I Burnout for You: US Workers Crave Four-Day Workweek! #Burnout

Fortune: 53% of US workers are experiencing burnout, while 83% believe that a four-day workweek is part of the solution to this ongoing problem #burnout

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 3, 2022

In contrast to US workers' desires, four-day workweeks are rare, with 95% of workers working a five-day week as of 03/2020 #GreatResignation

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 3, 2022

Analysis: US companies must figure out ways of retaining and motivating staff which are beyond the merely functional; at some point, everyone needs to feel fully human if they are to give of their best #burnout

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 3, 2022

To watch: particularly from the perspective of employees, the US workforce gets a poor deal vis à vis not just Europe, but many emerging economies which boast serious quality of life compensations; human capital flight seems inevitable https://t.co/SxqxpC8EMf #WorkLifeBalance

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 3, 2022

Global Inflation Augmentation Situation: Japan Becomes Land of the Rising Price! #inflation

Monocle: the price of the Japanese corn snack Umaibō has risen for the first time since 1979, a startling sign that the global inflation genie is well and truly out of the bottle #inflation #Japan

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 9, 2022

The 20% hike in the cost of an Umaibō is part of an inflationary trend which will see the cost of food (↑3.3%) and energy (↑9.1%) creep up dramatically in 2022 #Japan #inflation #Economics

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 9, 2022

Analysis: the arrival of serious inflation in a country which has been notorious for structural deflation since the early 1990s should set alarm bells ringing; the combination of wage stagnation and inflation is a recipe for unrest #Japan

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 9, 2022

To watch: significant counterinflationary moves risk destabilising massively indebted economies, but the alternative could be even worse; the Bank of Japan may copy the US Federal Reserve's planned programme of interest rate increases https://t.co/IhBFwSlZKS

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 9, 2022

Trucking Hell: Brexit Choking Rainbow Island!

Office for Budget Responsibility: Brexit's overall effect on the UK economy is making it about 4% worse off than it would have been had the country stayed in the European Union #BrexitReality

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 1, 2022

The UK economy was just 3.9% higher in Q3/2021 than in Q2/2016; the EU (+6.2%) and US (+10.6%) have dramatically outpaced it #Brexit #Economics

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 1, 2022

Analysis: the anaemic post-23/06/2016 figures for UK GDP growth do not even begin to capture the economic damage caused to everyday business processes, from HR to shipping #BrexitReality

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 1, 2022

To watch: with Sir Keir Starmer QC's Labour Party firmly clinging to a dark #Brexit, it may take a new wave of politics for the United Kingdom to achieve basic levels of integration with its European partners once again https://t.co/q1pAKZD5ui

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 1, 2022

Clicking into Place: Ecommerce Sales Almost Double in Just Three Years! #tech

The Economist: online retail will constitute 19% of all sales in 2022, up from just 10% as recently as 2019 #ecommerce #technology #NewNormal

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) January 13, 2022

The growth in online sales is predicted to slow in 2022 as governments loosen or abolish #COVID19 restrictions, but should still register an impressive 13% year-on-year increase #technology #postCOVID

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) January 13, 2022

Analysis: the fact that 81% of all sales remain offline – despite nearly two years of top-down 'incentives' to utilise #ecommerce channels – shows that a hybrid approach to the selling process is still required #sales

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) January 13, 2022

To watch: international orders will account for around 22% of online sales in 2022, a figure which should creep up as the decade progresses #retail #ecommerce #metaverse https://t.co/Ep45kNs80K

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) January 14, 2022

Omicron Omnishambles: Holland Thrown into Abrupt Lockdown! #Omicron

Amsterdam: the Netherlands begins day 1 of a new 'hard' #lockdown which will shutter most public indoor locations until at least 14/01/2022 – and limit even outdoor gatherings to a maximum of two persons #Nederland

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 19, 2021

The #Omicron variant of #COVID19 is being cited as the core reason behind the Netherlands #lockdown, which was announced with practically no notice and could completely ruin Christmas for millions of people

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 19, 2021

Analysis: the fact that medical experts are now openly challenging each other in the the media re: the severity of #Omicron highlights that there is a plurality of opinions on how to best deal with #COVID19, something which the Dutch government seems to have roundly ignored #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 19, 2021

To watch: even according to official government statistics, 91% of the Netherlands population has not yet opted to have a COVID 'booster' injection; this latest lockdown is unlikely to decrease levels of disenchantment #lockdowns https://t.co/Zo0b1tKW30

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 19, 2021

When China Sneezes: Cantonese Property Giant ‘Risking Demolition’! #Evergrande

Shenzhen: China Evergrande Group's slide into debt default territory is sending shock waves throughout the world's second-largest economy – and could have serious repercussions far beyond its borders #EvergrandeCrisis #EvergrandeDefault #Fitch

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2021

Evergrande – once China's number one-selling property developer – is being strangled by US$300bn/元1,913bn of debt it racked up during its breakneck expansion years #EvergrandeCrisis #China

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2021

Analysis: the really big question about the #EvergrandeCrisis is the precise degree of exposure that global financial institutions have to China Evergrande Group – and what contingency plans are in place #China #HSBC #BlackRock

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2021

To watch: the bursting of the Chinese property bubble is an occurrence that a number of analysts have pointed to as foreshadowing the next worldwide mega-recession; if they are even 10% correct, then very interesting times lie ahead #China #Evergrande https://t.co/Df2rtAKBBr

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 9, 2021

Car Crash Banana Monarchy Latest: Automotive Production ‘Shuddering to a Halt’! #Brexit

United Kingdom: British car production is now at its lowest level since October 1956 as a lethal combination of #Brexit, #COVID19 and microchip shortages rips through the sector #semiconductor

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 6, 2021

UK car production crashed by 40% in just one month (09/2021 to 10/2021) – an alarming figure given that cars make up 11% of all British exports #Brexit #automotive

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 6, 2021

Analysis: the 40% month-on-month decline in British car manufacturing excludes the 07/2021 shuttering of Honda's fabled Swindon factory, which produced 160,000 Civics/year; something is badly wrong #Brexit

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 6, 2021

To watch: industry estimates for the resumption of 'normality' in UK car production volume look optimistic given the new border checks coming into effect on 01/01/2022 #Brexit #automotive https://t.co/9h7TshdIM0

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) December 6, 2021

Playing Really Hard to Get: Response to UK Visa Programme Redefines ‘EU 27’!

The Times: just 27 applicants have registered their interest for 5,000 UK driver visas available to EU nationals #fuelshortages #UnitedKingdom #BrexitReality

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 6, 2021

The UK government partially reversed its immigration policy in the face of structural logistics failures, but this change of direction has been met with almost total indifference by EU haulage professionals #Brexit

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 6, 2021

Analysis: the 27/5,000 UK visa take-up by EU drivers means that even in the event of all 27 applicants being accepted, 99.46% of these positions will remain unfilled #Brexit #fuelshortages #HGVdrivers

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 6, 2021

To watch: Boris Johnson's #Brexit risks becoming some kind of Maoist experiment if fuel and food shortages continue; supply chain stresses are likely to get even more intense in the coming months #fuelshortages #foodshortages https://t.co/VwtOQegAqa

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) October 6, 2021

Rodney, You Plonker: Labour Leader Nails His Mast to Catastrophe! #Brexit

Brighton: Sir Keir Rodney Starmer's pledge to the 2021 Labour Party Conference that he will 'make Brexit work' constitutes an all-too-predictable U-turn which effectively eliminates any distance between the UK's two major parties on the key issue of the day #Brexit #BrexitReality

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 30, 2021

Starmer's #Lab21 speech was generally light on policy, but the relentless emphasis on 'security' and his studied silence on the unfolding #Brexit nightmare were clear pointers to a different iteration of the only permitted option #authoritarianism #onepartystate

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 30, 2021

Analysis: #Labour's new pro-Brexit direction comes at the very moment that even government-linked polling companies such as #YouGov are recording overwhelming dissatisfaction with #Brexit, and will do nothing to dispel speculation that the UK is now – de facto – a one-party state

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 30, 2021

To watch: #Brexit could yet break almost the entire political class in the United Kingdom as the economic damage and everyday chaos descends into rage against a system perceived as corrupt and closed; slogans will not deliver fuel or food https://t.co/4Td19QlQne #BrexitShortages

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 30, 2021

Fast Food Consternation: US Workers Abandon Hospitality Industry Jobs! #FastFood

United States: 1.2m hospitality industry positions now lie unfilled in the world's largest economy – just when demand for these services is beginning to pick up #HospitalityJobs #economics

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) August 5, 2021

A stunning c.5% of employees in restaurants, bars and hotels left their jobs in every single month of H1/2021; in May alone, this comprised 0.76m workers #MinimumWage #hospitalityindustry

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) August 5, 2021

Analysis: the psychological strain of dealing with a stressed-out general public is crushing food service staff; more than 50% of exiting workers stated that 'no amount' of pay would get them to return #FastFood #hospitality

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) August 5, 2021

To watch: the wage elasticity in hospitality industry jobs is usually a good indicator of ground-level economic sentiment; whether this will continue to be the case remains to be seen #UnitedStates #MinimumWage https://t.co/Iux4WhNBzn

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) August 5, 2021