South Africans desperate to emigrate to Australia will be excited to learn that McDonalds and KFC are so desperate for staff that they are willing to issue 457 skilled immigrant visas to burger flippers. Granted, you will have to move to a mining town in the middle of nowhere. But it is a foot in […]
Business
Posted inBusiness
Walking on HR eggshells
Before I joined my current company, I worked for a small firm in San Francisco where part of my role involved interviewing people to join our team. Before I was allowed to interview anyone though, I had to go through human resources training about the types of questions I was and was not allowed to […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
Ecovation – lessons from nature for ecologically innovative capitalism
Scientists the world over are in agreement: The earth’s resources are depleting at unprecedented rates and ecosystems all over the planet are in decline. Is this the end of the world as we know it or is it a massive opportunity for the endless inventiveness of humanity? There is evidence that human beings are rising […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Is it just me, or did Tito find the right calculator?
Isn’t it amusing to see the mainstream media and analysts froth about Tito Mboweni’s announcement of a 50 basis point interest rate hike smack, instead of the 200 point hammering he had threatened? Isn’t it obvious that our image-mad money boss had been sabre-rattling to scare the consumer audience that bears the main brunt of […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Peak Oil paranoia on path to presidency
Last week, the Financial Mail led with a lengthy cover story on the oil price and its implications for the South African economy. It contains some enlightening facts, but the article spends much of its time talking up the alarmist scenarios of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas.
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
Why is Australian clothing so expensive?
My Nokia, the South African one, bleeps to announce the arrival of another SMS. My heart sinks: another update from FNB, chirpily informing me of how much I’ve just spent on my Clicks Clubcard. I will have to be employed in Australia for at least three months before the banks will even consider approving a […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media
Good advertising – we’ve been having it!
About two years ago, I read an article about a Swedish promotion agency saying that South African adverts are among the best in the world. I sometimes get upset when I walk down Parliament Street and see the foreigners (Western foreigners, that is!) busy shooting a commercial or part of a movie on Church Square. […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Ten myths about inflation and interest rates
“Someone stop Tito, please,” implores a headline on a News24 column by struggle journalism old-timer Max du Preez. His angry column brims with common myths about the economy, interest rates and inflation. Let’s look at them one by one. Myth No 1: Higher interest rates cause higher inflation, including higher food and fuel prices. “I’ve […]
Posted inBusiness
Boost the economy from your desk: Pay a small business on time
Do you earn a salary? Salaries are like love and hot water. You only miss them when they’re missing. This is a little shout-out to all you salaried folk, especially those who have anything, anything at all to do with making payments to small businesses and freelancers: pay up on time. I don’t mean write […]
Posted inBusiness
What causes inflation?
Submitted by Philip Copeman Inflation, the old enemy, is back. With a few exceptions, this has not been a severe threat to the world economy since the early 1980s. Inflation now threatens us all. South Africa and a number of other countries seem well on their way to succumbing to this monster. Why is inflation […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Black diamonds, white trash
Marketing people are strange types who, I suppose, have to justify their existence by continuously showing management just how clever they are. It always beats me, though, as to why, at car launches, they feel this huge urge to explain to the media just who their product is aimed at. Of course, every presenter earnestly […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Black Armani suits and the lack of leadership
I have recently made a very startling discovery: most men who wear black Armani suits are tame. Of course, their dress sense makes them look like very important people who are making it in the world, whatever that means. But on closer scrutiny, their black Giorgio Armani suits soon reveal people who are not only […]