The website of economist and keynote speaker Linda Nazareth, expert in demographics, global trends and the future of work
If you were a brand new graduate from a top tier university, you had a degree that made you a hot item and you could work anywhere at all, where would you choose? Say it came down to Wall Street or Silicon Valley – both of which offered pretty nice compensation packages – which would […]
There are so many facets of the shuttle-bus-to-Silicon-Valley story that fascinate me. The fact that people are willing to commute a fair distance to be able to live in San Francisco while working for tech companies 60 miles away has big implications, and not just for the bus drivers who are in the news this […]
Former Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries (yes, I said ‘former’, he stepped down today) said some pretty dumb and offensive things about who he wanted his clientele to be. If the company’s numbers were good nobody might have cared, but in this retail environment he rightly got beat up for them. As far as selling the […]
Do you go to the mall? I used to, quite a bit actually. In the 70s, 80s, 90s, even the 00s – the mall was the place to buy stuff, and I liked stuff as much as any child and young woman in North America. Now, you can buy stuff in lots of other places […]
Everybody has their favorite so called-called ‘bellwether’ company, the one that tells you where the economy is going if you scan its fortunes. A lot of people like Federal Express, since tracking shipments tells you a lot about the level of activity. Another favorite is Caterpillar, since it gives you a guide to business spending. […]
Advertising, television, media – they sound like cool places to work right? What with Mad Men like a giant commercial for the glamorous industry of advertising, I imagine more people than ever are lusting after careers writing copy and crafting campaigns. Maybe though, their better bet would be to plan to hand out samples in […]
Is being a ‘solopreneur’ – someone who basically runs their own shop –a good thing or a bad thing for the economy? We had better figure it out, because apparently the number of them (us actually, I am one as well) are increasing a phenomenal rate. That is one of the conclusions from a new […]
If Ikea says it’s a trend, it must be a trend. The giant furniture retailer known for its affordable products as well as its make-a-day-of-it-and-eat-the-meatballs approach to shopping, is thinking of changing strategy. Noting that tight budgets mean people do not want to shell out for fuel to drive to suburban stores, the Swedish group […]
Can’t you just hear executives around the world gnashing their teeth? Now that Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has an approved a ‘take as much vacation as you want’ policy, there is going to be pressure for other companies to offer them as well. Question is, is this radical new idea a good one for […]
I had no complaints, really, the last time I called a plumber. The nice lady on the phone (Lorraine) was efficient, she gave me a four hour window and sent out a cheerful plumber (Brent). He fixed the pipes under my sink then gave me a bill as well as a warning that things were […]
