of 2020 |
IndustryWeek - Staff
General Motors, Ford, and Toyota all released recent earnings suggesting rapid automotive recovery.
The automotive market has strengthened considerably since the first half of 2020 forced vehicle manufacturers to shut production. General Motors, Ford Motors, and Toyota Motor Corp. all reported positive sales figures for the end of 2020 into the beginning of 2021.
General Motors reported February 10 that it pulled in $6.4 billion in 2020, a 4.5% loss relative to 2019 profits. Full-year revenue fell 10.7% to $122.5 billion. For its 2020 fourth-quarter results, though, GM reported profits of $2.8 billion—night and day compared to the $194 million loss it saw in Q4 2019. Read Article
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ZF Transmission Invests $200 Million in South Carolina Assembly Plant |
Assembly Magazine
GRAY COURT, SC—ZF Transmission is investing $200 million in its assembly plant here, creating approximately 500 new jobs.
Beginning in 2023, ZF will produce its PowerLine eight-speed automatic transmission at the plant. The transmission is designed for medium-duty commercial trucks, buses and heavy-duty pickup trucks. Read Article
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Amazon Faces Biggest Union Push in its History |
Area Development – AP News, Joseph Pisani
NEW YORK (AP) — The second Jennifer Bates walks away from her post at the Amazon warehouse where she works, the clock starts ticking.
She has precisely 30 minutes to get to the cafeteria and back for her lunch break. That means traversing a warehouse the size of 14 football fields, which eats up precious time. She avoids bringing food from home because warming it up in the microwave would cost her even more minutes. Instead she opts for $4 cold sandwiches from the vending machine and hurries back to her post.
If she makes it, she’s lucky. If she doesn’t, Amazon could cut her pay, or worse, fire her. Read Article
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Trademark Modernization Act Of 2020 To Strengthen Trademark Owners' Rights |
Hodgson Russ LLP - Neil B. Friedman , Gina Kim , Ryan McGonigle and R. Kent Roberts
On December 27, 2020, the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 ("TMA") was signed into law as a part of a COVID-19 relief and spending bill. The TMA is designed to clarify the standard to obtain injunctive relief in trademark actions; reduce the increasing number of fraudulent trademark registrations on the USPTO register; and establish new trademark prosecution procedures to streamline the registration process.
One of the most significant changes brought about by the TMA is the return of the presumption of irreparable harm for trademark owners in an application for injunctive relief which was previously eliminated by eBay Inc. v. MercExchange LLC, 547 U.S. 388 (2006). After the eBay decision, there was a split in the circuits as to whether irreparable harm can be presumed upon a showing of likelihood of success on the merits for preliminary injunctive relief or upon a finding of trademark infringement. The TMA clarifies that "a rebuttable presumption of irreparable harm exists given the consumer protection concerns that would occur otherwise." Read Release
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Goodyear Announces Deal to Buy Cooper Tire for $2.5 Billion |
IndustryWeek - Staff
The Akron-based tire company further cements its position as the biggest tire manufacturer in U.S. with the deal.
Two titans of tires are teaming up. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced February 22 it had landed an agreement with Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. to purchase it for $2.5 billion.
Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear, which employs about 62,000 people in 46 factories across the world, will acquire Cooper’s 10 factories, which collectively employ about 10,000 people, as well as Cooper’s self-named, Mastercraft, Roadmaster and Mickey Thompson tire brands. Read Article
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Classes alone will not close the "skills gap," but structured on-the-job training can...every time!
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Under-capacity of workers is an enormous source of untapped value and unrealized return on worker investment. In addition, standardizing expert task performance -between workers and shifts - can add to worker ROI through lower scrap and rework.
- Increased worker capacity, productivity, work quantity, work quality and compliance (specifications, ISO/AS/TS programs and safety mandates);
- Decreased internal costs of training
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Higher return on worker investment! You would be surprised how small of an investment is needed to unlock enormous returns.
If budgets are tight, Proactive Technologies can be an extension to your training department, with our technical implementation support - included with every project!
There's nothing to lose by taking a minute to contact us to learn more.
www.proactivetechnologiesinc.com
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- Skill, Knowledge and Behavioral Assessments
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If your institution is interested in becoming a Proactive Technologies, Inc. project partner, contact a representative for more information. |
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GAAP is Obsolete; Treat Talent Like the Asset It Is |
CFODive.com - Marvin Weiss, retired professor of accounting and founding dean of the New York Institute of Technology School of Management. Opinions expressed are author's own.
The intellectual workforce that drives company growth should be capitalized and amortized like traditional production investments.
CFOs are familiar with a big weakness of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP): they don't recognize the investment characteristic of knowledge-based startups. As a result, these companies must tell their story using non-financial and non-GAAP metrics, for which there is no standardization.
To reiterate what has been stated by others — as a set of standards, GAAP was developed when production was the primary driver of profitability, and labor was considered replaceable and expendable. While there was an element of intellectual capital, it was minor when compared to investment in production. Read Article
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2021 Poverty Guidelines Published |
Workforce GPS
The 2021 poverty guidelines were published on the HHS website on January 13, 2021 and are available at https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines .
In addition, HHS has provided a helpful excel chart with percentages of the guidelines (e.g., 125%), which is linked under “related content” on the left side of the webpage.
These new guidelines are in effect as of January 13, 2021, as noted on the HHS website. Read Report
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Hedge Funds Hunt Frothy Names to Short, Even After GameStop |
Apple News – Bloomberg, Katherine Burton and Hema Parmar
Managers are finding more opportunities outside of the U.S. They anticipate more dispersion and benchmark-beating returns
Many hedge fund stock-pickers who rang up benchmark-beating returns in 2020 expect to repeat that feat for a second straight year, even after the Reddit rabble-rousers bloodied some short sellers.
They’re betting that rock-bottom interest rates, government stimulus and vaccine rollouts will push stocks higher. And they see irrational exuberance from retail investors creating a target-rich environment on the short side, too, after stocks like GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. rocketed to heights that quickly proved to be unsustainable. Read Article
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How the American Middle Class is Really Doing |
Brookings Institute
Do members of the American middle class have enough money? How pressed for time are they? Are they healthy? The Brookings Middle Class Monitor assesses how the U.S. middle class is faring with 12 metrics from the five key domains for a good quality of life: money, time, relationships, health, and respect. View Data
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Can We Please Stop Talking About Stocks, Please? |
The New York Times - Farhad Manjoo, Opinion Columnist
The stock market isn’t the economy, but that’s hard to remember in a bubble.
This column is not about GameStop, though not for lack of trying. Last week the aging video game retailer emerged as the hottest stock on Wall Street, a story just unexpected and absurd enough to fill the new Trump-shaped void in our nation’s media diet. I was instantly hooked.
I found the initial narrative irresistible — scrappy online traders were taking on greedy hedge funds and corrupt Silicon Valley tech bros while also saving a business that is a relic from a longed-for past. The story was bizarre in a way that felt Extremely 2021, centered on a Reddit day-trading subculture that communicates in an emoji-rich, ironically (I think?) offensive jargon.
There were plot twists, loose ends and big questions. Was this the beginning of a genuine revolt against billionaires — or were billionaires likely to win whatever happened, because they always do? Read Article
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Are We Trapped in Another Housing Bubble? A Rapid Rise in Home Prices has Some Experts Worried |
USA Today – Michael Braga
Home prices are rising coast to coast and are outstripping wages and rents. Some say it's another housing bubble. But it's nothing like the mid 2000s.
In the midst of a raging COVID-19 pandemic, with millions of Americans still out of work and facing the possibility of eviction and foreclosure, the United States is experiencing a real estate boom the likes of which it hasn't seen in 15 years.
Home prices are rising practically everywhere. From Augusta, Maine, to Phoenix and from Sarasota, Florida, to Aberdeen, Washington, prices are up by double digits.
Driven by historically low interest rates that make borrowing cheap and waves of people fleeing densely populated cities because of COVID-19, home buying has become as competitive as it was during the boom years of the mid-2000s. Read Article
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SEC to Take Harder Line on Financial Reporting, Attorneys Say |
CFO Dive
COVID-19 and ESG disclosures, information controls, and SPACs could get increased scrutiny along with accuracy of filings as part of Biden’s SEC approach.
CFOs can expect greater scrutiny of their company's financial disclosures and control processes by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Biden administration, attorneys say.
COVID-19-related reporting and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance are also expected to be a focus, as are highly lucrative special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).
"We expect to see an uptick in enforcement," John Nowak, an attorney with Paul Hastings, said in a webcast hosted last week by the law firm. Read Article
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Will Purchasing Change Ever Happen? |
IndustryWeek - Paul Ericksen
I've never seen as many OEMs stating they will re-evaluate.
In my forty-plus years in industry—most of them working in purchasing—I’ve never seen as many Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) publically stating that they will be re-evaluating their procurement strategies and processes. This, of course, is in response to Covid-19 and the supply chain disruptions it caused across the globe. I wonder about this stated intent in at least three ways:
1.) Will OEMs actually follow through on this? I suspect many will not. Read Article
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SEC Sends a Message to Social Media Stock Promoters |
CFO.com - Vincent Ryan
Commission suspends trading in an over-the-counter stock, SpectraScience, that is being "pumped" on social media sites.
The Securities and Exchange Commission may be looking to head off future social media-driven stock trading frenzies. On Thursday morning, the commission suspended trading in a “pink sheets” stock that has been the subject of hype on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Since January, according to the SEC, “certain social media accounts may be engaged in a coordinated attempt to artificially influence the share price of SpectraScience (OTC: SCIE), an inactive Minnesota-based corporation.” The share price and trading volume of SpectraScience shares have increased even though there was no publicly available news from the company, the SEC said. Read Article Commission suspends trading in an over-the-counter stock, SpectraScience, that is being "pumped" on social media sites. Read Article
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Loan System Bugs Holding Up PPP Loans: AICPA |
CFO.Com - Vincent Ryan
The second round of the Paycheck Protection Program seems to have finally gained some traction, at least according to the data. The Small Business Administration said this week that from January 11 to January 31, more than 890,000 loans worth $72.7 billion had been approved. That’s about one-fourth of the $284 billion in total federal loan guarantees Congress authorized for the second round of the PPP program.
Most PPP loans — $68 billion, or 93% — are second loans to borrowers that exhausted their first one last year. The average loan size for “second-draw” borrowers was $102,228. First-time borrowers scored $4.8 billion in loan funds, and the average loan size was $21,157.
However, the SBA’s numbers may be cloaking problems individual borrowers are having applying through the SBA’s electronic loan servicing system, E-Tran. Read Article
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After GameStop, A Better Way To Take On Wall Street? |
NPR Planet Money – Greg Rosalsky
In the economist's utopian vision of the stock market, clearheaded investors diligently evaluate companies and invest only in the ones they expect to grow and thrive. In the process, investors direct resources where they'll be most productive, benefiting the overall economy.
The GameStop circus over the last few weeks showed again that the real stock market is a far cry from Utopia. To some, GameStop was a chance to make a quick buck on a speculative roller coaster. To others, it was a way to stick it to Wall Street. But if taking on Wall Street really is the goal, meme-fueled rallies aren't likely to bring lasting change. Read Article
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Reg A+ Offerings Are Having a Moment |
CFO.com - Benzinga
SPACs got most of the headlines in 2020, but it was also a breakout year for another IPO alternative: Reg A+.
2020 ended up being a big year for capital raising outside of the traditional IPO process. But while SPACs got most of the headlines, it was also a breakout year for another IPO alternative: Reg A+.
It’s now been six years since Reg A+ went into effect. The process was meant to make it easier for small companies to raise money in the secondary markets and give retail investors access to an asset typically reserved for Wall Street institutions.
Though results were initially mixed, it appears as if the process may have found its footing.
“We saw companies raise $30 million Series A rounds online with 10,000 retail investors [in 2020],” said Darren Marble, CEO at Issuance, a technology provider for Reg A+ issuers. “I think for the first time we’re seeing companies that have every capital raising option available to them consciously leaning to the Reg A+ ecosystem, which is a sign that we’ve arrived.” Read Article
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Private Equity Firms Are Piling On Debt to Pay Dividends |
CFODive – The New York Times, Matthew Goldstein
Dividend recaps, a kind of borrowing long condemned for loading up companies with debt for the benefit of their private equity owners, has surged.
The initial public offering of Apria Healthcare last week was a $170 million boon to Blackstone Group, the private equity firm that is Apria’s majority owner.
But as lucrative as that payday was, it wasn’t as good as the one Blackstone extracted from the company just a few weeks earlier: about $200 million in dividends, paid with borrowed cash.
The practice has a divisive history — Hertz and Payless, the shoe retailer, are just two of the companies that recently faltered after their private equity owners heaped debt on them while pulling out cash. Now dividend payouts are booming again. Read Article
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Survey: Most Financial Executives Not Planning to Use Bitcoin as Corporate Asset |
CFO Dive
Dive Brief:
Eighty-four percent of financial executives said this month that they do not plan to ever include bitcoin among their corporate assets, according to a Gartner survey.
Among the 77 respondents, only 5% said they plan to hold bitcoin as a corporate asset this year, Gartner said, noting the survey included 50 CFOs.
The volatility of bitcoin is the No. 1 concern among financial executives, with risk aversion of the company board, slow adoption of bitcoin in finance and regulatory concerns also discouraging acceptance of the cryptocurrency, Gartner said. Read Article
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Elon Musk Loses $15 Billion in a Day After Bitcoin Warning |
Mint - Bloomberg
Elon Musk is no longer the world’s richest person after Tesla Inc. shares slid 8.6% on Monday, wiping $15.2 billion from his net worth.
Elon Musk is no longer the world’s richest person after Tesla Inc. shares slid 8.6% on Monday, wiping $15.2 billion from his net worth. Read Article
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Mexico, Latin America, South America and the Caribbean |
Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the New Global Outlook
InterAmerican Development Bank
Foreign direct investment (FDI) will be critical in the region's economic recovery and sustainable post-pandemic growth, especially in the process of reconfiguration of global value chains (GVCs) that has been accelerated with the pandemic.
Latin America and the Caribbean have maintained a relatively high and stable share of global FDI flows over time. However, their role in global value chains has been limited. The post-COVID-19 scenario is an opportunity to attract and increase production activities in our region based on the design of targeted investment attraction strategies. Read Article
Thousands of Haitians Protest, Alleging New Dictatorship
France24
Several thousand people demonstrated Sunday in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, saying the government was trying to establish a new dictatorship and denouncing international support for President Jovenel Moise.
The protests were mostly peaceful, although a few clashes broke out between some demonstrators and police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
Protesters waved the national flag and chanted, "Down with the dictatorship!" Read Article
Parcels of Brazilian Rainforest Listed for Sale on Facebook Marketplace: Report
The Hill – Lexi Lonas
Parcels of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are illegally being listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace, a BBC report found.
The listings are found on Facebook’s classified ad service, where people are illegally selling plots of land in indigenous communities and land that is bigger than 1,000 football pitches, according to the BBC.
The BBC found one seller, Fabricio Guimarães, who was secretly filmed illegally selling land. He said there was “no risk of an inspection by state agents here” and was selling a plot for $35,000. Read Article
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Canada, Europe and Great Britain |
Captain Tom: Funeral Held for British Fundraising Hero
DeutscheWelle
Well-wishers have paid tribute to the World War Two veteran who died of coronavirus earlier this month, aged 100. Captain Sir Tom raised millions for Britain's National Health Service.
Britain paid tribute on Saturday to the World War II veteran who captured the hearts of a nation by raising millions for the country’s health service at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Well wishes hailed the efforts of Captain Sir Tom Moore at his funeral, which included a flypast by the Royal Air Force. Read Article
Armenia in Political Crisis Over PM's Comments on Russian Missiles
DeutscheWelle
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan finds himself in trouble, with military leaders calling for his resignation. He, in turn, has claimed they are trying to oust him in a coup.
It has been three months since Armenia's defeat to Azerbaijan in the conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. The country remains politically unstable, and now high-ranking military figures such as Onik Gasparyan, chief of the armed forces general staff, are calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign. Read Article
Ontario Alerts Health-care Workers About Counterfeit N95 Respirators That Slipped Detection
CBC News
Province vows ‘thorough investigation’ into how products wound up in its PPE stockpile
Ontario's health ministry said Friday a number of N95 respirators were sent to health-care providers were in fact counterfeits and that it's now investigating how the products wound up in the provincial stockpile.
A spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott said health partners have been alerted, but didn't specify who those frontline workers are or how many fake N95s had been sent out. Read Article
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Panel of Experts Confirms Republic of Korea is in Breach of Labour Commitments Under our Trade Agreement
European Commission
The panel report published today confirms the EU’s concerns that Korea has not acted consistently with its trade and sustainable development obligations under the EU-Korea trade agreement. The independent Panel concluded that Korea needs to adjust its labour laws and practices and to continue swiftly the process of ratifying four fundamental International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions in order to comply with the agreement. Read Release
Germany Urges Taiwan to Help Ease Auto Chip Shortage
Assembly Magazine
BERLIN—German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has asked Taiwan to persuade Taiwanese manufacturers to help ease a shortage of semiconductor chips in the auto sector, which is hampering its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter sent in late January, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier asked his Taiwanese counterpart Wang Mei-hua to address the issue in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker and one of Germany’s main suppliers. Read Article
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Asia, India and Australia |
Why Are Farmers Protesting in India?
Brookings Institute – Lawfare, Rohini Kurup
As military tanks and elaborate floats paraded through the center of New Delhi on Jan. 26 as part of India’s annual Republic Day celebrations—commemorating the day India’s democratic constitution came into effect—a rally just miles away turned violent. Farmers protesting agricultural reforms drove tractors through barricades and faced off with police. It was a dramatic escalation after months of mostly peaceful protests by hundreds of thousands of farmers. The protests have challenged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and threatened the viability of the governing coalition leading the world’s largest democracy.
At the center of the protests are agriculture reforms prompted by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which pushed three farming laws through Parliament in September 2020. But thanks to the rushed process by which the laws were passed and the government’s crackdown on dissent, what might have been a debate over agricultural economics has instead become a political challenge to the ruling party. Read Article
Myanmar Coup: Protesters Defy Military Warning in Mass Strike
BBC
Military leaders overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government on 1 February. Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Myanmar in one of the largest demonstrations yet against the country's military coup.
Businesses closed as employees joined a general strike, despite a military statement that said protesters were risking their lives by turning out.
The statement prompted fears the protests could turn violent, but they remained peaceful throughout Monday. Read Article
Covid-19: India in a 'Delicate Phase' of its Coronavirus Battle as Cases Surge
BBC
After reporting a significant drop in the number of Covid-19 cases for months, some Indian states have seen a sharp uptick in infections in February. The BBC's Vikas Pandey and Soutik Biswas report.
In early February, physicians in Amravati district, some 700km (435 miles) from India's commercial capital, Mumbai, noticed a sudden surge in the number of people suffering from Covid-19. Read Article
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Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia |
US-Turkey Relations Will Remain Crisis-ridden for a Long Time to Come
Brookings Institute - Galip Dalay
Nonresident Fellow - Brookings Doha Center Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow, Robert Bosch Academy
The U.S.-Turkey relationship has a long history of complexities, with no golden era to point to. However, even by these standards, recent years have been exceptionally bad. An accumulated series of crises, a dysfunctional framework for the relationship, and diverging threat perceptions have plagued ties.
In particular, five crises that have tested U.S.-Turkey relations in recent years are likely to be on the Biden administration’s agenda: Turkey’s purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems and the ensuing U.S. sanctions on Turkey, the Syrian Kurds, the Eastern Mediterranean crisis, the court case against Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank related to U.S. sanctions on Iran, and Biden’s views on Turkey’s democratic regression.
Despite this long list of disputes, former President Trump shielded Turkey from many possible punitive actions. In this regard, his departure bodes ill for Ankara. In his confirmation hearing on January 19, Secretary of State Antony Blinken referred to Turkey as our “so-called strategic partner” in response to a question on Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 systems; this is indicative of the new administration’s mood toward Turkey. In the same vein, in almost all public opinion polls in Turkey, the United States tops the list of countries that people perceive to threaten Turkey’s national security. Read Article
Preventing the Next Pandemic: Addressing Antibiotic Resistance
Brookings Institute - Patricia Geli, Senior Economist/Public Health Specialist - World Bank; Otto Cars,
Senior Professor, Infectious Diseases - Uppsala University Founder and Senior Adviser - ReAct-Action on Antibiotic Resistance
Editor's Note: Below is a Viewpoint from Chapter 2 of the Foresight Africa 2021 report, which explores top priorities for the region in the coming year. This year’s issue focuses on strategies for Africa to confront the twin health and economic crises created by the COVID-19 pandemic and emerge stronger than ever. Read the full chapter on support for public health.
Foresight Africa 2021After their introduction more than 80 years ago, antibiotics saved millions of lives, transforming health care. Now, though, the ubiquitous use of these “wonder drugs” has led to the natural selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria—a threat to the very gains once made. Frighteningly, the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria today is a silent pandemic that could undermine health systems the world over.
Already, antibiotic resistance has been estimated to claim more than 750,000 lives every year. Some of the most dire consequences of this phenomenon could be for the poorest and most vulnerable people in countries that never had adequate access to antibiotics to begin with. Read Article
Italian Ambassador to DR Congo Killed in UN Convoy Attack
BBC
Italy's ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo has been killed in an attack in the east of the country, its foreign ministry has said.
Luca Attanasio, 43, died in hospital on Monday after the United Nations convoy he was travelling in came under fire near Goma, a statement said.
The convoy reportedly belonged to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP). Read Article
Afghanistan's Ghani Sees 'Window of Opportunity' for Peace Process
BBC
Afghanistan's president says there is a "window of opportunity to accelerate the peace process" following Nato's announcement that it has made no final decision on withdrawing troops.
Ashraf Ghani made the comments in an exclusive interview with the BBC.
The Nato military alliance has close to 10,000 troops in the war-torn country. Under a US-Taliban deal, they were due to be withdrawn by May, after 20 years.
But there are concerns that Taliban violence could intensify. Read Article
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Proactive Technologies' Project Partners |
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Frank J. Gibson Consulting |
"One thing is certain... nothing is certain!"
The rate of change affecting work, the worker, management and the educational institutions that service all three has been accelerating - made worse by the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic. The economy, the consumer, supply chains and operational strategies have all been disrupted in the short-term, casting doubt on the long-term.
Rapid adaptation is the key to survivability, sustainability and growth. Sometimes an experienced outside advisor can help facilitate needed improvements to take the worry out of change and the fear out of growth. Frank J. Gibson Management and Workforce Excellence Advisor
- Business Development & Growth
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- Training and Cross-Training
- Local,/Regional Workforce Development Projects and Community Development
- Facilitated Problem Solving
- Process Improvement Cross-Functional Leadership Coaching and Mentoring
- Internship and Apprenticeship Projects
- Strategic Doing/Strategic Planning
Copyright © 2021 Frank J. Gibson
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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PTI Systems
International, Inc.™
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- Affiliated with Proactive Technologies, Inc. for projects outside the United States;
- Workforce development partner for employers, and education/ training providers who support employers, to ensure every worker can be trained to full job mastery;
- Experienced with governmental, IDB, GIZ and economic development agency sponsored projects;
- Experienced in assuring multinational employers expanding to the U.S. have the skilled workforce they need.
- PTI Systems International sets-up complete worker development and performance management systems, and provides technical implementation support;
- We provide strategies for our project's transition to local management.
- Speakers for seminars and conferences.
Don't complain about a "skills gap," deliberately develop every worker to full job mastery!
© 2018-21 PTI Systems International, Inc.™
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"The aim of leadership should be to improve the performance of man and machine, to improve quality, to increase output, and simultaneously to bring pride of workmanship to people. Put in a negative way, the aim of leadership is not merely to find and record failures of men, but to remove the causes of failure: to help people to do a better job with less effort.”
American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and
management consultant
1900 - 1993
"A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous."
American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander,
lawyer, banker, and economist
1755 – 1804
“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer
1835 – 1910
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Economic Analysis |
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, December, 2020
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $66.6 billion in December, down $2.4 billion from $69.0 billion in November, revised. December exports were $190.0 billion, $6.2 billion more than November exports. December imports were $256.6 billion, $3.8 billion more than November imports. Read Report
U.S. International Transactions, Third Quarter 2020
The U.S. current account deficit, which reflects the combined balances on trade in goods and services and income flows between U.S. residents and residents of other countries, widened by $17.2 billion, or 10.6 percent, to $178.5 billion in the third quarter of 2020, according to statistics released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The revised second quarter deficit was $161.4 billion.
The third quarter deficit was 3.4 percent of current dollar gross domestic product, up from 3.3 percent in the second quarter.
The $17.2 billion widening of the current account deficit in the third quarter mostly reflected an expanded deficit on goods that was partly offset by an expanded surplus on primary income. Read Article
New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States
The statistics on new foreign direct investment in the United States provide information on the acquisition, establishment, and expansion of U.S. business enterprises by foreign direct investors. Read Reports
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census |
Monthly Wholesale Trade
December 2020 sales of merchant wholesalers were $503.8 billion, up 1.2 percent (+/- 0.4 percent) from last month. End-of-month inventories were $651.5 billion, up 0.3 percent (+/- 0.4 percent)* from last month. December 2020: +0.3* % change in Inventories; November 2020 (r): 0.0* % change in Inventories. Read Report
Manufacturing Trade Inventory and Sales
U.S. total business end-of-month inventories for December 2020 were $1,971.7 billion, up 0.6 percent (+/- 0.1 percent) from last month. U.S. total business sales were $1,494.2 billion, up 0.8 percent (+/- 0.2 percent) from last month. December 2020: +0.6 % change in Inventories; November 2020 (r): +0.5 % change in Inventories. Read Report
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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
U.S. Data versus the World
Find, compare and share the latest OECD data: charts, maps, tables and related publications. Access Data
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Key Statistics and Trends in International Trade 2020 |
United Nation Conference on Trade and Development
This report is structured into two parts. The first part presents a short-term overview of the status of international trade using preliminary statistics on merchandise trade up to the third quarter of 2020. The second part provides illustrative statistics on international trade in goods and services covering the medium term. The second part is divided into two sections. Section 1 provides trade statistics at various levels of aggregation illustrating the evolution of trade across economic sectors and geographic regions. Section 2 presents some of the most used trade indicators at the country level, to illustrate trade performance across countries. Download Report
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CPA Supports Biden Decision to Keep Aluminum Tariffs |
Coalition for a Prosperous America
Washington. The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today praised President Biden’s decision to continue tariffs on aluminum imports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The tariffs were previously set to expire on February 3, but the president has now revoked that order.
“We applaud the continuation of these tariffs,” said CPA Chair Zach Mottl. “Left unchecked, the UAE’s state-subsidized aluminum producers could ship artificially underpriced aluminum into the U.S. market. Manufacturing workers throughout the nation appreciate President Biden’s decision.”
The Trump administration imposed Section 232 tariffs on global aluminum imports in 2018. However, in the final days of his term, President Trump chose to specifically end tariffs on aluminum from the UAE. His decision ordered a February 3 end-date for the UAE tariffs. Read Article
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IMF More Optimistic on Global Growth |
William Sprouse
The International Monetary Fund has revised its global growth forecast for 2021 but warned that new COVID variants could derail the economic recovery.
In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF said it expects the global economy to grow at 5.5% this year, up three-tenths of a percentage point from its estimate in October.
“Much now depends on the outcome of this race between a mutating virus and vaccines to end the pandemic, and on the ability of policies to provide effective support until that happens,” IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said in a blog post. “There remains tremendous uncertainty and prospects vary greatly across countries.” Read Article
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Apple Supplier Foxconn To Build $270 Million Plant In Vietnam Amid U.S.-China Tensions |
Area Development Forbes, Ralph Jennings
Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology, which manufactures electronics for Apple, this week received a license from the Vietnamese government to build a $270 million plant to make laptops and tablets in the Southeast Asian nation amid U.S.-China tensions.
The new plant, which will be developed by Foxconn subsidiary Fukang Technology, will be located in the rural province of Bac Giang, just outside Hanoi, and will be able to manufacture eight million units annually, according to the Vietnamese government’s website.
Foxconn, which was founded by Taiwanese billionaire Terry Gou, has been operating in Vietnam since 2007 and invested a total of $1.5 billion. Read Article
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Transoceanic Shipping: Navigating ‘Global Pollution Chains’ |
Coalition for a Prosperous America - Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst
Why reshoring and near-shoring are better for the environment in the near-term.
Globalization is an environmental headwind.
If climate change risks are going to be measured in most policy decisions made in the Biden Administration, then the environmental impact of transoceanic shipping should be part of the equation.
Both the US and Europe now say climate change is one of the biggest dangers. Both are moving to reduce the carbon footprints of their economies. Europe is pressing ahead with regulating the shipping industry in order to get them to reduce C02 emissions 40% by 2030. The pressure to reduce shipping greenhouse gas emissions can be exemplified by the so-called Poseidon Principles, a framework by banks for assessing the climate risk for major shipping fleets. On January 1, 2020, the International Maritime Organization reduced limits on sulphur in fuel oil, claiming this is delivering a 70% cut in total sulphur oxide emissions from shipping. The industry knows they are being watched closely by the greens in government, and at the European banks that are increasingly ESG focused. Read Release
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Biden vs. Trump on Reshoring: A Review, and a Critique |
IndustryWeek - Harry Moser
The Reshoring Initiative looks at the good, the bad, and the 'needs work.' Opinion/Analysis
Since 2010, companies have brought over 700,000 manufacturing jobs to the U.S., the sum of reshoring by U.S. companies and FDI (foreign direct investment) by foreign companies. This surge is responsible for about half of the 1.4 million manufacturing employment increase from the March 2009 Great Recession valley to the December 2019 pre-COVID-19 peak. At a given level of U.S. goods consumption, the only ways to increase manufacturing are to export more or import less, i.e., reshore/FDI. Importing less is far easier due to the economic advantages of selling locally.
Balancing the goods trade deficit will increase U.S. manufacturing by 40%, or five million jobs, President Joe Biden’s goal. Reaching this goal in even 20 years will require increasing the rate of annual reshoring/FDI from the Obama and Trump averages of 56,000 and 144,000, respectively, to about 450,000. President Biden’s humanitarian and ecological goals will all be much more affordable if this rate of reshoring occurs. Read Article
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December Trade Deficit Falls as China Imports Move To Mexico, Europe |
Coalition for a Prosperous America - Kenneth Rapoza, CPA Industry Analyst
The December trade deficit in goods and services fell 3.5% to $66.6 billion in December after a big boom in November. One big takeaway from the last month of 2020, China trade is giving way to Mexico in near-shoring effort.
The goods and services deficit for the month of December fell 3.5% to $66. 6 billion, as exports rose 3.4% to $190 billion compared with slower import growth of 1.5% to $256.6 billion. The pandemic is still a factor. Both total exports and total imports are down compared to 2019 levels, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data showed on Friday.
The December decrease in the overall goods and services deficit is due to the decline in the goods deficit by $2.8 billion to $84.2billion for the month. November’s goods deficit was over $88 billion, a 14-year high ahead of the holiday spending spree. Read Article
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US Sticks by Tariffs in Boeing-Airbus Trade Dispute |
IndustryWeek - Agence France-Presse
Both United States and European Union have won rulings from the World Trade Organization that permit punitive tariffs over alleged unfair trade practices.
President Joe Biden's administration said Thursday it will maintain punitive tariffs on some European imports as part the long-running trade dispute between Boeing and Airbus.
In a notice due to be published in the Federal Register on Friday, the US Trade Representative (USTR) said "it is unnecessary at this time to revise" the levies. Read Article
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WTO Appoints New Director General |
IndustryWeek – Staff
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will assume head of the trade organization March 1.
The World Trade Organization has appointed a new leader. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria will lead the organization in charge of handling international trade and end its roughly six-month stint without a director-general.
Okonjo-Iweala will be the WTO’s seventh director-general, as well as the first woman and first African to take the role. A graduate of Harvard and MIT, she served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister between 2003-2006 and 2011-2015 and as its Foreign Minister in 2006. She also worked at the World Bank for 25 years as a development economist and rose to its second-highest position. Read Article
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Global foreign Direct Investment Fell by 42% in 2020, Outlook Remains Weak |
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Global foreign direct investment (FDI) collapsed in 2020, falling 42% from $1.5 trillion in 2019 to an estimated $859 billion, according to an UNCTAD Investment Trends Monitor published on 24 January.
Such a low level was last seen in the 1990s and is more than 30% below the investment trough that followed the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.
Despite projections for the global economy to recover in 2021 – albeit hesitant and uneven – UNCTAD expects FDI flows to remain weak due to uncertainty over the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read Release
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World Economic Outlook Update - January 2021 |
International Monetary Fund
Although recent vaccine approvals have raised hopes of a turnaround in the pandemic later this year, renewed waves and new variants of the virus pose concerns for the outlook. Amid exceptional uncertainty, the global economy is projected to grow 5.5 percent in 2021 and 4.2 percent in 2022. The 2021 forecast is revised up 0.3 percentage point relative to the previous forecast, reflecting expectations of a vaccine-powered strengthening of activity later in the year and additional policy support in a few large economies. Read Report
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Education And Workforce Development News |
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Legislation Introduced to Invest $15 Billion in Workforce Training |
International Association of Workforce Professionals
Legislation has been introduced to invest $15 billion in our nation’s workforce training system. The Relaunching America’s Workforce Act authorizes funding to provide essential career services and help workers attain additional skills and credentials as the economy emerges from its deepest decline since the Great Depression.
The Relaunching America’s Workforce Act expands support for dislocated workers and funds layoff aversion strategies to help employers keep workers on the job. The bill invests in workforce training programs to help workers improve their skills and transition into new jobs in high-demand industries, including the health care, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors. The legislation also restarts a successful grant program supporting partnerships between community colleges and employers, which was implemented during the Great Recession to help workers learn skills for in-demand jobs. Read Article
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A Year Into the Pandemic, Thousands of Students Still Can't Get Reliable WiFi for School. The Digital Divide Remains Worse Than Ever |
USA Today - Erin Richards, Elinor Aspegren, Erin Mansfield
In Los Angeles, special education teacher Jaime Lozano strives to keep the attention of his elementary students during online classes.
But no matter the charisma he brings to the screen, it's no match for glitchy internet connections. Every day, about a third of his students experience an outage that cuts into their learning time, Lozano said. Nearly all of his students are from low-income families, and many can't afford wired, broadband service.
"The system goes down, or someone is working on a tower, or there's too many people on the Wi-Fi hotspot and it cuts out," Lozano said. Read Article
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The Recession Exposes the US’ Failures on Worker Retraining |
Area Development - WIRED
Unemployment is high, and many pre-pandemic jobs will not return. But the US spends a smaller share of its economy on training than most developed nations.
Saeed Shareef badly wanted to get out of the restaurant industry.
Shareef, 30, had started working as a server a decade earlier, after realizing he couldn’t afford the price of a four-year college degree. He’d done stints at Buffalo Wild Wings, Papa John’s and the Cheesecake Factory. But the money wasn’t great, the work was unsatisfying, and poor treatment from customers left him increasingly fed up.
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and Shareef was laid off. That’s been an all-too-common scenario. What happened next has not. Shareef’s mother saw a TV commercial for a program that offered 12 weeks of training for technology careers, tuition-free. Buoyed by unemployment benefits, Shareef enrolled, and four months later, he started work as a junior web developer for a retail company in his hometown of Cincinnati. Read Article
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More Coordination Needed, Walsh Says |
Community College Daily News – Mathew Dembicki
Marty Walsh, President Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. labor secretary, said at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday that he would seek closer ties with the U.S. Education Department (ED) and other federal agencies to better coordinate education and workforce development opportunities.
The Boston mayor told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee that in his discussions with its members leading to the hearing, each one — whether Democrat or Republican — noted the importance of job training.
During the hearing, several lawmakers said there are areas that ED and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) could work on together more closely. Walsh agreed. Read Article
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Why Traumatized Students Can’t Learn and What Community Colleges Can Do About It |
Community College Daily News – Mark Dennis
A few semesters ago, I received this email from a student in my human sexuality class whom I will call “Karla”:
“Dear Professor Dennis, I am sorry that I have not been in class the past three weeks. My daughter and I recently became homeless due to domestic violence … CFS (Children and Family Services) has opened a case … I have fallen behind on school-work … is there anything that I can do to still pass the class…?”
I emailed Karla immediately, tried to express empathy, and told her that I would do everything I could to help her catch up. I never heard from her again.
I have taught in community colleges for the past 10 years and have received more emails like this than I can count. I don’t know what ultimately happened to Karla, but one thing is clear: Within one semester, she experienced at least three events that could lead to lingering trauma. Read Article
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Training And Organizational Development News |
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Despite Rising Salaries, the Skilled-labor Shortage is Getting Worse |
PBS News Hour – Judy Woodruff
There's a shortage of skilled tradespeople throughout the American economy, and it is a persistent problem that started well before the pandemic. But what's behind that gap and what can be done? Paul Solman reports for our series, "Work Shift", which focuses on navigating the job market in a post-COVID economy. See Video and Read Transcript
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BMW Celebrates Celebrates Groundbreaking for New Training Center |
SC Commerce
BMW Manufacturing celebrated the groundbreaking of its new $20 million training center on the BMW campus in Spartanburg County this week. Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt joined the BMW team to officially break ground on the 67,000 square-foot facility, which is a continuation of BMW’s 2017 commitment to invest $200 million over five years into workforce training.
The campus will feature classrooms for both professional development and technical training; an outdoor amphitheater; and a unique concept of outdoor meeting and workspace that includes wireless capabilities. Read Release
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US Department of Labor Undertakes Several Actions to Strengthen Registered Apprenticeship Program, Eliminate Duplication |
US Department of Labor
WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced several actions designed to accelerate apprenticeship expansion as it considers halting the duplicative apprenticeship system that may reduce quality, strip protections for apprentices and cause confusion for industry. The steps follow a Biden administration announcement today.
The department will suspend its acceptance and review of new or pending applications for Standards Recognition Entities in the Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program. In addition, the department announced its intention to relaunch the federal Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship. These actions will follow an Executive Order that President Biden will sign on Feb. 17, 2021, that revokes Executive Order 13801 and directs federal agencies to consider taking steps promptly to rescind any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines or policies implementing that order. Read Release
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Access Proactive Technologies' Recent "Proactive Technologies Workforce News" Article Quicklinks |
Located on the left panel below, this includes articles on structured worker development, achieving worker "full job mastery," engineering/quality/safety compliance, ISO/TS/AS quality program support and compliance, and many other contemporary worker development and management topics. |
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Recent Proactive Technologies News Article Quicklinks
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FEBRUARY
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Manager – Eastern U.S. – Proactive Technologies, Inc.
By Randy Toscano, Jr., MSHRM, Executive Director of Human Resources, Paris, Texas Regional Medical Center
by Proactive Technologies, Inc. Staff
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
JANUARY, 2021
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Manager - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Dr. Dave Just, formally Dean of Corporate and Continuing Education at Community Colleges in MA, OH, PA, SC. Currently President of K&D Consulting
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
DECEMBER
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Manager – Eastern U.S., Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Proactive Technologies, Inc. – Staff
by Dean Prigelmeier. President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
NOVEMBER
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of East Coast Operations - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Proactive Technologies, Inc. - Staff
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
OCTOBER
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Manager - Eastern U.S., Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Dr. Dave Just, formally Dean of Corporate and Continuing Education at Community Colleges in MA, OH, PA, SC. Currently President of K&D Consulting
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
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Proactive Technologies, Inc. Partners With Educational Institutions, Workforce/Economic
Development Groups, Government Agencies
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Structured on-the-job training attracts and engages employers in workforce development partnerships...some projects sustainable for more than 18 years!
This creates a steady need for your related technical instruction, services and a pathway for employment.
These partnerships:
- enhance your institution's opportunity to market your products and services to incumbent workers;
- allow your organization to include structured on-the-job training as a capstone to preemployment preparation;
- document a trainee-to worker's increasing value to the employer - the key to retention - rather than leaving it to chance;
- properly aligns workforce development resources and maximizes the impact and results; allows you to engage an employer's facility, equipment and staff in the training process;
- provides the best, sustainable infrastructure for apprenticeships and internships that last!
- is a win for the trainee, win for the worker, win for the employer, win for the institution and win for the community!
This approach has continued to prove itself since 1988, and does not compete with your school's or agency's products and services; it adds to your efforts the clear, tangible, measurable advantage that employers seek.
Copyright © 2021 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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To supplement onsite PROTECH™ system of managed human resource development classes, these regularly scheduled webinars are available to the registered staff of clients:
- Structured On-The-Job Training Instructor Certification
- Structured On-The Job Training Checklist Administrator Certification
- Management Structured On-The-Job Training Project Support Briefing
- Integrating Support for Plant-Wide ISO/AS/TS Quality and Safety Systems with PROTECH Workforce Development System
- Supporting "Pay-For-Value" Systems
- Promoting Continuous Process Improvement While Implementing the PROTECH System for the Accelerated Transfer of Expertise™
- PROTECH Onsite System Administrator Certification
Contact US to attend one of these seminars will send you an e-reservation. Include your client ID, name and user ID number and which webinar you would like to attend.
Copyright © 2019-21 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Control Chart Analysis – An Example |
Quality Magazine – Digital Edition, Paul Keller
An SPC (Statistical Process Control) Software customer recently inquired if I could discern any issues in a process, as their customer had identified problems with three recent shipments. They provided data for the customer’s current year shipments for a variety of KPI (key process indicators) in an Excel file.
The Excel file provided 45 data values for each characteristic (KPI), with lot number, date, and occasional zero values where data records were missing. After opening the file in our software, I setup the following characteristic properties in one of the characteristics, then copied that to the other characteristics: Read Article
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Older Boeing 777s Grounded for Inspections Following Engine Explosion Over Denver |
Seattle Times - Dominic Gates, Seattle Times Aerospace Reporter
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered immediate stepped-up inspections of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney engines on Sunday, as airlines operating such jets in the U.S. and Japan suspended flights a day after the dangerous explosion of an engine on United Airlines flight 328 shortly after take-off from Denver.
United Airlines grounded 24 similar 777s, while the Japanese aviation regulator ordered all planes equipped with this type of engine to cease flying in Japan until further notice.
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson in a statement said that he directed his team “to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive that would require immediate or stepped-up inspections of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.” Read Article
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Perseverance's Video Cameras Capture Its Arrival On Mars (There's Audio, Too) |
NPR – Mark Katkov
NASA has released video of the Perseverance Mars Rover as it descended through the Martian atmosphere and landed as planned in Jezero Crater last Thursday.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, David Gruel of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said that the video team had kept its expectations modest: "We get what we get and we don't get upset."
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This Is How Reading Rewires Your Brain, According to Neuroscience |
INC – Jessica Stillman
Reading doesn't just cram information into your brain. It changes how your brain works.
We all know reading can teach you facts, and knowing the right thing at the right time helps you be more successful. But is that the entire reason just about every smart, accomplished person you can think of, from Bill Gates to Barack Obama, credits much of their success to their obsessive reading?
Not according to neuroscience. Reading, science shows, doesn't just fill your brain with information; it actually changes the way your brain works for the better as well.
The short- and long-term effects of reading on the brain Read Article
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Why COVID-19 Makes Materials Analysis in Quality Control More Important Than Ever |
Quality Magazine - Christoffer Beck
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our daily lives on an unprecedented global scale. The need to alter our way of life to try to mitigate and contain the virus has made us press pause on everything we take for granted, from visiting family and friends to travelling to work and business continuity.
In manufacturing, global supply chains have been disrupted in a way never seen before. As businesses flex to accommodate the dramatically different demand and working conditions, many are having to rapidly bring on board new suppliers to feed their production lines or adapt to market needs by producing new products like ventilators for hospitals. These disruptions and rapid shifts have impacted quality control processes. Read Article
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Cyber Security And IT News |
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Are Manufacturers an Easy Ransomware Target? |
IndustryWeek - Peter Fretty
Latest study shows industrial environments are more common ransomware targets than any other sector.
While manufacturers are not necessarily easier targets than peers in other industry sectors, it is clear that today's hackers recognize the growing value associated with attacking industrial organizations. Unfortunately, the stats show it. According to a recent Digital Shadows report that examined ransomware attacks in 2020, the industrial good sector accounted for 29%.
And, unfortunately, the list of industrial companies publicly acknowledging attacks or data leaks continues to grow including Palfinger, Foxconn, Steelcase, Nissan, Solarwinds, KYB Corp., CMA CGM, Tesla and Honda. Admittedly, the growing number of organizations suffering from cyber concerns is mind boggling. Read Article
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Bombardier Suffers Cyber Attack |
IndustryWeek - Peter Fretty
The Canadian manufacturer acknowledged on February 23 that it recently suffered a cyber attack, adding to the growing list of manufacturers who have seen unauthorized access.
This is not a broken record. This is not part of the script from the movie Groundhog’s Day. It is just the sad reality that cybersecurity attacks just keep coming. The threat landscape continues to evolve with hackers having access to far more sophisticated tools. Each time another breach impacts a manufacturer it clearly demonstrates just how much today’s hackers value having access to the mountains of data these companies possess. Read Article
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Kroger Data Breach Exposes Pharmacy and Employee Data |
Bleeping Computer - Lawrence Abrams
Supermarket giant Kroger has suffered a data breach after a service used to transfer files securely was hacked, and threat actors stole files.
Kroger is one of the largest retailers in the world, with almost 2,800 stores in 35 states. Kroger employs approximately 500,000 people and had over $122 billion in sales for 2019.
Yesterday, Kroger disclosed that they were the latest company to be affected by a security vulnerability in the Accellion FTA software that allowed hackers to steal data from companies utilizing the service.
According to a data breach advisory published yesterday, Kroger was informed by Accellion of their breach on January 23rd, 2021, and immediately discontinued the service's use.
As part of their investigation into the attack, Kroger has determined that no grocery store data, including payment information, was impacted by the breach. However, the breach did expose human resources data and pharmacy records. Read Article
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5G Cannot Keep Its IIoT Promise |
IndustryWeek - Gerhard Fettweis
Several obstacles must be overcome to fully realize the real-time remote control of physical objects in manufacturing.
Whether it's printing, telegraphy, mobile communications or the internet new communication technologies are important drivers of social change. Historical upheavals such as the Renaissance, the Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution would not have been possible without them. Today, we are yet again witnessing such a historical change – due to the Tactile Internet, the real-time remote control of physical objects via the network.
This technology will be introduced by the mobile communications standard 5G, but the real revolution will come with the further development to 6G. Read Article
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Human Resource Management News |
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Empowering Employees Through Behavioral Management |
IndustryWeek - Adrienne Selko
This method uses employees' strengths to better match talent to jobs, resulting in lower turnover.
Human capital. While it’s a phrase we are all used to hearing, it’s not one of Joel Philo’s favorites. “We aren’t really capital, as you would think of equipment as necessary capital to run a company,” Philo, a principal behavioral scientist at Infor Talent Science, explains. “We are human beings with abilities and behaviors that are unique to each individual. We can’t just be picked up from one area of the company and moved over to another.”
To illustrate this point, he uses the example of tracing a refrigerator through production in order to optimize the process. “You can’t just follow a human being around their workday and try to optimize their processes. People have a conscious and they have needs,” Philo says. Read Article
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Helping Employees Through Stressful Times |
EHS Today - Adrienne Selko
Communication is what prevents those initial feelings of pressure, anxiety or demotivation from becoming mental health problems like burnout, says well-being consultant Angela Knox.
Almost a year ago, stress was something that would come and go in our lives.
But after almost a year of dealing with COVID-19, the stress has been constant. Even with the relief of a vaccine, new strains of the virus are being uncovered.
The disruptions to our lives are countless but looking specifically at our work-life balance, many of us now work at home, which has been good for some but not so good for others. Even with the positive effects some of us might be feeling, we are missing the support of colleagues. That support can fill both a social aspect but also has hindered the ability of our company’s EHS professionals to keep an eye on us. Read Article
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Some Tips on Recruiting Skilled Production Workers |
IndustryWeek - Adrienne Selko
With so many jobs becoming remote due to the pandemic, people are moving out of urban areas. While this might be a positive move in some ways, it makes it harder to recruit for jobs that need to be done within the walls of a manufacturing facility.
“In factories across the country, fixed locations, tight margins and higher competition make growing the blue-collar workforce incredibly difficult," explains Heather Salerno, senior vice president of marketing for Appcast. Read Article
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Will Requiring Vaccines Hurt a Company's Culture? |
IndustryWeek - Adrienne Selko
A new study says 67% of companies are concerned about a mandate’s impact on employee morale.
While many people, thankfully, have moved heaven and earth to discover, produce and distribute a vaccine for COVID-19, when it comes to deciding whether companies should require vaccination as a term of employment, there isn't a clear consensus.
While arguments can be made for both sides of the issue, what I find interesting, and I’ll admit heartening, is the result of a new study that says employers want to keep good relationships with their employees and so many are not requiring vaccination as a term of employment.
A study released by Littler Mendelson on Feb. 9 based on a survey of 1,800 employees, found that while 43% of employers are still talking about what to do, nearly half (48%) have already decided against a mandate. Read Article
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Environmental, Health & Safety News |
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Is a COVID-19 Vaccine Passport on the Horizon? |
IndustryWeek - Peter Fretty
Theorem's Mike Joyce provides insights into what would be involved in successfully developing and deploying a COVID-19 vaccine passport
As the COVID-19 vaccination rollout continues, and people envision resuming some sort of normalcy, there has been growing discussion about the need for some sort of vaccine passport whether it’s a physical card or more likely a digital solution enabling people to seamlessly and securely access their COVID-19 vaccination records.
Understandably, requiring a passport has political ramifications, and a huge chasm exists between theorizing and realizing such a massive scale project tied directly to personal health care information. Read Article
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CDC Testing Guidance Stresses Informed Consent |
EHS Today - David Sparkman
It does not appear to preclude requiring employees to get tested against COVID-19.
A little late to the party, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a new guidance that requires employers to obtain informed consent from employees before testing them for COVID-19.
Last October, the CDC released its original guidance on employer testing, but didn’t get around to issuing the revised guidance containing the informed consent requirement until Jan. 21. The new guidance also includes measures an employer can take to ensure employees are fully supported in their decision-making. Read Article
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What You Need to Know About OSHA's Jan. 29 COVID Guidance |
EHS Today - David Sparkman
Mostly the same as earlier guidances, the new document’s differences are significant.
When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued its comprehensive guidance on what employers are expected to do to protect their workers from the COVID-19 virus, the bulk of the 6,000-word document repeated much of the advice that was contained in previous agency guidances issued over the course of the past year, but there are a few new wrinkles employers need to be aware of.
President Joe Biden ordered OSHA to issue the new guidance in an executive order he signed the day after he was inaugurated, which he also expects will lead to OSHA adopting an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) no later than March 15. Read Article
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Remote Workplace Safety Checklist |
EHS Today - John McFarland
Help your employees assess workspace risks and implement proper safety measures to control and reduce injuries outside the office.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work, how businesses operate and our work-life balance—especially when working from home. Remote work, working from home or telecommuting has become one of the most widespread, immediate results of the pandemic.
With a new or reinvigorated remote workforce comes specific challenges such as increasing collaboration, maintaining social interactions and managing distractions. For employers, though, it’s important to keep the challenge of reducing risk and providing a safe working environment top of mind, even when employees are not physically on-site. Read Article
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OSHA Proposes HazCom Standard Changes |
IndustryWeek - David Sparkman
Aim is to align U.S. standards with the United Nations global system.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a new rule to update its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to bring it into alignment with the latest version of the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).
OSHA’s proposed modifications to the standard include codifying enforcement policies currently in OSHA’s compliance directive, clarifying requirements related to the transport of hazardous chemicals, adding alternative labeling provisions for small containers and adopting new requirements related to preparation of Safety Data Sheets (SDS). Read Article
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Having trouble finding, selecting, training and keeping the skilled workers you need? Are your employee turnover costs a concern?
Let's start with what we already know:
- Classes alone will not train workers to perform your tasks...
- Quality Control policies and Process Documents are not a substitute for task training...
- Putting 2 people together and hoping for the best is not a training strategy...
- Wishing and hoping won't develop the skilled workers you need...
The cost of one worker malperformance or one worker's under-capacity or under-performance - due to lack of proper training - can more than justify the investment to train all your workers properly!
AND, unstructured, uncontrolled, undocumented task training is going on all day, every day. But if you cannot explain the process, you surely cannot measure and improve it.
Proactive Technologies's approach to structured on-the-job training takes place where, and while, the work is performed. You need no additional staff and structured on-the-job training does not interrupt your work schedule like unstructured, haphazard and ad hoc training or classroom learning does.
You probably have most of the pieces are already in place; they just need structure around them to make the training experience work for everyone through the accelerated transfer of expertise™.
As part of every project, Proactive Technologies provides the support to set-up, implement, manage, document and revise the worker development system so you can stay focused on business.
Copyright © 2019-21 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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EMPLOYERS!
If your organization sees training as a cost, not as an investment, maybe you should consider another approach!
- Cuts the employer's internal costs of training;
- Lowers the costs associated with turnover;
- Drives new-hires and incumbent workers to "full job mastery;"
- Increases worker capacity, work quality, productivity and compliance (ISO/AS/TS training and records requirement, engineering specifications and safety mandates);
- Creates framework for cross-training, retraining and worker certification;
- Establishes the framework for employer specific/job-specific apprenticeships and internships - registered or not;
- Builds career development tracks and succession plans for hourly (and salary) workers;
- Ensures the increased and maintained "Return on Worker investment" through any type of change...
ALL OF THIS FROM ONE APPROACH!
This structured on-the-job training is performed where, and while, the work takes place!
You need no additional staff, and this will not disrupt your work schedule or burden your existing staff!
If your firm is partnered with local career and technical educational institutions, use of shared employer's equipment, facilities and paid wages of trainer(s) and trainee(s) are attractive match for potential grant assistance.
for more information.
Copyright © 2019-21 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Copyright © 1988 - 2021 Proactive Technologies, Inc.TM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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