Labour

Corona Capital: Nursing homes, Airlines, Walgreens

9 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Nursing home investments will get a rethink; airline travelers get the upper hand; and Walgreens’ LBO heyday is in the past.

The looming war over working from home

24 Jun 2020

After decades of false starts in telecommuting, the pandemic has ushered in a real revolution. It’s great for collaborative technology developers, less so for office landlords. The next big clash between labour and capital over the fruits of productivity is also set to kick off.

HSBC CEO requires a sharper cost-cutting axe

17 Jun 2020

Noel Quinn is resuming plans to slash expenses - a programme that he had put on hold amid global lockdowns. With bad debt rising, he’ll need even deeper cuts than before to hit an 11% return on tangible equity target. The original plan for 35,000 job losses may not be enough.

Corona Capital: Next crisis, Overvalued markets

16 Jun 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Deutsche Bank analysts sound a warning about future catastrophes, while investors try to square overpriced stocks with their hopes of a recovery.

Corona Capital: ZoomInfo IPO, U.S. trade

4 Jun 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: ZoomInfo goes public with a big pop despite Covid-19; and America’s goods-trade deficit with Europe will test Washington’s mood.

War for Hong Kong talent is Taiwan’s to lose

3 Jun 2020

The island’s proximity and cultural similarity should appeal to Hong Kongers fleeing Beijing’s crackdown. For its part, the $600 bln economy needs to plug a severe labour shortage and boost investment. But warm political gestures could be offset by bad immigration policies.

Corona Capital: Tech diversity, CNN’s middle age

1 Jun 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: As big U.S. technology companies’ CEOs speak out about racial inequality, working from home trends could give them a chance to make a real difference; and 24/7 news network CNN feasts on Covid-19 as it turns 40.

Protests may be last straw for U.S. global stature

1 Jun 2020

Unrest over police brutality has spread across America, even as President Trump ditches treaties and condemns China’s crackdown in Hong Kong. Such isolationism and hypocrisy dismays allies. It will be difficult to reclaim the moral high ground, and losing it comes at a high cost.

Civil unrest puts U.S. economy in a vicious circle

29 May 2020

Violence broke out in Minnesota after an African American man died in police custody. Minorities are disproportionately represented in U.S. Covid-19 deaths, and job losses are hitting these groups hard. Unrest may make reopening tough, making the country’s wealth gaps even worse.

Stimulus blunder Down Under sends Big Data alert

25 May 2020

Australia overfunded an $85 bln wage subsidy programme due to excessively pessimistic epidemic models and data entry errors. Canberra thought 6.5 mln workers needed help, nearly twice the real number. Others will find it similarly difficult to cut through the noise.

Ugly U.S. jobs data hides as much as it reveals

8 May 2020

The awful April report brings the jobless rate to almost 15%. But just as February’s super low 3.5% was misleading, Friday’s figure leaves much out. Stimulus alters the income story, and what matters most is how and whether demand returns to the economy.

Uber, Lyft need more than cuts to fill profit tank

7 May 2020

The U.S. ride-hailing firms are slashing staff amid a drop in their core business. Uber is in better shape with more revenue streams like food delivery. But lowering expenses only goes so far. Reductions can also hurt their long-term future if autonomous-vehicle investments fall.

Critical workers hold keys to higher minimum pay

6 May 2020

U.S. ambulance drivers make under $15 per hour, EMTs under $20. And “essential” retail staff make about $13. These and others indispensable in a lockdown and at risk on the Covid-19 front line are under-rewarded. Any post-virus rethink of supply chains must also include wages.

Virus state aid needs taper to avoid tantrum

5 May 2020

As governments lift restrictions, they face tough choices about weaning companies and workers off public support. Different industries require different timetables. Withdrawals should also be phased. The state can’t help indefinitely, but a sudden break would be too big a shock.

The Exchange: Blue-collar China

4 May 2020

Pandemic and recession are making the lower strata of the labour force crankier than they’ve ever been. Author Dexter Roberts explains to Pete Sweeney how Beijing is struggling to manage worker dissatisfaction, and points to rising economic costs and political risks.

British Airways jobs cull sends EU bailout Mayday

29 Apr 2020

The airline owned by IAG is axing a quarter of its staff amid the virus fallout, rather than seek state aid. The move highlights the limits of using government funds in the face of wrenching change. It’s ominous for Paris and Berlin, who may dole out $17 bln of taxpayer cash.

Viewsroom: Freebies no more

16 Apr 2020

Breakingviews columnists check in from home in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong to discuss disappearing Silicon Valley perks like free meals and booze, office activism at tech firms, the mystery of China’s 20 million lost mobile-phone subscribers and an ascendant TikTok.

Corona Capital: Lufthansa, JPMorgan, Foursquare

7 Apr 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Lufthansa parks hopes of a quick airline-industry recovery in the hanger; JPMorgan skirts close to committing an early earnings faux pas; and Foursquare checks into the M&A market.

UK is lab rat for ill-timed migrant experiment

19 Feb 2020

A new immigration system will from next year prioritise skilled workers. Ideally, this would boost pay. But companies may struggle to pass costs to consumers and can’t expand without the right staff. Brakes on growth will be the last thing Britain needs if EU trade talks sour.

Tesco Christmas furore flags limits of ESG crusade

23 Dec 2019

The UK grocer may have sold greeting cards made by prisoners in China. The scandal shows how even firms that appear to embrace their environmental, social and governance duties struggle with forced labour. Stock prices suggest there’s not much pressure from investors for change.