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Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • How to Use Human Resource Software to Create and Manage Your Workforce Planning

    How to Use Human Resource Software to Create and Manage Your Workforce Planning

    Workforce planning is a crucial aspect of strategic human resource management. It involves assessing current and future workforce needs, identifying skill gaps, and creating strategies to meet organizational goals effectively. In today’s digital age, where technology plays a significant role in optimizing business processes, human resource software has emerged as a powerful tool for creating and managing workforce planning.

    In this article, we will explore how to leverage human resource software to streamline your workforce planning efforts, enhance productivity, and make informed decisions for your organization’s success.

    Understanding the Role of Human Resource Software in Workforce Planning
    Human resource software, often referred to as HR software or HRIS (Human Resource Information System), is a technology solution designed to manage various HR functions efficiently. These software systems are equipped with a wide range of features, including employee data management, recruitment and onboarding, performance evaluation, payroll processing, and, most importantly, workforce planning.

    The role of human resource software in workforce planning can be summarized as follows:

    1. Data Centralization and Organization
    HR software allows you to consolidate all employee-related data into a centralized database. This data can include personal information, job roles, qualifications, performance history, training records, and more. Having this information readily available and organized makes it easier to analyze your workforce’s current composition and identify areas that need improvement.

    2. Real-Time Insights
    With HR software, you can access real-time data and generate reports on various workforce metrics. This capability enables you to make data-driven decisions when developing your workforce planning strategies. From understanding employee turnover rates to identifying high-performing teams, HR software provides valuable insights to guide your planning process.

    3. Succession Planning
    Effective workforce planning involves anticipating future talent needs, including identifying potential leaders and successors for critical roles within the organization. HR software can assist in succession planning by helping you assess employee performance, skills, and potential for growth. This way, you can proactively groom internal talent for future leadership positions.

    4. Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
    To meet your workforce requirements, effective recruitment and talent acquisition strategies are essential. HR software often includes applicant tracking systems (ATS) that streamline the recruitment process, from posting job openings to screening candidates and managing interviews. This ensures you attract the right candidates for your organization.

    5. Skills Gap Analysis
    Identifying skill gaps is crucial for effective workforce planning. HR software can facilitate skills gap analysis by comparing required skills for a job role with the skills possessed by employees. This analysis helps you identify areas where additional training or external hiring may be necessary to meet your organization’s goals.

    Steps to Use Human Resource Software for Workforce Planning
    Step 1 Evaluate Your Current Workforce
    Before you start creating your workforce planning strategies in software such as the Payboy management system, it’s essential to assess your current workforce’s strengths and weaknesses. HR software comes in handy for this task:

    Use the HR software to collect and organize relevant employee data, such as job roles, performance evaluations, certifications, and skills.

    Leverage the HR software to analyze employee performance metrics, such as productivity, attendance, and engagement. This analysis will help you identify top performers and areas where improvement is needed.

    Step 2: Define Future Workforce Requirements
    Once you have a clear understanding of your current workforce, it’s time to define your organization’s future workforce requirements

    Use the HR software to generate reports and forecasts based on historical data, market trends, and organizational goals. This will help you estimate the number and types of employees you’ll need in the future.

    Identify the skills and competencies that will be critical for your organization’s future success. HR software can assist in conducting skills gap analysis to determine which skills are lacking within your current workforce.

    Step 3: Develop Recruitment and Succession Strategies
    With the future workforce requirements in mind, it’s time to develop recruitment and succession strategies:

    Utilize the HR software’s ATS capabilities to plan and execute your recruitment efforts. From creating job postings to managing candidate applications, the software streamlines the hiring process.

    Identify key positions within your organization that require strong successors. The HR software can assist in evaluating potential candidates based on their performance, skills, and career aspirations.

    Step 4: Training and Development
    To bridge the skills gap and prepare your workforce for future challenges, invest in training and development programs.

    Use HR software to conduct training needs analysis and determine the skills that employees need to develop. This analysis will help you design targeted training programs.

    Implement a learning management system (LMS) through your HR software to deliver training content efficiently. The LMS can track employee progress and ensure that everyone completes the necessary training.

    Step 5: Monitor and Adjust
    Workforce planning is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and adjustments:

    Regularly update employee data in the HR software to ensure that your analysis and planning are based on the most current information.

    Use the HR software to track the progress of your workforce planning strategies. Assess whether your organization is moving toward its goals and identify areas that may need further attention.
    Be prepared to adjust your workforce planning strategies as the business landscape evolves. HR software’s real-time insights will help you make data-driven decisions during the process.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, workforce planning is a critical aspect of human resource management that requires careful analysis, forecasting, and strategic decision-making. Human resource software can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your workforce planning efforts by centralizing employee data, providing real-time insights, aiding in succession planning, facilitating recruitment, and supporting skills gap analysis.

    To utilize HR software effectively for workforce planning, follow the steps outlined in this article: Evaluate your current workforce, define future workforce requirements, develop recruitment and succession strategies, invest in training and development, and continuously monitor and adjust your strategies.

    By leveraging the power of HR software, your organization can create a robust workforce planning strategy that aligns with its goals, improves productivity, and positions itself for long-term success in a competitive business environment.

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  • Viber launches two new features for Premium users

    Viber launches two new features for Premium users

    It’s been less than a month since Viber launched its premium service in the United States and several other countries, and the company has just announced it’s now rolling out two new features to those who chose to pay to be Premium users.

    So, if you’re paying for Viber Plus, you should be getting two new important features: Invisible Mode and Read Voice Messages. Both should further enhance privacy and ease of communication on Viber.

    The new Read Voice Message feature turns voice messages into text so any message can be ready anytime, anywhere. Invisible Mode is just as useful since it allows users to read messages and browse on the platform privately.

    Not only that, but users will also be able to see who is online while their own status shows offline. More importantly, thanks to Invisible Mode, you’ll be able to open messages without revealing that it’s been read.

    “With such a wide user base, we want to continue expanding our services to offer seamless and easy-to-use communication tools that work for our global users. Additionally, anonymity and privacy is what makes Viber a leading super app. These features add new value to Viber Plus and boost the overall experience for our users,” said Ofir Eyal, CEO of Rakuten Viber.

    And if you don’t have Viber Plus yet, perhaps these two new features will make you start paying for it. To go premium, you’ll have to pay just $1.99 per month, and you’ll be getting not just new features but also stop seeing ads.

    The new features will be rolled out to the premium service for iOS in the US, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Switzerland, Kuwait, Australia, Tuvalu, Israel, Sweden, Austria, India, and Italy, with additional regions added on a rolling basis.

    According to Viber, Android users where Viber Plus is available will have access to the two new features sometime in September.

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  • Chinese company to build aluminum factory in Vietnam

    Chinese company to build aluminum factory in Vietnam

    Innovation Precision Vietnam, a unit of a Chinese manufacturer, has received licenses to build a $165 million aluminum factory in the central province of Nghe An.

    The company, a subsidiary of aluminum products manufacturer Shandong Innovation Metal Technology, will build a plant with the capacity to produce 100,000 tons of aluminum a year, according to Nghe An’s People’s Committee.

    It is set to begin operations in October next year and will create 1,500 high-skilled jobs.

    Innovation Precision Vietnam received all its licenses within only two months of its representatives first entering the province to consider investing.

    This will be the first plant that Shandong Innovation Metal Technology has built outside of China.

    Shandong was established in 2002 and is among the 500 biggest manufacturers in China.

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  • iPhone 14 users report battery degradation after less than a year of usage

    iPhone 14 users report battery degradation after less than a year of usage

    A full year hasn’t passed since the iPhone 14 hit the stores (it went on sale on September 16, 2022), but users are already reporting an issue with the battery.

    Complaints about battery degradation are stacking up on social media. While complaints against tech giant products are not something we’ve never seen before, some users are reporting numbers south of 90% on the battery health status of an 11-month-old phone.

    But the level of degradation reported online may be within the limits and specifications expected out of an iPhone’s battery. Battery performance is not constant and it sure changes over time, especially with heavy usage or when exposing the phone to high temperatures. Still, iPhone 14 users appear unhappy with their phones’ battery health.

    Sam Kohl from AppleTrack is one of those unlucky users that experienced the degraded battery phenomenon first handedly. In a tweet, he presents a screenshot from his own device that shows the battery health status to be 90%. “I’ve had my iPhone 14 Pro for LESS than a year…this is actually unacceptable”, he says and ends the disclosure with an angry face emoji.Some iPhone 14 users are reporting even worse battery health scores than that – in the 87% area. “Battery capacity is very annoying. It has become impossible to use the same iPhone for 2 years without changing the battery”, observe annoyed iPhone owners. Other commenters, on the contrary, enjoy 99% and 100% figures: “Well, mine is still at 100 %. So I don’t know what’s the issue with yours. And well, I use only original Apple products like charging cables. They may be more expensive but don’t damage your hardware”.

    Here’s what Apple themselves have to say on the battery performance topic:

    A normal battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles when operating under normal conditions. The one-year warranty includes service coverage for a defective battery. Apple offers battery service for a charge if it is out of warranty.

    Think of one charge cycle as fully charging and discharging your phone once (though not necessarily in one go). If 500 complete charge cycles result in a capacity of at least 80%, it’s not too far-fetched to expect that 250 cycles should get you at 90% or more. A user who bought their iPhone 14 on release day and has charged it every night since then may be at 320 cycles already, as of this writing. And an iPhone battery at 90% health after 320 cycles is actually performing within specs.

    Another factor that shortens battery health is exposure to high temperatures (like leaving a phone in a car on a hot summer day). With summer being unusually hot in many parts of the world, it’s not impossible to have that play a role as well. Apart from that, lithium-ion batteries chemically age: the amount of charge they can hold diminishes, resulting in shorter amounts of time before a device needs to be recharged.

    Whatever the reason behind these numerous battery-related issues, the unfortunate owners of underperforming iPhone 14 phones could soon be faced with the choice of either getting a battery replacement or… yes, switching to the iPhone 15, which is to debut in September.

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  • Apple is working on an AirTag 2

    Apple is working on an AirTag 2

    Commercially released more than two years ago, the AirTag tracking device is probably the least discussed product in Apple’s current portfolio, especially if you choose to ignore news stories and reports tackling various security issues and privacy concerns among both existing users and prospective buyers waiting for some “fix.”

    While it’s unclear if the AirTag stalking problem will ever be resolved (or even if it can be resolved satisfactorily), Apple is believed to be working on a sequel to the original 2021 edition that could see daylight as early as late 2024.
    That’s… still pretty distant, leaving a lot of room for a change of plans (or ten), and of course, today’s AirTag 2 information doesn’t come from an official source either. Ming-Chi Kuo’s new “prediction” of a “4Q24” mass production start doesn’t even seem particularly firm, and although the reputable analyst’s inside sources are more often than not right on the money, this rumor feels like a guesstimate first and foremost based on the OG AirTag’s sales figures so far.

    These are obviously not part of the public domain, but Kuo has reason to believe they’ve proven strong enough over the last year or so to justify the development of a second generation.

    Because the AirTag 2 is likely to go on sale either during the final calendar quarter of next year or sometime in the opening quarter of 2025, it’s virtually impossible to make any confident predictions regarding its specific features, capabilities, and potential upgrades over the first generation.
    For what it’s worth, Ming-Chi Kuo also “believes” (which sounds like another hunch rather than concrete info gathered from supply chain insiders) that the AirTag 2 will be used (alongside other devices) by Apple to create a new spatial computing “ecosystem” with the Vision Pro headset at its center.
    No, we’re not entirely sure exactly what that means either, but it’s safe to assume that the AirTag 2 will be deeply “integrated” and closely coordinated with the Vision Pro… whenever both products actually become available for the masses.
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  • Singapore, Japan to collaborate on green air lanes

    Singapore, Japan to collaborate on green air lanes

    A recent dialogue saw a mutual agreement between Singapore and Japan’s aviation authorities to work together towards initiating greener air lanes between the two countries.

    At the 2nd Singapore-Japan Dialogue on Aviation Collaboration, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) shared the same view that the concept of an ‘aviation green lane’ should encompass airline operations, airport processes and air traffic management (ATM).

    The two are planning green ATM measures on all flights between Singapore and Tokyo, which will save fuel, cut carbon emissions, and reduce flight times. This follows a successful one-month trial in June 2023 whereby CAAS and JCAB implemented green ATM for one daily passenger service.

    Another initiative proposed for greener air traffic management is expanding the multi-regional trajectory-based operations (TBO) project to more air navigation service providers (ANSPs). Last month, ANSPs of Singapore, Japan, Thailand, the United States and Boeing saw the first successful multi-regional TBO demonstration flight, part of a 3-year collaboration to advance the concept and bring about significant benefits for airspace users, including greater flight efficiencies and reductions in carbon emissions.

    CAAS said these ATM concepts would complement the current push for SAF, which it considers he key element to achieve carbon neutrality for aviation, but the two warned that there would have to be sufficient supply and competitive pricing in the Asia Pacific region.

    Mr Han Kok Juan, Director-General of the CAAS, explained that the collaboration on green ATM establishes tangible measures that can be immediately implemented and translate to immediate fuel and carbon emission savings.

    “These measures can be scaled up to cover more flights and serve as a pathfinder for wider adoption by more countries. With the successful conclusion of the green ATM trial and the extension of green ATM measures to all flights between Singapore and Tokyo, Singapore and Japan show that green ATM can complement sustainable aviation fuel as a key feature of an aviation green lane.”

    On other important areas, the two civil aviation authorities will share best practices on fostering a positive safety culture and leveraging technology to overcome manpower shortage and raise productivity.

    The two have also agreed on the necessity to resume flights and city links to meet strong demand with plans to restore direct flights between Singapore and Okinawa from November 2023.

    The two sides first signed a strategic framework agreement in December 2022 to advance their civil aviation collaboration. As of July 2023, the number of weekly flights between Singapore and Japan has recovered to over 65 percent of pre-Covid level in 2019, with 122 weekly passenger services operated by six air carriers on city links to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo.

  • Instagram might label AI-generated content

    Instagram might label AI-generated content

    Recently, Meta, in collaboration with Microsoft, introduced the new Llama 2 – a next-generation large language AI model. This new technology enables companies to customize AI for their needs, like creating chatbots and image generators. It seems that consumer-facing generative AI tools based on this model are already on the horizon.

    It looks like Meta is developing several new generative AI features for Instagram. These features include labels that will help users to identify images “generated by Meta AI.”

    If you wonder what reverse engineers do, they are sort of detectives for technology. They take apart things like software or devices to figure out how they work, even if they were not the ones who originally made them. It’s like solving a puzzle to understand the hidden secrets behind the technology.

    The screenshot shared by Paluzzi shows an in-app message explaining that posts created using Meta’s generative AI tools may soon be labeled within Instagram. This suggests that the company could be interested in helping users identify AI-generated content.

    There have been concerns about the safety and impact of free consumer-facing AI tools on our online presence. Some worry that they could aid the spread of misinformation or mislead people. To address these concerns, some AI companies, including Meta, have pledged to adopt AI safety measures, like using watermarks for AI-generated content. The introduction of labels for AI-generated content on Instagram might be part of these measures.

    Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI stand at the forefront of the artificial intelligence sector in the US. Last month, following a call to action from the White House, they made commitments to incorporate safeguards into their AI technology. Additionally, these industry leaders have joined hands to establish the Frontier Model Forum, an association focused on advancing AI, of which Meta is also a part. The forum’s primary goal is to ensure frontier AI models’ secure and ethical advancement.

    As AI continues to advance at a rapid pace, social media platforms should pay more attention to AI-generated content and clearly label it, even if the content is generated from third-party apps or software. Instagram already has many AI-generated human-like models posing as influencers, which can lead to confusion and misperception of reality.
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  • SeABank names new acting CEO

    SeABank names new acting CEO

    Le Quoc Long, for the last 18 years the deputy CEO of SeABank, has been named its new acting CEO with effect from Tuesday.

    He replaces Loic Faussier, who resigned for personal reasons after being with the bank for three years as CEO and in other key positions.

    Long, 58, has accounting and law diplomas from two Hanoi universities and been working in finance-banking for 30 years.

    He joined SeABank in 2005 as deputy CEO in charge of credit and risks management.

    The executive board of SeABank now has nine members.

    SeABank was established in 1994 and has 181 branches across the country.

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  • Cart Abandonment: Reducing Friction at the Point of Conversion

    Cart Abandonment: Reducing Friction at the Point of Conversion

    In the fast-paced world of ecommerce, cart abandonment has become a significant challenge for retailers. With the rise of omnichannel fulfillment and the increasing demand for fast and convenient delivery options, the complexity of the fulfillment process has escalated. As consumers’ expectations continue to soar, the importance of delivery and pickup experiences has transitioned from afterthoughts to critical factors influencing buying decisions.

    Shoppers now expect immediate access to delivery and pickup options while browsing for products, making collection convenience as crucial as other product attributes. Unfortunately, traditional order management and ecommerce systems were not designed to handle the intricacies of omnichannel fulfillment across multiple locations. Relying on dependable yet slow relational databases, retailers are limited to offering generic fulfillment timeframes, which lack accurate information during the checkout process.

    This unfortunate reality leads to poor customer experiences, resulting in approximately 7 out of every 10 online shoppers abandoning their cart. To address this pressing problem, retailers must reevaluate their fulfillment strategies and invest in technologies capable of providing real-time, accurate information. There are three key areas retailers should focus efforts to reduce friction at the point of conversion and start making successful transitions.

    Establish a unified basket

    The biggest point of friction in today’s retail customer experience is due to the loss of context when transiting between the physical and the digital. A unified cart or basket is a foundational capability that bridges this gap, providing critical connectivity across channels. Shoppers don’t see “channels” the way retailers do – they simply shop. Therefore, retailers are increasingly under pressure to ensure seamless continuity, particularly during transitions between carts and wish lists, alleviating customers from the burden of starting afresh. For brands, embracing a digital first ethos doesn’t mean giving up on physical retail, but amplifying the two, fusing them together seamlessly.

    Manhattan Associates’ 2023 Unified Benchmark for Speciality Retail report found that retailers making the most progress in minimising cart abandonment through connecting in-store and online experiences are offering increased visibility of the following in their cart view:

    1. Inventory visibility: Visibility of real-time available stock across all channels, providing product status by store. If a particular item is unavailable, customers can opt for alternative options or be notified when it becomes available again.
    2. Available promo codes: Automatically applying available promotional codes to the cart view or ensuring applicable promotions visible for shoppers to easily ‘opt in’ when viewing their cart.
    3. Integration with loyalty programs: Displaying the customer’s loyalty points and rewards within the cart provides them with the easily accessible option to redeem rewards directly at the cart stage.

    The report also found that while the majority of retailers are offering basic capabilities such as inventory visibility on a product detail page (PDP), many are yet to extend this offering to across the board, lacking visibility across the entire shopping journey.

    Add value with flexibility

    A truly frictionless shopping experience is not just about the convenience of prefilling a customer’s payment details for future transactions, but it’s also about providing customers with a variety of payment options. More often than not, customers have a preferred payment method. By offering a wide range of payment types, both online and in store, retailers are providing that extra bit of flexibility, making a consumer’s purchase decision easier. This process should be simple and convenient for shoppers to pay however they prefer, including through gift cards, loyalty points, store credit, mobile wallets, pay-later apps, store credit cards, and any combination therein. The report also revealed that 40% of shoppers prefer payment flexibility, including the ability to use a combination of modes to make a purchase.

    However, offering additional payment options has the potential to make things more complicated, therefore it’s important that retailers have the right technology in place to support a seamless checkout experience. Shoppers look for fast and convenient checkout options, with a majority of cart abandonment occurring due to less-than-ideal shopper experiences at checkout, like a multi-step process. If shoppers can quickly and easily buy what they need, when they need it, and do so using their preferred payment method, not only are they more likely to complete the purchase, but they’re more likely to keep coming back.

    Offer fast, accurate delivery promises

    If retailers can assist shoppers with important ordering and delivery-related information across the shopping journey, they increase their probability of conversion. What is the earliest I could get this item, and how? Can I order an item for in-store pick-up and another for delivery as part of the same order? Leading retailers offer shoppers a comprehensive set of delivery and pick-up options, focusing not just on speed but on flexibility to fit busy lifestyles, with 77% of shoppers reporting they prefer to have options when selecting their delivery method. They accommodate ordering complexity without compromising checkout convenience, allowing shoppers to select different delivery options for products within the same order.

    While only 15% of retailers provide the option to change fulfillment method post order confirmation, Sephora is one retailer who is enabling shoppers to get Buy Online, Pick Up in Store (BOPIS) purchases shipped home in case they are unable to pick it up from the store. With 45% of shoppers prepared to abandon a cart if they’re unhappy with the delivery methods on offer, it’s crucial for retailers to ensure the product pick-up or delivery experience is as good as their shopping journey.

    Deliver exceptional experiences

    While consumer expectations of purchasing and delivery expand, customer service and experience are arguably the most important elements to get right. Retailers must invest in technologies capable of providing real-time, accurate information to offer a seamless and efficient fulfillment process. By embracing innovation and prioritising customer-centric approaches, retailers can position themselves for long-term success in this rapidly evolving industry.

    For more information on how your retail business can reduce instances of cart abandonment, please visit: www.manh.com/en-sg

    Written by Richard Wright, Managing Director, SEA, at Manhattan Associates

  • Vietnam food association official says no immediate plan to curb rice exports

    Vietnam food association official says no immediate plan to curb rice exports

    Vietnam has no immediate plans to restrict rice exports, a senior official of the country’s food association said on Monday, after India’s export curbs sparked worries about global supplies of the staple.

    “At the moment, Vietnamese companies are exporting rice normally,” said Nguyen Ngoc Nam, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, which represents the country’s rice processors and exporters and works closely with the government.

    India, which accounts for 40% of world rice exports, ordered a halt to its largest export category more than a week ago to calm domestic prices, which have climbed to multi-year highs in recent weeks as erratic weather threatened production.

    Nam said prices of Vietnamese rice had soared since India’s move on July 20, adding that the harvest of the summer-autumn crop was ongoing in Vietnam, which is the world’s third largest rice exporter after India and Thailand.

    Vietnam’s 5% broken rice prices rose to $550-$575 per metric ton on Monday, traders said, their highest since 2011, from a range of $515-$525 before India’s move.

    A day after India’s export curb announcement, Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade called on the association to ensure sufficient domestic rice supplies and food security, and asked traders to balance between exports and domestic sales to stabilize domestic prices.

    Rice shipments from Vietnam in the first seven months of this year were estimated to have risen about 18.7% from a year earlier to 4.84 million tonnes, according to the government’s preliminary data. Revenue from rice exports in the period was seen up 29.6% at $2.58 billion.

    On Friday, the United Arab Emirates announced it would ban rice exports and re-exports for four months, including rice of Indian origin.

    Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Saturday the country must boost its rice stocks and that he may seek a supply deal with India, worried about the potential impact of El Nino dry weather on the local harvest and about other suppliers.

    The Philippines is Vietnam’s largest rice buyer.

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  • Czech Skoda cars available in Vietnam this September

    Czech Skoda cars available in Vietnam this September

    Skoda cars have been imported into Vietnam from the Czech Republic and will go on sale here in September, according to Skoda’s Vietnamese partner TC Motor.

    The imported models include the CUV Karoq in the C-segment and the SUV Kodiaq in the D-segment, which will compete with Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5, Honda CR-V, Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda CX-8, and Toyota Fortuner, said TC Motor, a distributor and assembler of South Korean Hyundai vehicles.

    The 7-seat Kodiaq has gasoline and diesel engine versions and costs some US$52,870 on the European market.

    The Karoq also includes gasoline and diesel engine versions and has a list price of some $31,390 in Germany and around $33,000 in China.

    TC Motor will sell Skoda cars imported from Europe and then vehicles assembled in Vietnam.

    In late February Skoda and TC Motor began building a plant with an annual capacity of 120,000 Skoda cars at Viet Hung Industrial Park in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

    Vietnam is the first Southeast Asian country in which Skoda has put up a factory, from which it also plans to export vehicles to other countries in the region.

    Skoda has three plants in the Czech Republic and facilities in China, Russia, Slovakia, India and Ukraine.
    The company sold 731,300 vehicles in some 100 markets around the world, with Germany, the Czech Republic, India, the UK, and Poland being the biggest.

    In 2021, it sold nearly 900,000 cars in the markets with Germany and Russia being the biggest.

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  • IT talents sought after amid frozen labor market

    IT talents sought after amid frozen labor market

    Amid a season of low recruitment demand due to economic challenges, companies are still headhunting for experienced and high-skilled IT staff to speed up their digital transformation.

    Although many companies are scaling down their payroll, demand for IT experts remains high with the most popular recruitment positions being business administration, software development, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, digital platform development and data analysis.

    Quang Trung Software City, a hub for IT businesses, has seen several companies such as Larion, TMA, Rakus, and SPS recruiting staff in recent weeks.

    An experienced manager at a business there said that companies were overpaying staff to ensure positions were filled even though it was not ideal.

    The gross income of programmers with more than three years of experience in Vietnam ranges from $2,100 to $6,000 per month, according to a survey by recruitment company IT TopDev last year.

    Recruiters say that the price range is the same this year as staff shortages remain.

    Companies expect IT experts to have design and analysis skills, along with team management and expertise in a particular sector such as finance or e-commerce. They are also required to have good communication and language skills.

    Truong Thien Kiem, a deputy director at recruitment firm Adecco Vietnam, said that the decline in orders this year had urged factories to increase automation and therefore hike their needs for high-skilled IT staff.

    Domestic companies must race with foreign enterprises who are also looking for the best IT experts.

    Thailand’s Kasikorn Business-Technology Group (KBTG) last month opened its Vietnam unit in Ho Chi Minh City, its third in Asia, to attract IT talent.

    The group plans to recruit 200 developers this year and will be partnering with universities to find suitable candidates.

    In May, representatives of seven Japanese companies in Hanoi showed up at a job fair at Hanoi University of Science and Technology to find graduate IT candidates.

    Recruitment demand is forecast to be high as Vietnam is estimated to need 600,000 developers this year and 800,000 next year, but the shortage could be between 175,000 and 195,000, according to TopDev.

    This is because only 35% of the 57,000 annual IT graduates meet business demand, it said, adding that beginners in the industry outnumbered seniors.

     

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  • YouTube deletes over 3,000 Vietnames videos

    YouTube deletes over 3,000 Vietnames videos

    YouTube has deleted over 3,000 videos about a cartoon character name Wolfoo due to alleged copyright violations even as the Vietnam-based producer Sconnect continues to deny all accusations.

    The videos, which had billions of views, were asked to be removed by U.K. company Entertainment One, which claimed that Wolfoo was based on its creation “Peppa Pig”, Sconnect said in a report to Vietnamese authorities at the end of July.

    Entertainment One reported the videos to YouTube in April, claiming that the scenes used in Wolfoo videos were copied from Peppa Pig.

    The company in July again reported the videos, claiming that the Wolfoo videos were also copying some of the audio and sound effects from Peppa.

    But Sconnect said that in both cases, Entertainment One and YouTube were not able to provide any clear evidence to show that copyright regulations were infringed.

    Sconnect said that the scenes and sounds mentioned are popular in everyday life.

    There is no legal ground for the claims, the studio argued, adding that its requests to YouTube since June have received no response even though the number of removed videos is increasing.

    Wolfoo Family, one of the YouTube channels that provides the videos, has lost around 2.4 billion views due the removed videos since May.

    Sconnect is now asking Vietnamese authorities to convince Google and YouTube to stop accepting copyright claims from Entertainment One.

    YouTube and Entertainment One have not commented on the issue.

    Sconnect, established in 2014, has 19 Wolfoo-related YouTube channels.

    “Wolfoo” is an English-language YouTube preschool animated web series about a young wolf and his anthropomorphic family.

    British preschool TV show “Peppa Pig” features an anthropomorphic piglet and her family. The show first aired in 2004.

    Entertainment One last year had sued Sconnect in Russian and British courts over intellectual property infringement, claiming Wolfoo is a “reworked” version of the Peppa Pig characters.

    Following an independent review, in July Russian experts rejected this claim and the Moscow City Court terminated Entertainment One’s suit against Sconnect.

    Entertainment One then immediately withdrew all claims.

    YouTube said earlier it never acts as an intermediary to resolve conflicts between two parties and only provides tools for users to protect themselves.

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  • South Korea e-commerce market to surpass $160 billion mark in 2027

    South Korea e-commerce market to surpass $160 billion mark in 2027

    South Korea continues to evolve as a major e-commerce market and is expected to register a strong compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% between 2023 and 2027 to reach KRW202.6 trillion ($160.4 billion) in 2027, forecasts GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    GlobalData’s E-Commerce Analytics reveals that South Korea e-commerce market has been on growth trajectory, registering a CAGR of 17.4% between 2018 and 2022 to reach KRW136.6 trillion ($108.2 billion) in 2022. This trend is expected to continue in 2023, with e-commerce sales expected to grow by 10.0%.

    Shivani Gupta, Senior Analyst Banking and Payments at GlobalData, comments: “South Korea has a well-developed e-commerce market supported by high-speed internet, rising smartphone penetration, availability of secure online payment systems and increasing consumer confidence in online shopping.”

    South Koreans are frequent online shoppers with over 80% of the consumers reported to have shopped online in the past six months, while only 10% indicated that they never shopped online, according to GlobalData’s 2023 Financial Services Consumer Survey*.

    The availability of new and innovative mode of online shopping such as video live streaming is also encouraging shoppers to go online. South Korean e-commerce giant Naver leads this space by enabling merchants to live stream their products on its “Naver Shopping Live” platform. Customers can view the product details, interact with the seller and buy from the platform on real-time.

    International brands are also venturing into this space, contributing to the e-commerce growth in the country. In June 2023, YouTube launched its first official online shopping channel in South Korea, live-streaming products in Korean language.

    Gupta adds: “Koreans increasingly prefer shopping online even for day-to-day products, a trend that continued post COVID-19. GlobalData’s survey revealed that everyday essentials such as food and drinks account for nearly one fourth of the e-commerce purchases by value in 2023, while clothing and footwear account for 12.2%.

    Gupta concludes: “South Korea’s e-commerce market registered sustainable growth during the last five years. The uptrend in e-commerce sales is likely to continue over the next few years supported by the growing consumer preference, improving payment infrastructure, and growing popularity of innovative online shopping modes.”

    *GlobalData’s 2023 Financial Services Consumer Survey was carried out in Q2 2023. Approximately 50,000 respondents aged 18+ were surveyed across 40 countries.

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  • Macau In 2023: More Than Just Casinos

    Macau In 2023: More Than Just Casinos

    Known as the “Vegas of Asia”, Macau’s economy has traditionally relied on gambling as its primary source of revenue. But the world changes and both the government and independent traders have seen the need to diversify as the economy can’t rely on casino footfall alone. This has led to interesting innovations in other industries, which have rapidly developed from the ground up, often using local products, and appealing to the 600,000 Macau residents as much as the tourists. With the allure of Macau’s gambling scene still bringing in millions of tourists a year, hundreds of independent businesses have a great chance to thrive and expand.

    Macau’s tourism industry is being driven by visitors from nearby Hong Kong — so far this year more than 2.5 million people have traveled to Macau to play in the gaming halls. This is a major shot in the arm for the gambling industry in the city, as well as the restaurants, cinemas, and retail outlets that rely on casino tourism.
    The gambling industry worldwide hasn’t slowed down either, powered by online casinos, which continue to develop more sophisticated games for those who play slots online or enjoy live dealer games at the card tables. As far as destinations for land-based casinos go, Macau is at the top of the pile, and despite the iconic status of Las Vegas as a playground for gamblers, it regularly outperforms its American counterpart by six times.

    Innovative & Independent BusinessesDespite the dominance of the casinos, a vibrant market has opened up, giving opportunities for small businesses to establish themselves. Macau’s small size means that local companies can make more impact than they could on the Chinese mainland or other huge markets, with their intense competition in all sectors. A good example is the food delivery app Aomi because in a larger country, it wouldn’t stand a chance, but a local service needs less capital to penetrate the market and can operate at a competitive level.

    While major brands still dominate the malls and resorts, many small businesses have emerged, which are often taking advantage of increased online engagement with independent companies. Macau has seen a rising trend in people monetizing their hobbies and creating fresh ideas and concepts — handmade jewelry by Miden Designs and bespoke scented candles from Imbali Essentials, to name a couple that have launched in the last three years.

    Somewhere beneath the bright lights Portuguese influence can still be felt in Macau, and is probably best represented in food form. Monoymous Macau entrepreneur Asai has collaborated with Portuguese chef Pedro Almedia on several projects, and over the last two years they have successfully opened fine-dining spot Portucau, as well as a traditional pie-shop Pastéis de Chaves. And their tavern Three Sardines serves petiscoes — small plates similar to tapas — to enthusiastic locals and tourists alike.

    Another independent company, The Moo Creamery, has been proffering vegan and lactose-free ice cream online since 2020, and proved so successful that a retail shop opened in 2021. Not only is the ice cream delicious, but it is also low in sugar and made mainly from raw ingredients, making it a great healthy option for kids and adults.

    Macau will always be a casino town. But if you scratch the surface you’ll find a buzzing hive of activity, with local retailers to check out and support, great independent eats and drinks, and a whole host of other interesting small businesses. Hopefully, these innovative companies will continue to thrive.

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