Cent Of Employment Research Articles

DETOURS AND DELAYS: NAVIGATING THE PANDEMIC'S IMPACT ON INDIA'S TRANSPORT SECTOR AND TOURISM

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the Indian transport industry, affecting various sectors such as aviation, railways, road transport, and maritime. The nationwide lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the virus led to a significant decline in passenger traffic and freight movement, causing severe financial distress to the industry. This almost standstill in the movement of the people severely affected the Indian tourism industry which provides 7 per cent of GDP and 9 per cent of employment by 2019. The aviation sector witnessed a sharp decline in passenger traffic, leading to financial losses for airlines and airports. Many airlines were forced to suspend operations or reduce their workforce to survive. Similarly, the Indian Railways faced challenges due to the suspension of passenger trains, impacting revenue generation. The road transport sector also suffered due to the lockdowns, with restrictions on inter-state and intra-state movement affecting the movement of goods and passengers. The maritime sector faced challenges due to disruptions in global trade and port operations. To mitigate the impact of the pandemic, the Indian government announced various relief measures, including financial assistance, waivers, and restructuring of loans for the transport industry. The government also launched initiatives such as the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate stranded Indians and the One Nation, One Card scheme for seamless travel across different modes of transport. By recognising the importance of the revival of tourism in India Indian Government announced many sops and reliefs to the tour operators, travel agents and transport organisations. Despite these measures, the road to recovery for the Indian transport industry remains challenging. The industry will need to adapt to the new normal by implementing safety measures, embracing digital technologies, and diversifying its operations to ensure resilience in future crises. KEYWORDS: Covid -19, Road transport, Railways, Civil aviation, Tourism

Empowering Sri Lankan Msmes: The Crucial Role of Skill Development in Fostering Future Tourism Growth

Tourism is a strategically important industry for Sri Lanka, making a significant contribution to the crises that hit the island economy in terms of income generation, foreign exchange earnings, job creation, attracting foreign direct investment and high value-added growth. It is the only sector which has bounced back very strongly and has a high potential for growth and expansion. The MSMEs account for 80 per cent of business enterprises and 75 per cent of employment in the tourism industry, and its growth prospects are seriously impacted by skill gaps and shortages. This is mainly a supply-side issue which has not been addressed for decades and is aggravated by COVID-19 (2020-21) and the economic crisis (2022 onwards) and requires immediate attention from policymakers, training providers and employers.

Job Absorption Capacity of Nigeria’s Mining and Quarrying Sector

The mining and quarrying sector account for 10.6 per cent of the GDP and 0.2 per cent of employment in 2014, according to the records of the National Bureau of Statistics. Relative to the gross value added of the mining and quarrying sector, its contribution to aggregate employment is small. Meanwhile, unemployment is one of the most pressing macroeconomic problems in Nigeria today. It is against this background that the job absorption capacity of the sector was investigated to facilitate job creation policies in the sector. Time series secondary data covering 1981 to 2014 on the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and sectoral Gross Value Added (GVA) at 2010 constant basic prices, employment, wage rate, inflation rate and interest rate were collected from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Central Bank of Nigeria. Sectoral employment elasticities of growth were measured using Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) regression at α0.05. Mining and quarrying sectoral elasticity of employment was -0.05, but was not significant. However, there were significant inter-sectoral and inter-temporal relationships on which job creation policies may be based.

Nigeria’s Bank of Agriculture: An Agenda for Organizational Renewal

Bank of Agric (BoA) was establish as a special purpose specialized financial institution to provide agricultural loans to deserving customers as a way to promoting access to affordable credit facilities to segments of the Nigerian society that have little access to the services of conventional banks while accepting savings deposits from customers and encouraging banking habits at the grass-roots. However, the performance of the bank has been below expectation because it has not fulfilled purpose. In a country like Nigeria of N200 million population, where agriculture currently provides about 54 per cent of employment and the quest for economic resilience and sustainability is further driving diversification into agribusiness, improving access to agricultural credit, is imperative. It is against this background that the need to reposition the bank becomes necessary. It is recommended that the bank be partially privatised for access to increased / private capital, while its operations should be modernized and computerized to improve customer convenience and operational efficiency.

Can an Internet Adoption Framework be Developed for SMEs in South Africa

Over two billion people across the globe are now connected to the Internet and the numbers are growing at approximately 200 million people per annum, attracting focus by businesses and governments especially pertaining to contributing to economic growth. Small and medium enterprises (SME) as engines of growth for South Africa, given that they have proved to provide over 50 per cent of employment in many economies, cannot be left out of the technology race. An adoption of Internet would leapfrog these SMEs to levels beyond survival but lead to sustainable businesses. This study 1 1 In association with UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership (UNISA SBL). investigated the viability of the development of an Internet adoption framework that is appropriate to the needs of SMEs in South Africa. SMEs in South Africa have been slow to adopt Internet technologies owing to the development and implementation of an Internet framework could best serve the SME sector needs. In-depth interviews were conducted with SMEs to investigate the levels of adoption by SMEs and an analysis of the current Internet supply ecosystem was conducted. The research results reveal that SME are using what is available but not to full capacity to enable their business to thrive, given the benefits provided by Internet technologies. Their slow adoption is due to; lack of infrastructure and skills, lack of cyber laws, which will provide trust, slow Internet speed and high costs of connection. The results also provided a positive outlook towards ascertaining if an Internet framework can be developed to serve the needs of SMEs in South Africa, if government is to take the lead facilitator role.

Agriculture, Food and Competition Law: Moving the Borders

The food supply chain accounts for 5 per cent of EU value added and 7 per cent of employment, bringing together the agricultural sector, the food processing and manufacturing industry, wholesale trade, and the distribution sector. Food spending represents about 15 per cent of the average EU household budget. There is no single, homogeneous, and common food supply chain at European level. The length and the degree of complexity of the food supply chains depends on the product and market characteristics. Figure 1 provides a simplified description of food supply chains. On the supply side, for certain raw products, production and processing are closely integrated (for milk or sugar) at local level and the product can be processed and sold through a rather short supply chain to retailers in national markets. For other raw products, for instance for fruit and vegetables, a large number of atomised producers sell locally to many wholesalers who in turn supply many local retailers, especially in south-eastern Europe. For manufactured food (such as biscuits and cereal-based products) large food manufacturers operate in many national markets but often organise their distribution networks, their marketing and promotion activities along national borders and operate a more or less centralised production system depending inter alia on how expensive it is to transport the product and how necessary it is to adapt it to local markets. On the demand side, wide differences exist between consumers of different Member States in terms of spending, price sensitivity and attachment to brands as is shown by the varied degree of development of the private labels of retailers. Further consumers tend to shop essentially at local stores (distance selling remains limited). Due to these supply and demand characteristics, food markets are first defined by the level in the chain and remain predominantly national or regional in scope. In other words in terms of competition analysis, product markets are usually defined at each level in the chain and geographic markets are often national (eg wholesale supply of many raw and manufactured products) or local (eg retail sales to the end-consumer). In order to understand the competition issues arising in the food supply chains, it is worth presenting the market structure at each of the following levels: agricultural, wholesale, processing, manufacturing, and retail levels. Primary/agricultural producers form the least concentrated level in the food supply chain. The most common situation across sectors and Member States is that agricultural producers remain atomised or grouped in small cooperatives. This is particularly true for eastern Member States, where history has created a negative image for farmer organisations which led to a very low degree of penetration of cooperatives (below 25 per cent compared to 40 per cent or above in other Member States). In

A UK survey of the impact of cancer on employment

Improvements in cancer detection and treatment and an increase in retirement age mean more people may experience cancer during their working lives. To examine the impact of cancer on work activities, sources of advice and support for return-to-work decisions and the role of employers in supporting employees with cancer. A cross-sectional survey of a randomly selected sample of people from two cancer registries was conducted in England. Eligible individuals were invited to participate via their general practitioners (April-October 2011) and completed a questionnaire online or by telephone interview. Survey weights were applied before statistical analysis, ensuring responses were representative of cancer survivors in the random sample. A total of 382 people completed the survey, 27% of those invited to participate. Full-time employment fell from 53% prior to diagnosis to 33% after diagnosis, and average working hours reduced from 38 to 32h per week. Only 48% discussed employment issues with their oncology treatment team, and this was associated with more hours worked (36.7 versus 29.4h). Seventy-six per cent of employers were perceived to have been very supportive and 56% receptive to a phased return-to-work. This is one of the largest UK registry-based surveys on this subject. Following treatment for cancer, there were significant falls in full-time working and hours worked. Just under half the sample discussed employment issues with their treatment team, and these participants worked significantly more hours. This indicates scope for improvement such as encouraging health professionals to raise work-related issues within time-limited consultations.

Integrated Approach for Credit and Extension Facilities: An Indian Experience

The small scale enterprise sector (consisting of modem as well as traditional industries) has, over the years, evolved as an important constituent of Indian economy in terms of its share in employment, output and exports. It has also made significant contribution to the development of rural and less developed areas, widening of entrepreneurial base and providing ancillary support to large and medium industries. With a share of barely 7 per cent in the total fixed capital investment, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector accounts for as much as 80 per cent of employment, contributes 8 per cent of GDP and 45 per cent of total value of industrial production in the entire manufacturing sector,besides 40 per cent of export trade. As at the end of March 2010, there were nearly 298 lakhs of registered and unregistered MSMEs, with an investment of ? 6,93,83,500 lakh accounting for production worth ?9,82,91,900 lakh, employing 695.3 lakh persons and contributing ?2,02,01,700 lakh to exports. Of the 298 lakh MSMEs, only 15 lakhs are in the registered segment while the remaining 283 lakhs (94%) are in the unregistered segment. Further, about 7 per cent of the MSMEs are owned by women and more than 94 per cent of the MSMEs are proprietorship or partnership concerns.

Keeping the business in the family and the family in business: “What is the legacy?”

PurposeMost advisors to family business clients come from the legal, accountancy or business advisory professions. Their training, experience and knowledge come from a technical/transactional perspective and often takes a silo approach to the issue(s) facing the client. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that in dealing with family business clients the professional advisor needs to take into consideration the very powerful emotional and relational issues that will impact on the more traditional “expert advice” approach. This article also suggests that no one group of professional advisors have all the skills needed to work successfully with family business clients and collaborative working is the way of ensuring family business clients receive the most effective professional support. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken is to outline – from experience of working with both professional advisors and family business clients – how emotional relationships impact on decision making in a family business. The approach is anecdotal and is based on listening to people's stories of living in a family business. It takes from music, particularly lyrics, to outline the main points made and is designed to give professional advisors to family business clients an insight into the world of family relationships. Findings – There is growing evidence in the UK of a real desire on the part of professional intermediaries to enhance their skills and knowledge in working with family business clients. This is evidenced by the creation of a Post Graduate Programme in Family Business Advising for professional intermediaries at the Bristol Business School and the growing number of professional firms taking up Corporate Membership of The International Centre for Families in Business to increase their knowledge and understanding. Research limitations/implications – This is not a research paper, it is a viewpoint. However, the work indicates many areas of future research, particularly around the training and development of advisors wanting to work with family business clients. Social implications – The failure rate of family‐owned business to pass successfully from generation to generation is around 70 per cent. The family business community accounts for over 50 per cent of employment in the private sector and employs millions of people. The impact on local and national economies is huge and the professional advice received has to take into account the unique issues facing the family in business. Originality/value – This article is based on the author's own experience of working with family business clients, listening to music and working collaboratively with professional intermediary colleagues. Most of the article is original thinking and the author believes it has value for both families in business and their advisors in setting out a framework and a way of thinking.

An evaluation of construction skills in Tanzania

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a study related to availability of construction skills in Tanzania.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey and interview were designed to assess the availability of construction skills at management/supervisory and operative levels in Tanzania. At both levels skills were carefully selected for the respondents to rank and open‐ended questions were designed to investigate how employers obtain employees and test their competences.FindingsFindings from the study indicate that at both management/supervisory and operative levels some skills are available on special arrangements. Furthermore, 60 per cent of employers neither enquire about the training background nor test the competence of skilled workers before engaging them.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was mainly affected by low response to e‐mailed questionnaires.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study provide an insight on the skills status in Tanzania and the study also proposes a skills screening process for employers.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a screening and grouping of operatives process for use by employers in testing and improving competences of prospective employees and to establish their training background.

Creative industries in a rural region: Creative West: The creative sector in the Western Region of Ireland

ABSTRACTMuch of the policy debate surrounding the creative sector focuses on urban areas; however, particular ‘place’ strengths that exist in rural areas can attract creative workers. Developing the creative sector in rural areas has the potential to generate sustainable high-quality enterprise and employment opportunities and contribute to rural diversification. This article examines the potential and challenges for the creative sector in rural regions through the case of the rural Western Region of Ireland and the activities of the Western Development Commission. The creative sector in the region accounts for approximately 3 per cent of employment and 1.3 per cent of Gross Value Added, is dominated by micro-enterprises and self-employed individuals and has low export activity. Quality of life, the natural environment and the region's creative legacy are critical factors in attracting creative people to this rural region. Challenges for businesses in the sector include the need to attract and retain current and future creative talent, as well as threats to the region's key ‘creative place’ strengths. Issues around the provision and quality of infrastructure, including broadband access and transport links, also exist. Development of policy and networking opportunities is important in supporting the sector's growth in rural regions.

Analysis: Skills shortages threaten recovery

The recession has hit job vacancies, but several reports show that we still need to nurture engineering skills. A spate of recent research into UK industry's demand for engineers and the future supply of skills offers mixed messages about the profession's prospects. The IET believes the 2009 edition of its annual Skills and Demand in Industry report shows that although the recession has taken its toll on the sector, the end could be in sight. The bad news is that only 31 per cent of employers said that they plan to take on new staff over the next 12 months, compared to 63 per cent last year. The main reason for the freeze, given by a third of those who will not be recruiting this year, was financial constraints. However, only 12 per cent thought that this would be a problem in two to three years, fuelling speculation that the recession is coming to an end. The risk then is that the skills shortages revealed by previous IET surveys will resurface. Forty per cent of companies said they were concerned about losing their skills base.

Women in management: an historical perspective

In pre‐industrial times women managed, not only the household, but aspects of agricultural work such as the dairy, milking, butter and cheese‐making, often disposing of any surplus through trade or commerce. In the nineteenth century women could be found running businesses such as lodging houses and shops. By 1911 women constituted 19 per cent of employers and proprietors and 20 per cent of managers and administrators and higher professionals. Many of today's women managers are “organization” women, part of the professional managerial class which emerged, in the UK, in the immediate post‐war period and it is on these women that the literature concentrates, in an effort to explain why, despite almost 30 years of equality legislation, women remain under represented in management, tend to be occupationally segregated and are paid less than male managers. This paper explores the experiences of today's women managers and compares them with those of their foremothers.

Between Home and Host Country: Multinationals and Employment Relations in Europe

Foreign-owned firms employ a significant proportion of the European workforce. This varies considerably between countries but in manufacturing, where the figures are highest, it generally represents more than 10 per cent of employment (see Table 1). Furthermore, it increased strongly between 1985 and 1995. Foreign-owned transplants are likely to provide a challenge for national systems of employment relations (ER) in Europe. They represent the most visible manifestation of the influence of global pressures on national economies and societies. However there is only limited empirical evidence to support such an assessment. Existing research has largely concentrated on the behaviour of US and Japanese multinational companies (MNCs). This suggests that US firms in Europe have transferred practices from their home country and thereby challenged national systems of collective representation and bargaining and acted as HR innovators in areas such as pay and work organisation (Almond, Edwards and Muller, 2001; Ferner, forthcoming). Innovations by Japanese firms have mainly been in the area of work organisation (Elger and Smith, 1998; Morris, Wilkinson and Munday 2000). The more limited research about ER practices of firms from other countries suggests that they also transfer home country practices, but in a way that is less challenging to their

The Canada-European Union Turbot War

One of the most serious issues facing coastal states and their distant water counterparts is the exploitation of straddling fish stocks (stocks that span the boundary between a coastal state's 200-mile zone and adjacent international waters). This was dramatically demonstrated in the spring of 1995 when Canada and the European Union (EU) engaged in a show-down over access to turbot, also known as Greenland halibut, in the northwest Atlantic beyond Canada's 200 mile limit where fishing is regulated by international agreement. The conflict was the culmination of a decade of controversy between the two over the activities of EU fishing fleets, especially that of Spain, in the region. Most studies of the dispute have focussed on the international legal implications.(f.1) This article explores the impact of internal politics on the Canadian and EU approaches.Internal politics is central to the fisheries policies of Canada and the EU. In Canada the federal government, through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for fisheries policy. Although fishing is of limited importance to the national economy, it is a substantial contributor to the economies of the Atlantic provinces, especially in Newfoundland where it accounts for 10 per cent of the gross provincial product and 25 per cent of employment. Almost 700 Newfoundland coastal communities depend in whole or in part on fishing. These factors, combined with the fishing constituency's importance in regional politics, make fisheries issues important to all levels of government.Fishing by EU states is governed by the Union's common fisheries policy (CFP).(f.2) Under the CFP, the European Commission (the EU's executive arm) has exclusive authority to negotiate and conclude fisheries agreements with third countries and to represent the EU in international fisheries bodies. Undertakings are normally approved by the Fisheries Council, which is composed of member state fisheries ministers, assisted by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the member states (COREPER). Council sessions are presided over by the presidency, which rotates among member states at six-month intervals. Most Council decisions are made on a qualified majority or weighted voting basis, although consensus is generally sought. While fisheries policy is adopted by the Union, implementation and enforcement are left in the hands of member states. International fisheries matters are of primary concern to Portugal and Spain whose vessels have a long history of fishing in the northwest Atlantic. Spain maintains the largest fleet, almost half of which, including all trawlers involved in the turbot fishery, is based in the northwestern region of Galicia, where fishing is a pillar of the economy.This article argues that the EU attempted to increase its turbot quota in response to pressures from the Spanish government and industry. Canada sought to impose an enforceable limit on EU vessels to maintain a viable fishery in the face of long-standing domestic frustration over their fishing practices. The dispute was resolved by an agreement that raised the EU's turbot allocation and established a comprehensive control and enforcement regime to govern fishing outside Canada's offshore zone. The agreement addressed both the Union's access goal and Canada's aim of effective surveillance and policing. It also gave the EU an additional measure of assurance of member-state compliance with EU commitments.BackgroundCanada is one of a handful of coastal states in which the continental shelf extends beyond its 200-mile limit. About 10 per cent of Newfoundland's Grand Banks is located outside the offshore zone in areas known as the nose and tail. Important fish stocks, including cod, flounder, redfish, and turbot, straddle the boundary. Fishing beyond the 200-mile limit is managed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) which had fifteen members in 1995 -- Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Denmark (for the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Estonia, the EU, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Russia. …

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Sectoral Adjustment in the Irish Economy

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has played a crucial role in the overall development of the Irish economy over the past three decades, as the Republic of Ireland, hereafter referred to as Ireland, has pursued an industrial strategy characterised by (i) promoting export-led-growth in Irish manufacturing through various financial supports and fiscal incentives, and (ii) encouraging foreign companies to establish manufacturing plants in Ireland, producing specifically for export markets. The significance of FDI for the Irish economy is now reflected in, inter alia, the significant gap between GNP and GDP; in 1994, GNP was roughly 88 per cent of GDP in Ireland. As regards the manufacturing sector, the high shares of output and employment in foreign-owned companies in Ireland also indicate the importance of foreign firms. As we discuss in some detail in Section 3, foreign companies produced roughly 69 per cent of total net output and accounted for 45 per cent of employment in Irish manufacturing industries in 1993.

Labour hoarding in a disequilibrium model of the Dutch labour market

This paper presents a method to integrate labour hoarding into a disequilibrium model of the labour market. Disequilibrium indicators for the labour market that include labour hoarding are constructed. These indicators, being important determinants of policy multipliers with respect to employment, are found to be less volatile than the corresponding disequilibrium indicators for the goods market which are available from business surveys. The lower volatility reflects the role of labour hoarding as a buffer between actual and efficient employment levels. Our results indicate that labour hoarding in Dutch enterprises ranges from a minimum of 0.5 per cent of employment in early 1985 to a maximum of 7.0 per cent in 1975. Furthermore, the paper pays special attention to the modelling of mismatch unemployment and to the simulation results of an empirical disequilibrium macromodel of the Dutch economy.

Collective Bargaining and New Zealand's Employment Contracts Act: One Year On

Thefirst year of bargaining under New Zealand's Employment Contracts Act brought some very significant changes to the nature and structure of bargaining outcomes. This paper reports a major study of collective bargaining outcomes. Collective bargaining is the preferred option for 80 per cent of employers with fifty or more staff; however, the number of workers covered by collective bargains in New Zealand dropped from 721 000 in 1989-90 to an estimated 440 000 by 1991-92. The collapse of collective bargaining did not occur evenly across industries. Significant collapses happened in agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing, the textile and clothing industry, the paper and printing industry, building and construction, retailing, restaurants and hotels and the transport industry. Collective bargaining retains a strong foothold in the electricity and gas production sector, the public sector, the finance sector, the communication industry and the basic and advanced metal manufacturing sectors. A content analysis of 471 collective employment contracts (covering nearly 130 000 workers) settled in the first year of the new legislation is reported here. The data show a wide dispersion of wage settlements as the comparative wage justice system collapses; about half of the workers in the sample, however, received either a wage decrease or no increase over the preceding settlement. Important changes to working time arrangements have been negotiated and these are reported along with other content changes to working time and leave arrangements.

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUCCESS OF LOCAL SMEs AN INSIGHT FROM SINGAPORE

ABSTRACT Local enterprises constituted 90 per cent of the total number of establishments, provided 44 per cent of employment and contributed 24 per cent of value-added in the economy of Singapore. Enhancing their success is critical to the future economic development of Singapore. This research aims to identify the factors that contribute to the success of local enterprises in Singapore. The methodological approach comprised the following: (a) a review of literature; (b) developing a questionnaire; and (c) sending the questionnaire to about 300 members of business associations. The survey results revealed the following findings: 1. Chinese dominate the businesses (72 per cent), male entrepreneurs dominate the scene (83 per cent), most of them are married (85 per cent), a majority of them are in the 30 to 49 age groups, 74 per cent had post-secondary education, 89 per cent are actual owners, 76 per cent started their businesses, 85 per cent stated it was their first business attempt, 81 per cent held a job...