Category: Coronavirus

Impact of Covid-19 on Employment in Various Industries

Abstract:

The Covid-19 coronavirus is a new virus. Although there are no specific vaccines or treatments available now, medication and vaccine research are underway. Impact of Covid-19 on employment in various industries, e.g.: media and culture sector, public service, public emergency services, automotive, textile, clothing, civilization, health sector, education, shipping, fishing, tourism, agriculture, food security, etc. in various ways. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people are forced to do ‘Work from home’. Covid-19 has forced almost all employees of all sectors to work from home for the first time. As employees are experimenting with new environments, this paper attempts to find out the experience of the employees in working from home when compared to working in the office. The study found that willingness to work from home is entirely dependent and the presence of their children at home, comfortable space at home, quiet environment at home, and good Internet connectivity. Many people’s opinion is that even if they are ready to work from home they dislike working from home.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic in India is spread all over the world causing an economic collapse in almost all countries. It is caused by severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In India, the first case of Covid-19 was reported on 30th January. India currently is at the highest peak still it has 3rd highest number in the world but it seems that India will come on second no. in the coming few days. Covid-19 (coronavirus) is a new virus although there are no specific vaccines or treatments available now, medication and vaccine research are underway.

The symptoms of covid-19 include fever, cough, shortness or breath, or digestion issues. But it is important to know that most people with Covid-19 will fully recover. People who are most at risk for severe illness are those who have health conditions including a) chronic lung diseases b) heart diseases c) diabetes d) cancer e) a weakened immune system.

The impact of Covid-19 on employment in various. Though each people take care of himself by a) Staying home as much as possible, and keeping six feet away from other people. b) Cover nose and mouth with a face covering when going out. C) Wash hands often using sanitizer. d) Not to touch own face.

Objectives of the Study

The main aim of studying the impact of Covid-19 on employment in various industries is loss of employment, considered the most severe immediate impact of the Covid-19 crisis. The online survey was conducted in the last week of May.

1. Covid-19 is stimulating the economy and employment.
2. Covid-19 causes devastating losses in working hours and employment.
3. Large reductions are forced in the Arab states (8.1 percent) equivalent to 5 million full-time workers.
4. Huge losses are expected across different income groups but especially in upper-middle-income countries.
5. The eventual increase in global unemployment during 2020 will depend substantially on future developments and policy measures.
6. The large scale, integrated policy measures are needed, focusing on 4 pillars- supporting enterprises, employment and incomes, stimulating the economy, jobs protecting workers in the workplace, and using social dialogue between government, workers, and employees to find solutions, the study says.

Significance of the Study

The impact of Covid-19 as per ILO as specific social and economic sectors and industries are found in sectorial type. The ILO constituents at the national, sectorial, regional, and global levels, as well as an international organization and other partners, give advance decent work for women and men in specific social and economic sectors. The impact of Covid-19 on employment in various industries are:

Research Methodology

For the purpose of the study, the researcher has used secondary sources of data collection, mainly from published papers from journals, newspaper articles, ILO publications, and Government of India (GoI) reports.

Impact of Covid-19 on Employment in various Industries

COVID-19 and the Public Service: All public servants play the role of saying hesitate the spread and recovery from the pandemic. This is true regardless of their occupation, whether in police or correctional officers, whether in the administration of the state like the tax collector, implementing economic and social policies like labor inspector, provide services to the community like waste collectors, or social workers. The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates the important of disaster preparedness and the private sector. People cannot manage a loan.

Automotive Industry of COVID-19: Automotive industry has been hit by a triple way- factory closures, supply chain, disruption, and a collapse in demand. In time manufacturing process propagated the impact across the globe. Enterprises both small and medium are among those hardest hit and millions of jobs are at risk. Automakers have ideas to kick-start the global economy. Not only by producing life-saving ventilators and face masks and targeted support and are key to lasting recovery to building back better with good decent work for more men and women.

Impact of COVID-19 on Agriculture and Food Security: Many agricultural workers are unable to lift themselves out of poverty and food insecurity. As the covid-19 pandemic spreads the continued functioning of food supply chains is crucial in preventing a food crisis and reducing the negative impact on the global economy. A nice policy is required to support Agricultural businesses and the working condition of agricultural workers and their livelihoods.

COVID-19 and the Tourism Sector: Covid-19 dramatically changed tourism which is a major driver of jobs and growth. Coordinated policy efforts and particular large scale both at national and international levels are needed in consultation with government, employees, and workers’ representatives, taking into consideration relevant ILO (International Labour Standards).

COVID-19 and Media and Culture Sector: The impact of Covid-19 on the media and cultural sector, by unemployment and closed productions. It sees how the diversity of the sector in terms of contract types and occupations creates challenges in taking social protection, safety, and healthy and economic relief programs.

Effects of COVID-19 on Public Emergency Services: Public sector workers who perform frontline duties in confronting the Covid-19 crisis in the name of the state, are always described in status as essential services. The government has taken measures to support their work and ILO principles and tools and include international labor standards that protect them.

Civilization and COVID-19: A combination of flight cancellations and restrictions has almost stopped international travel due to the curb and spread of Covid-19. The effect of the pandemic on employment has been immediate and significant. The cost reduction strategies include a wide range of policies that will have an impact on employment and work in the civil aviation sector.

COVID-19 Effects on Textile, Clothing, Leather, and Footwear Industries: The worker’s liability in the textiles, clothing, and leather and footwear industries is unrevealing, they are told to stay at home. The cancellation of orders has hit thousands of firms and millions of workers. We need to take joint action across the industry’s supply chains. The ILO always supports governments in protecting the health and well-being of workers and businesses in the textiles, clothing, and leather industries.

Effect of COVID-19 on the Education Sector: Most teachers have to adopt universal distance education as nearly 95 % of all learners have a phase school closures. Most teachers and their organizations have embarrassed this challenge although in many developing countries teachers lack the skills and the equipment to provide distance education effectively. The safety of learners and teachers should be paramount social distancing of learners is important in this pandemic.

Effect of COVID-19 on Shipping and Fishing: Shipping caries most of the world’s trade, and fishing provides essential food. Seafarers on cruise ships that have often been banned from entering the port are particularly hard hit. The ILO is working to protect these key maritime workers.

Effect of COVID-19 on the Health Sector: Covid-19 is already drawing the attention of the overburdened public health systems in many countries and also facing challenges in recruiting, deploying, retaining, and protecting sufficient and motivated workers. It shows that the strong need for sustainable investments in health systems includes a health workforce, decent equipment, and occupational safety. It is essential for health emergencies to build a resilient health system for building a future.

Findings of the Study

1. Job loss most severe immediate impact of Covid-19.
2. Airlines and airports look at negative Covid-19 test remedies to collapsing sectors.
3. Covid impacts RBI to tighten oversight and initiate actions if necessary.
4. The coronavirus outbreak may push a digital payment up to 37 % to ₹ 406 lakh crore by FY22.
5. Coronavirus impact on the healthcare sector, and the auto sector, and it affects the retail sector.

Conclusion

Impact of Covid-19 on employment in various industries – job loss most severe immediate impact of Covid-19. Coronavirus impact on the healthcare sector, and the auto sector, and it affects the retail sector. 1 lakh youth lost jobs in India due to the Covid-19 pandemic ILO-ADB Report. IT growth has also slowed down. Consumer goods sales go off track due to localized lockdown in the country, it affects routine health services across India. UNCTAD- estimates the economic impact of Covid-19 as $ trillion.

Reference

From the following newspapers, journals, and internet websites:-

www.researchgate.net -(PDF) work from home during Covid-19 employees, Wikipedia – Covid-19 pandemic in India, Covid-19 Pandemic in Asia, Survey report, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com – Job loss most severe immediate impact of COVID-19, www.ilo.org – Sectorial impact, response sand recommendations, www.financierworldwide.com – the Covid catastrophe: labour and unemployment, www.ilo.org – Covid-19 and civil aviation ILO.

Analytical Essay on the Covid-19 Recession and Its Impact on People’s Mental Health

A survey done by the CDC during the Covid-19 recession shows that 40 percent of Americans are now grappling with at least one mental health or drug-related problem. Recessions are periods of time when economic activity declines, as well as the mental health of the general population, particularly among those who have lost their jobs. Unemployment rates rise during recessions, GDP drops, the spending habits of individuals change, and fiscal or monetary policies are enacted by the government. The Great Recession, one of the most severe recessions, is described by Gordon Scott, the reviewer of the article ‘The Great Recession’, as the economic downturn from 2007 to 2009 after the global financial crisis. The most recent recession, the Covid-19 recession, has repercussions similar to, or even more severe than the Great Recession, although with different causes. According to The Washington Post, “A federal emergency hotline for people in emotional distress registered a more than 1,000 percent increase in April compared with the same time last year”. The economic downturn in the economy is the biggest factor that contributes to the rise of mental health problems in a recession.

During the Great Recession, there was a global rise in mental health problems due to financial distress. Researchers concluded in a study conducted by BMC Public Health: “In the USA, a cohort study, indicated an increased incidence of anxiety and mood disorders, and substance use disorders were strongly associated with drops in household incomes”. Employed citizens lose a massive amount of income when they become unemployed. As a result, fear and stress can set in as they feel as if they can’t pay mortgages, pay off debts, or other bills. Consequently, individuals who are late on their payments will have their credit impaired, endangering their credibility when they want to take out loans or rent out housing in the future. In the same report by BMC Public Health, researchers concluded that “…recession periods are feasibly associated with the increased prevalence of psychological distress and common mental disorders, substance disorders, and ultimately suicidal behavior”. Some individuals will resort to substance use when they are stressed such as alcohol, marijuana, or smoking, which is further exacerbated by a significant recession. The abuse of these substances can be detrimental to an individual’s health. Abusers will start to feel dependent on alcohol or smoking in times of stress, which can lead to long-term health problems such as lung cancer, liver damage, and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, stress from financial instability can seep into an individual’s family, affecting the mental health of children. According to BMC Public Health, “…children with unemployed parents have a higher prevalence of depression, higher rates of psychosomatic symptoms, and lower perceptions of psychological well-being.” In many cases, the stress from a parent is projected onto the child. Children who have previously been abused by individuals who lose their job are more likely to face mental health problems.

Likewise, in another major recession, the Covid-19 recession, the detrimental effects are also seen. In fact, “The Covid-19 outbreak and the economic downturn it engendered swelled the ranks of unemployed Americans by more than 14 million, from 6.2 million in February to 20.5 million in May 2020”, according to Rakesh Kochhar of the Pew Research Center. The rise of unemployed workers during the Covid-19 recession increased by more than 1.5 times compared to the Great Recession. Gross domestic product has also dropped significantly: “GDP – shrank at an annual rate of 32.9% in the second quarter as restaurants and retailers closed their doors in a desperate effort to slow the spread of the virus” (Horsely). In addition, because of statewide restrictions that shut down non-essential businesses, businesses, mainly small businesses, have had to close. If they are not open, business owners are not able to pay rent, pay employee salaries, or supply inventory. Kay Osorio, the owner of Awesome Playground in Los Angeles, had to close her business in the latter half of March, the first month, in which businesses decided to close and customers began canceling appointments due to virus concerns. She explains her experience by noting: “At the beginning of March, there were less and less open play customers coming. People had started canceling their birthday parties. And unlike other businesses that have been able to pivot to outdoor-only or remote offerings, we couldn’t come up with another way to deliver our service” (Schnalzer). Kelly Tesfaye and her sister, Maze Tesfaye, are two more small business owners who had to close their restaurant that doubled as a jazz club as a result of the coronavirus. Kelly’s daughter describes this experience as follows: “My mother and aunt are constantly in touch with the musicians. When we see them, we know they are heartbroken about this” (Dvorak). Their family business had been open for more than three decades, but with less than a year of economic turmoil, they had to close business. With the loss of income from the coronavirus, small businesses, such as mom-and-pop stores, have had to close, resulting in heartbreak after many years of work.

As a result, mental health problems of citizens have risen substantially during the Covid-19 recession. Students have switched to remote learning, and haven’t seen their classmates or friends as often, resulting in young adults experiencing anxiety and depression, which the organization attributes partly to social isolation. According to the article “During Pandemic, Growth of U.S Adults with Mental Health Issues Jumps to 53 Percent’ by Linda Searing, “…by late June, 13 percent of adults had started or increased alcohol consumption or drug use to help cope with pandemic-related woes, and 11 percent had seriously considered suicide in the past month – a number that reached 25 percent among those ages 18 to 24”. The unemployed have also faced a decline in mental health. The American Psychology Association states: “Losing a job and being unemployed for a long period of time is a psychological trauma and a financial trauma, and the two are closely intertwined”. Furthermore, the coronavirus has also been the cause of many deaths, amounting to over 241,906 in the United States, as of November 27th, 2020, according to the CDC. The mass amount of deaths means many family members were lost during this time period, further harming one’s health. Individuals are more prone to mental health issues when they are worried about debt, or bills, or when they lose loved ones.

In conclusion, there has been a significant rise in mental health issues during recessions. The economic turmoil faced by both the economy and people contributes to common mental health disorders such as drug use or depression. The increase in unemployment also led to uncertainty in individuals, such as the inability to pay off mortgages, debt, or bills, causing more stress. In addition, many individuals have had to close their small businesses built over decades, which for small business owners and their communities was heartbreaking. Finally, as citizens have transitioned from normal life to the new challenges posed by the Covid-19 recession, there has been a substantial increase in the number of calls received by suicide hotlines. To alleviate the financial burdens and stress that come with recessions, the United States government must enact expansionary fiscal policies or businesses must adapt to the new lifestyle presented with the coronavirus. The United States government must enact expansionary fiscal policies to alleviate the financial burden and stress that comes with recessions, or businesses must adapt to the new lifestyle presented by the coronavirus.

Job Loss Due to COVID-19 as an Economic Problem: Essay

At the end of 2019, scientists began to observe the outbreak of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19; they first identified the virus around the city of Wuhan, China. COVID-19 has infected more than 170 million people worldwide, causing more than 54 million deaths worldwide. The ongoing spread of the coronavirus has become one of the biggest threats to the economy, largely because many people have lost their jobs en masse.

The effect of COVID-19 on the demand for labor, with the increasing pressure of the lockdown regulations, caused many businesses to close and many workers lost their jobs, with some of the businesses not being able to open again due to the loss that they faced during the start of the lockdown. Businesses have had many losses due to COVID-19 as people could not afford to buy the goods and use the services they used before the COVID-19 pandemic took place with these scenarios. Many workers were retrenched to cut costs as many businesses were running at losses. The demand for labor has decreased as businesses cannot afford to pay a lot of employees. The impact of COVID-19 has caused a major decrease in employment across all races, with the main groups being the youth, aging workers, and women. The lack of customers due to COVID-19 has caused a shift in labor as people want things delivered to them instead of buying them physically in stores. The adjustment of positions in businesses caused the gradual reduction of many positions, which led to the loss of jobs.

Measures that were enforced in fighting against unemployment started with the government’s introduction of packages for small and medium enterprises. The package was a debt relief fund that would help all small and medium businesses that were in financial debt, but people were only receiving the fund if their losses were due to COVID-19. The Resilience Facility and Business Growth were financial assistance aimed at helping local businesses that need stock, capital, equipment financing, and order financing so that the businesses can still produce essential goods and services that the community needs. The Employment Tax Incentive worked to reduce youth unemployment by encouraging business owners to start hiring young people in their businesses. Their target group was 18-29-year-olds who needed to be recruited by employers as they wanted employers to pay less PAYE to SARS if they appointed more young people. There is also the COVID-19 Temporary Employer and Employee Relief Scheme that has become an important addition to the Unemployment Insurance Fund as it provides financial benefits to all workers who have lost their jobs due to the effects of COVID-19. There was compulsory sickness benefit funding where workers who were in quarantine would receive 14 days’ pay if workers could produce a medical certificate to be entitled to it. Bereavement benefits due to COVID-19 can be applied for so that the family can get financial benefits.

Summing up, the impact of COVID-19 on the labor market has caused serious upheaval in many countries around the world. The way it has changed the working environment, with employees being retrenched and businesses having to close down, made a huge impact on the unemployment rate to the extent that some workers had to take salary cuts just to stay in their jobs. Both the private and public sectors have been affected. The government has been assisting the nation with incentives that have been beneficial to businesses and people, but the businesses and people also had to meet the government halfway by following the regulations that came with these benefits. The struggle with this virus has hit the economy hard, making job creation difficult, but the government has made job creation a priority as the fact there are many unemployed graduates in the country and even informal jobs are scarce. The aim now is for businesses to regain their momentum and work with the government to create jobs and save the labor market before it’s too late.

Different Stages of Criminal Trials That Are Impacted by Covid-19

“Covid-19 descended without a warning. We limited the number of lawyers, sanitized the courtrooms et al. However, access to justice cannot be suspended even if there is a lockdown”, – Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.

Covid-19 being the most unprecedented situations of all time, has impacted not only country’s economy but the legal functioning as well. The problem lies with no statute, code, or ordinance being engrafted with an exception vis-à-vis a pandemic, which creates a state of conundrum that can only be solved by our limited jurisprudence, or by the Supreme Court itself. For e.g. the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereafter as ‘The CrPC’) has not crafted any exceptional procedure in case of a pandemic, about the functioning of criminal trials, and different pre-trial stages. However, many courts across the country have appreciated the fact that the court cannot function in ordinary course amidst the lockdown. “In a recent order by the apex court, the court emphasized upon the need of social distancing and gave directions to adopt different measures to reduce the physical presence of litigants, clerks, judges, and paralegal personnel”. The court further noted: “Access to justice is fundamental to preserve the rule of law in the democracy envisaged by the Constitution of India. The challenges occasioned by the outbreak of Covid-19 have to be addressed while preserving the constitutional commitment to ensuring the delivery of and access to justice to those who seek it”.

Since, justice in no way can be hindered, however, according to the current circumstances, the author argues that criminal trials will be directly affected by the new guidelines and there will be both negative and positive repercussions of the Covid-19 era. In this paper, with the help of recent judgments by different courts, especially concerning a paradigm shift to virtual trials, the author analyses different sections of the CrPC and their application in the new form of trials, with a special emphasis on the drawbacks. The author establishes that these forms of trials are only a substitution, and cannot be used as a replacement.

Virtual Trials – Unanswered Questions

Recently, an E-Committee of the Supreme Court led by J. Chandrachud, assured the legal fraternity that virtual courts would start functioning. Subsequently, adjudicating upon the Suo-moto writ, the Supreme Court laid specific guidelines which included that the trial courts will shift their functioning to digital platforms. However, the manner in which the virtual trials were to be carried out was left with High Courts and in an event where no guidelines are prescribed, the proceedings would be restricted to the ‘arguments’ stage. Various high courts such as Rajasthan, Kerala, Bombay, and Delhi have already laid out specific guidelines for the functioning of both the high courts and trial courts. It is imperative to mention that it might be feasible for matters listed before the Supreme Court, High courts, and even civil matters before the trial courts, to function smoothly. However, the author argues that it is highly impractical for criminal trials to be conducted over digital platforms.

Before discussing the procedural impact, it is first pertinent to acknowledge the general problems that might occur. We must understand that there is a vast diversity in terms of infrastructure of different courts across the country; it logically flows that each high court will be setting up different guidelines for virtual trials keeping in mind the already existing infrastructure. To illustrate, Court X is directed to use a software ‘M.A.G.’, which is more efficient in terms of conducting hearings. Court Y is directed to use ‘T.A.G.’, which is inefficacious and issues like voice lag, low video quality are predominant. Hence a lawyer practicing in Court X will have problems to adjust to the functioning of Court Y vis-à-vis software mandates. Now, the question arises that what are the shortcomings with respect to the CrPC? We all know that prosecution and defence evidence involve the testimonies of the witnesses. To that effect, reliance must be placed on State of Kerala v. Rasheed. While laying down specific guidelines for the deferment of cross examination of witnesses, the Supreme Court held that it should be ensured that the witness is free from undue influence and coercion of the accused/complainant/ prosecution. Now I argue that since the obligation is upon the judge to secure a free environment for the witness, how is such an obligation to be carried out during virtual trials? Not to mention that the practice of threatening, coercing the witness is pervasive in our country, which often helps a criminal to walk free or innocent to get convicted. Interestingly, the courts have not addressed this yet, which further aggravates the problem by leaving the witness vulnerable to any influence.

It is a well-settled principle of law that the accused has the right to access his/her counsel, and the confidentiality of such meetings is to be maintained. Thus, such meetings usually become more relevant during the S. 167 and S. 309 stage, especially at the remand stage, it becomes imperative to have lawyer-client interactions to enable the lawyer to gain a factual understanding of the case and for several other factors. Now, since, lawyers are restricted to an interaction only through video-conferencing, it becomes problematic because it does not provide for a secured conversation and, it is uncertain whether the Police will not overhear. To illustrate this: X, being charged for murder, is represented by Y, her lawyer. X had to communicate that Z was an alibi, to her lawyer, but couldn’t because of the fear that the Police are recording the video-conference, consequently Y fails to prove her innocence.

S. 207 read with S.294 signifies that it is imperative for any documents held with the Police to be supplied to the accused, and the accused has to deny or admit the genuineness of each document. Further, in Shamsher Singh v. State of Haryana, while dealing with the S. 294, the Supreme Court held that it is essential to check the veracity of the documents either filed by the prosecution or defence. Now the question arises that whether such verification processes can be conducted over virtual proceedings. Which would mean the use of digital platforms to upload documents. However, softcopy documents still attract concerns of credibility because such documents can be easily tampered without attracting an iota of doubt. Further, it becomes difficult to verify whether exculpatory documents have been seized and suppressed by the Police. In Nityananda v. State of Karnataka, the court held that the accused are entitled to get the exculpatory documents and can bring them for consideration at the stage of charge. It is pertinent to mention that the inspection of original documents becomes essential, which requires physical presence for the reasons mentioned above.

It is not to be disputed that the stage of ‘evidence’ remains the most significant part of a trial, which makes it significant to talk about s. 273. This provision mandates that the evidence must be taken in the presence of the accused/defence lawyer. The rationale behind such a mandate is to have a proper interplay between the accused/defence lawyer and the witness or to determine how the witness is proceeding to act accordingly. Such an interplay helps the magistrate to determine the application of S. 280 adequately, wherein the magistrate is mandated to record the witness’s demeanor during the evidence stage. E.g., if the witness is sweating excessively, then the magistrate will adjudicate upon the evidence or the testimony in consonance with such material facts. Now the question arises that how is such a procedure to be carried out during a virtual trial. To illustrate this: X (prosecution witness) during a virtual trial is lying about individual facts; thus, he is shaking and stammering. It is practically impossible for the magistrate to record such demeanor of X because he can easily hide behind the defence of ‘voice delay’ or ‘connectivity issues’.

These are some of the questions which are yet to be answered. Virtual proceedings will be successful only once the Supreme Court is called upon to answer such questions. After analyzing the adverse impact of Covid-19 of criminal trials, it is imperative to analyze some of the positive aspects of Covid-19 vis-à-vis virtual trials.

Virtual Trials – Positive Aspects

Even though virtual trials are not feasible in the long-run, there are a few advantages in the short-run. The foremost advantage lies in the fact that the current policy ensures ‘de-congestion of courts’ Illustration. In a trial court, primarily there are clerks, court staff, judge(s), lawyers, accused, witnesses, Police, and people witnessing the trial. In district courts in Delhi like Tis Hazari and, Karkardooma, which have poor infrastructure, this range of number leads to overcrowding of people (speaking from personal experience), which is directly against social-distancing measures. Further, we usually witness that most of the senior lawyers have different matters in different courts in a single day. For reasons such as traffic congestion, extensive queues for filing, adjournments are more often witnessed. Thus, virtual trials ensure that lawyers and even expert witnesses do not face problems with scheduling and traveling, which further will ensure that proceedings are heard in a time-bound manner and are completed in time. Moreover, virtual trials will be more beneficial to law students and junior advocates because they can observe different proceedings in different courts all around the country. This in effect will result in a better application of s.327.

Conclusion

It can be reasonably concluded that indeed criminal system is being drastically impacted by Covid-19. When it comes to virtual criminal trials, proper proceeding through video-conferencing at the evidence stage can be conducted if the technical and procedural requirements are met. In effect, the courts can set up minimal WRT requirements for Internet connection, cameras, and wired earphones/headphones. It is imperative to have secured connections over which witnesses can testify, and the accused can have proper meetings with their lawyers. Ideally, the courts should have conducted mock virtual trials to identify the issues beforehand; now, in any circumstance, there is an obligation upon the Judiciary to address primary issues and proceed with the hearings. From the arguments put forth, it is evident that there is an urgent need to craft better policies in place. Therefore, the priority to deal with such circumstances should be to formulate a draft law which will provide new rules to be followed during a specific criminal trial stage.

Coronavirus and Its Effect on FDI, Trade Policies and Logistics/Global Production

The coronavirus has been labelled a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation, due to its effect on society. This has left countries no choice but to implement strict lockdown measures to prevent the spread, which is likely to trigger a global recession, this is primarily due to the sharp rise in unemployment, decrease in demand, and their knock-on effects. The global economy is projected to contract sharply by “–3% in 2020” (IMF Staff 2020, p.7). I will study and predict the medium- and long-term effects on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), trade policies and global logistics.

The most significant cross border medium-term effects will be a change in trade policies and a decrease in FDI. Many practitioners concluded that foreign investment drops as a result of a recession which is inevitable due to COVID-19. Several countries including India, Germany, France and the US have begun to implement stricter rules on FDI in key and critical sectors in order to prevent economies from becoming vulnerable and exposed to foreign funds. India’s Ministry of Commerce stated Foreign Investors would require government approval before investing in an Indian company, in order to curb opportunistic takeovers. Consequently, acquisitions or mergers with existing firms in the emerging and developing countries will decrease as they require government approval, lengthening the FDI process and stop many FDI’s from occurring, therefore decreasing flow of FDI.

This trend occurred during the most recent global recession as FDI plunged 13% in 2008 (Investments Trends Monitor 2020). Nevertheless, as previous trends have shown, investors will become more selective on their international endeavours; thus, changes in investment decision, but not on the quantities invested. Furthermore, demanding bigger markets such as India or Brazil will still drive FDI alongside countries with lower regulations and low labour cost. This is an incentive for opportunistic liquid companies to undertake greenfield investments, such as in Chile.

I believe many countries will continue to pursue globalization in the following years and continue to establish better relationship with foreign countries after the global economy begins to stabilise. A huge determinant for this will be the response to trade barriers. The EU has already taken action at its level to facilitate trade flows, as well as a time-limited requirement to authorise exports for vital personal protective equipment. This shows strength between nations and will encourage further investments as profitability increases in these sectors. However, we are also likely to see a decrease in mergers and acquisitions because they tend to be long-term commitments to over sea markets. Thus, with a decrease in demand for the foreseeable future, accompanied with stricter FDI rules, and the continued severe uncertainty about the duration and intensity of the shock, this will result in the flow of FDI to decrease in the medium term.

The long-term effects will be evident on FDI, global logistics accompanied with new trade policies. We will see more FDI in the sense of mergers and acquisition as countries get back on their feet and desire more investments to boost their economy further. This will be possible as developing countries lower trade barriers to incentivise foreign investors.

Multinational companies such as Vodaphone, Nike, Shell, McDonalds need to be closer to their customers as they hold a world-wide presence seeing the world as their market, therefore will continue greenfield investments in the long-term. Furthermore, as FDI is an important source of capital investment, it is also a determinant of the future growth rate of an economy. This shows that lowering in FDI over the next few years especially in Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) will affect the growth of emerging and developing countries, including countries in Africa who has received huge FDI in GFCF. A decrease in FDI will result in less job creation in developing nations further effecting their GDP growth, therefore developing countries will have to provide more incentives for FDI in the long term.

On the other hand, if trade policies are not changed and FDI rules remain strict many business leaders will reassess the extent of their firms’ dependency on single foreign suppliers and examining how to mitigate strategic vulnerabilities. A possible solution would be a government intervention, which implements local content requirements, this would be likely as the government would want to create new jobs to decrease unemployment. There has already been calls from rich-country political leaders for radical shifts in production structures and trade policies. In addition, Western government have announced plans to encourage more domestic production, with Apple being one of the first to make the move.

Contrariwise, these countries have high average wage, and productivity levels will make labour-intensive goods, basic manufacturing, and some services expensive to produce. However, there will be no tariffs on these products as they are manufactured and sold in the home country as countries become self-sufficient and specialised. This will mean a further decrease in FDI, and further deglobalisation, as economic trade and investment between countries decline. This is very likely to occur in the long-term, we may find some countries changing their global value chains and possibly moving manufacturing to the host country to prevent inadequate supply, due to supply chain disruptions. Furthermore, China may undertake strategic trade policies aimed at establishing domestic firms in a global industry in order to boost national income at the expense of other countries (Krugman P 2007). This would be likely considering China’s global dominance in manufacturing, alongside with growing tensions as countries implement new rules to prevent Chinese FDI.

To conclude the medium- and long-term effect of the Coronavirus outbreak will be a decrease in FDI. In Particular China, who has been the second-largest FDI recipient country, therefore a significant decline of FDI flows to China in the short term will affect the level of global FDI flows. The investment impact will be even more concentrated. It will be strongest in those countries that have been forced to take the most drastic measures to contain the spread of the virus. The long-term effect of the coronavirus will be difficult for developing countries to bear, these countries are heavily reliant on FDI especially greenfield investments, which creates jobs, thus growing their GDP. Unfortunately, due to many new FDI rules in various countries, as well as the effect on supply-chains, many companies will revaluate their supply chain. Developed Western countries will be opportunistic and establish new value chains but developing countries will have to offer more incentives for FDI, this may be in the form of removing tariffs, which many countries will exploit. The opportunity to obtain globalisation will be great but at a cost for developing countries. I believe this crisis has aggravated deep seated inequalities between and within countries.

Starbucks and its Care for Employees during Coronavirus

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Coronavirus or COVID-19 is a pandemic which means that the virus has widespread over a whole country or the world. This problem not only affecting health of public but also has disrupted businesses and economies worldwide. Thus, the organization should play a big role in managing their human resource especially involving with their employee’s welfare in order to secure their employees well-being. One of the organizations that can be seen to value their employee well-being during this pandemic is Starbucks.

Starbucks is committed in managing their employee welfare by giving catastrophe pay. Starbucks offers catastrophe pay to any partner who had been diagnosed or exposed to COVID-19 or comes in close protracted contact with someone in their stores or household. Besides that, the catastrophe pay also available to the partner who experiencing symptoms even they have not be in known contact with someone who had been diagnosed by COVID-19. Starbucks also offers the pay to the partner who need extra precautions, such as those are 60 years old and above or who underlying health conditions. The full catastrophe pay benefits is for 14 days but if the employees are unable to return to work and additional pay replacement may be made up to 26 weeks.

Next, Starbucks also taking care of their employees around the world through emergency relief or in other words by making funds collecting. Starbucks contributed $10 million to establish the new Starbucks Global Partner Emergency Relief Program to support employee in company-operated and licensed retail store markets around the world who suffered from the COVID-19. Starbucks Global Partner Emergency Relief Program are available to retail partners in licensed store market through the Emergency Assistance Foundation (EAF), Caring Unites Partners (CUP) Fund and Starbucks EMEA Partner Relief Fund. EAF is a public and non- profit organization designed to administer wide-ranging employee disaster relief. EAF is the fastest way to the employees either domestic or international that was being impacted by COVID-19 to receive financial assistance beside it is a low-cost model and had strategically curated systems while keeping compliant with GDPR and IRS regulations.

Extending all the temporary benefit until May 3rd is also one of the things that Starbucks done to make sure their employee welfare. Rossann William announced that Starbucks will extend all temporary COVID-19 benefits until May 3, including Catastrophe Pay and Service Pay in a letter to the U.S employees. In that letter, she stated that the employee can used the Catastrophe Pay even the employee is cannot going to work either they are self-isolating or any other reasons as employee well-being is Starbucks priority. Starbuck’s employees who are healthy and choosing to go to work will continue to be pay additional $3 per hour with Service Pay. With the extended timeline, Starbuck also extended benefit such as childcare support through Care@Work and expanded Food/ Beverage Benefit and discount to the employees whether they are working a shift or not.

Besides that, Starbucks also implementing safety measure in the store in order to protect their employees’ health and safety. Starbucks has implemented social distancing operating model and expanded sanitizing and cleaning process on the public health official guidance to ensure a safe space for the employees who want to come to work. This safety measures include doubling down on cleaning, sanitizing and food safety practices to avoid the spread of all germs and encouraging social distancing actions by removing tables and chairs from the cafes to eliminate customer cluster besides modifying the condiment bar in all Starbuck’s store. Starbucks also changing their cash handling procedure which allowing gloves to the employees in these roles besides reducing the number of partners behind the bar to further the increase distancing between employees.

In conclusion, Starbucks had done various steps in order to make sure their employees’ welfare are reserved during the COVID-19. Starbucks continuously showing their support to their employees by taking various great step to help them in order to cope with this pandemic by giving a lot of help distribution such as catastrophe pay and extending all the temporary benefit to the employee in order to make sure that the employees are in good condition during the COVID-19. Starbucks had truly shown an example to the other organization and businesses to take steps in reserving not only to the employees but also to the community through the constant determination.

Starbucks: Expo 2021, PESTL Analysis and Coronavirus

Starbucks is a famous café world wide you could find it almost everywhere in the world. Starbucks was founded in March 31, 1971 and was founded by 3 people named Gordon Bowker, Zev Siegl, and Jerry Baldwin. Most people love their coffee and usually like to start their mornings with a beverage from Starbucks.

FACTORS OF PRODUCTION

Starbucks need all four factors of production which are Labor, Capital, Land, and Entrepreneurship. They need land for their stores to sell their product and to grow the coffee and the materials they use also to build the factories that will be supplying and shipping the stocks to the branches. Capital to pay off their baristas, janitors, cashiers, managers, stock managers, branch managers, etc… And to also pay the factories for the product production and shipping. And they need labor to sell their products and keep each one of their stores active and running they need a team in each branch so the store branch can run efficiently. And finally, they need an entrepreneur to lead them and manage their production and help the chain get sponsorships with other brands and assigning the work in each branch equally and distributing the capital they make on their workers.

HOW WOULD EXPO 2021 HELP STARBUCKS

In expo 2021 Starbucks will be having their 50th anniversary which as they mention on their story website that they will be working harder and releasing new drinks that everyone will like. And the company is aspiring to become a resource positive storing more carbon than it emits and eliminating wastes also providing their customers with cleaner freshwater. The company also mentions that they would be focusing on making partnerships with others to take care of the planet we all live in. And things they intend to be doing during expo 2021 are: –

• Making more plant-based options to choose from so they can have a more environmentally friendly menu.
• Start using reusable packaging instead of one time use packaging.
• Developing a more economically friendly stores and services.

So overall they’d be focusing mainly on keeping our environment clean and waste free.

PESTL ANALYSIS

• POLITICAL: Starbucks had when first opened in UAE had to adapt to the political environment and had to focus on the laws and regulations of the UAE to satisfy the UAE law needs and political needs the company had to make many changes in their chain before opening. For example, adapting to the health and authority regulations and adapting to the consumer rights in the UAE. Starbucks has overcome all those challenges and currently has many shops and branches all across the UAE.
• ECONOMICAL: As Starbucks arrives to the UAE in the year 2000 which was a great year to arrive in since the UAE faced a huge growth in both domestic and foreign invested coffee brands. Which would really help the company in achieving growth within the community and gain customers. UAE is known for its passion for coffee with Starbucks opening in the right time you best know that the company’s winnings went up.
• SOCIAL: Of course, after the opening of any company they have to look at the customers interest to grow in fame and love by the economy they open in. Starbucks once opened in the UAE they focused on what the customers wanted and requested of course not all the requests were able to be made into reality since not all of them abided by the local health authority regulations. When customers saw that most of their requests were turning into reality they grew in love with the company and word started to come out and Starbucks grew in fame and love by their economy.
• TECHNOLOGICAL: Starbucks tends to use the latest brewing technology and always keeps their technology up to date. They try to maintain a perfectly updated cashiers, brewing machines, blenders, ovens and general kitchen supplies. By maintaining the up to date technology this will keep their customers satisfied with a perfectly brewed coffee, blended drink, backed material or even fast cashier service.
• LEGAL: Every company that grows fast or any upcoming company would have the public or legal eye focused on to it. Since Starbuck’s fast growth in the UAE the government have been keeping an eye on them to make sure the satisfy the consumer rights in the UAE. And in addition to safety measures and health regulation to keep customers and employees safe at all times. The company had to adapt to a big change in their product since the UAE doesn’t allow the trade with none halal items in cafes or restaurants. So, they had to adapt with the change of pork with smoked turkey breast slices in their sandwiches and the use of halal beef bacon in all their sandwiches.

HOW COVID-19 EFFECTED STARBUCKS

COVID-19 has caused many businesses to shutdown or lessen their production. Starbucks focused on keeping the environment safe from the virus and mentioned that after the lockdown is over, they will return to satisfying our cravings and while lockdown was on, Starbucks focused more on the environment and started sanitizing their branches and working on updating their team and technology so once their customers return they’d be satisfied with the perfect service. Starbucks worked on improving their social skills and their customer supports skills and worked on developing a better customer service to satisfy their customers with great services. Starbucks also kept on looking at what the future retail chart is going to look like and how it intends to navigate threw the phases of this pandemic. Also, after their reopening they have required all customers and employees to wear masks in the store nationwide. The demand supply of the company went down after the lockdown has reached, but after the lockdown was finished, they managed to get their demand supply back up but it wasn’t as before.

Reinventing Performance Management Techniques during COVID-19

Developing complicacies in business functions have direct to the appearance of new and comprehensive ideas in the management of business. Covid-19 outbreak has also proved to be one of the big game changer and a disruptor all over the world economy. As the function of HR all over the companies revisits concerns to jump out of the present crisis, it will require for making sure a robust system of performance management ready, which administers and assesses employee performance in a work from home and virtual working settings successfully. However, it is the time to define what author stated about performance management. According to Aguinis (2009), performance management is a notion in the domain of HRM. It is a consistent method of recognizing, assessing and developing the individuals’ performance and lining up performance with the strategic organisational goals. Performance management is often mistaken as performance appraisal however the latter is only an element of the former.

Many experts have explained the notion in their own techniques and hence there are many universally accepted model of performance management. There are essential five components which recommend how system of performance management should be applied in a company and these include: objectives setting, performance measurement, performance output feedback, reward system on the basis of performance outcomes, and adjustments to objectives as well as activities.

According to the present situation, i.e. during Covid-19 outbreak, work from home has become mandatory and it is quite not possible to monitor individual employees physically but the leaders or the HR managers should be adaptive in nature because uncertain business environment can bring in any kind of situation before them and hence they should be flexible enough to adjust in any type of models of performance management. Salaman, Storey and Billsberry (2005) asserted that there are generally two theories that underlying the concept: goal setting theory and expectancy theory.

The former theory of performance management has been suggested by Edwin Locke in 1968 and this theory recommends that goals of an individual set by a worker act an essential role in inspiring him for better performance (Van der Hoek, Groeneveld and Kuipers, 2018). It is due to the workers keep maintaining their goals and if such goals are not obtained then they either enhance their performance or adapt the goals and make them more pragmatic. In case the performance enhances it will cause gaining of aims of performance management system.

The latter theory has been introduced by Victor Vroom in the year 1964 and this theory is on the basis of hypothesis that people alter their behavior in the company based on the anticipated satisfaction of valued goals place by them (Barba-Sánchez and Atienza-Sahuquillo, 2017). People change their behavior in such a process which is majorly possible to direct them to achieve these goals and this theory inspires the notion of performance management as it is considered that performance is affected by the prospect concerning imminent events.The system of performance management will help to make sure of productivity in a remote workplace.

Apart from this current pandemic situation, a case study of Deloitte will help us to answer the following question: Why and how a company can reinvent their performance management? Deloitte is the biggest professional services network in the globe as per revenue and number of experts. During 2013 to 2014, they achieved $34.2 bn USD in revenue which is a record. Thus if such a big company in the globe takes on evolving their performance management then they execute it with a bang.

Deloitte explored that their present approach to PM annual 360 feedback was desecrating a shocking two million hours each year. Even more considerable, they recognized that their system was not involving workers at all. The levels of performance were declining severely. In a stress to combat this, the company developed something more nimble, real time and personalized. They desired something that was concentrated on fueling performance in the current than just evaluating it in the past (Ott, 2020). They have realized that they should shift their performance evaluation aim from the past to the future; ratings show more of the rater than they make of the rate and thus feedback should be frequently provided rather than giving annual ratings. The organisation also recommends that the superior technique to make sure of frequency is to have frequent check-ins of near time work began by the members of team.

The performance of Deloitte is further getting effect from a consumer technology medium that is planned to be simple, fast and above all, involving. Individuals incline to be interested in themselves- their personal insights, gains and effect thus they consider that using such a technique would involve a worker around their individual performance in a manner they had not done (Ott, 2020). From personal perspective, members of team should get a weekly progress report where there are four distinctive indicators that associate into the weekly score. For conclusion, Deloitte recognized that conventional, 360 reviews were not efficient. Moreover, they do not provide a transparent opinion of the present working condition. Therefore, it is time to recreate the process of performance management. In addition, employee performance snapshots have to be frequent and the technology have to be designed in simplest, quickest and engaging to employ.

Impact of COVID-19 on International Sugar Trade: Analysis of Brazil

Sugarcane is a plant that provides both alcohol and sugar. Cultivation of this plant originally began in Southeastern Asia. Brazil was first introduced to sugarcane five centuries ago, while it was still a colony under Portugal. It’s interesting to note that during this time gold and sugarcane held nearly the same values. During the mid 17th century, Brazil grew to become the largest producer of sugar. Though they lost this rank for several decades, they finally reconquered it in 1970. This came after the government’s creation of a project known as ProÁlcool or Programa Nacional do Álcool – The National Program of Alcohol.

Main Exporters of Sugar

When it comes to sugar exports, there are three countries that consistently top the list. Those are:

• Brazil with 27.1% of total exports worth US$5.2 billion
• Thailand with 15.4% of total exports worth US$3 billion
• India with 9.1% of total exports worth US$1.8 billion

These countries are then followed by France and Guatemala with 5% and 3.6%, respectively, of total sugar exports.

COVID-19’s Effects On Sugar Exports

Recently, there have been over 70 ships lined up at the Santos, Brazil port waiting to load sugar for export. Experts said it may take a month to clear this logjam. Buyers from around the world are scrambling to get ahead of any disruptions caused by COVID-19. The global sugar trade is looking to Brazil, as they posted record output numbers. This comes after Thailand and India both suffered from poor harvests. The only problem is Brazil now has over 610,000 cases of COVID-19 which is the second-most cases in the world. The rising number of virus cases has forced three bulk carriers to suspend loading operations, as they were imposed with a 14-day quarantine period at the Santos port. This comes after crew members aboard the ships tested positive for coronavirus.

The virus has complicated sugar trading, with everyone nervous that vessels may not be able to load or berth quickly. Despite the issues, sugar is a hot commodity. To put this in perspective, ships are waiting to load more than 3 million tonnes of sugar, when you compare this to the same time last year, there were ships waiting for only 700,000 tonnes. Volume isn’t the only aspect that’s up, wait times are too. Current wait times are up to 29 days, last year these times were only four to five days.

The good news for Brazil is that even though the situation is stressful, buyers are not likely to cancel their contracts due to having a hard time finding alternative supplies. Though India could be an alternative supplier, they are facing similar problems at their ports due to COVID-19.

Market Outlook For Sugar

The price for sugar is forecast to fall and reach a decade low of US 10 cents per pound during 2020-21. This decline is due to Brazil’s increased sugar production and a fall in ethanol production caused by low oil prices. It’s thought that sugar demand around the globe from food industries will contract because government lock downs are reducing the consumption of out-of-home foods. This is combined with reduced household incomes leading to fewer retail sales of sugar-containing products.

The prospects for supply and demand during 2020-21 are tied to implemented measures of control from COVID-19 and how fast the economies recover around the world. It’s said that a slow return to economic and social activities will only continue to hurt demand and increase the supply. When it comes to supply, government policies in the major sugar-producing countries are expected to hinder a reduction in the worldwide area used to plant sugarcane. Though global production is set to rebound to recent highs during 2020-21, consumption is expected to slowly recover.

Importance of Customer Service Essay

Having a good customer service area within your business makes customers feel more welcome. If you make sure that your customers are well looked after, and well respected, customers will be impressed and will want to return as they know that they will be respected and treated carefully. For a business, good customer service means treating customers with kindness. Customers don’t want to be waiting a long time. Customers want to be helped as quickly as possible. For smaller businesses this can be difficult, as they will only be able to afford to pay a small group of people, however, for businesses such as Virgin Media, they can afford to employ many more people, allowing faster response time to customers. The size of the businesses depends on how efficient their customer service is. If you don’t have the money to pay your employees, you can’t have more than you afford, whereas other big businesses, can employ many more people, allowing their customer service section to be more efficient.

The two contrasting businesses that I will be writing this report on are Virgin Media and Bershka. Whilst they both sell things, Virgin Media provides a service and Bershka sells physical products, such as clothing. These two contrasting businesses both handle customer service in different ways. I will start by reviewing the customer services from Virgin Media. On their website, they have a few different options that you can ask for assistance. The layout of this website is also perfect for those who may not be as confident in using the internet, or technology in general. Everything is labeled clearly, allowing you to find what you need quickly and easily. Most of the customer services can be done via a phone call. This is good for a lot of people who need to be guided through a process to fix what the customer called for.

Whereas for Bershka, their customer services are mostly done over email, live chat, and over the phone. I think that live chat is the best way to help someone as it is dealt with there, and then, emailing is a much slower process as you have to wait an x amount of time before someone sees the email, then you have to wait for a response. Some businesses are good at keeping on top of emails and responding within shorter time frames, but some businesses have too many to handle. And for phone calls, it’s very similar to Virgin Media as they can help customers deal with something efficiently, for example, as their website can be quite confusing, going through this with someone over the phone can be very useful.

In terms of employees, businesses need to ensure that they employ individuals with good people skills. If they are socially awkward, then they are not right for the job. Choosing the right people is very important both for the business and the customers. Customers want to be spoken to with respect, with kindness, and sometimes customers enjoy having a little chat with the employee whilst they are waiting for something to be done, e.g. an update on a phone. Employees must also be trained to deal with the harsher of customers. Sometimes it can be harder to deal with these types of customers as they tend to be more demanding, so having employees that can either calm them down or stay as professional as possible is very important. It helps the business look more professional, and other businesses may take what their business does and adapt it to fit their customer services.

Businesses must have excellent customer service. There needs to be some sort of ‘helpdesk’ available during the day. Especially during the Pandemic of the coronavirus, businesses needed to have increased customer service as people were no longer able to leave the house for any reason other than an hour of exercise a day or shopping for essentials. During this time, customer services all around became a lot more popular. So, during times like these, businesses need to make sure that they can keep on top of customer service requests and calls.

Virgin Media’s customer service during the Pandemic of the coronavirus needed to be top tier, as all of their customers were relying on their broadband to work from home, to communicate with family members, and not only broadband but also their landlines. Offering the services that Virgin Media offers means that you must be able to offer support 247. If this is not the case, then there should be information written on their website which may help the customers if they have missed the opening hours for customer services.

As for Bershka, their customer services may not be needed as often. As Bershka is a fashion brand that sells clothes, they will only be contacted regarding delivery times and possible damaged products. Naturally, they will not be as busy as the contrasting business, Virgin Media, however, customer services are still important to a lot of customers, and during the many months of 2020 when the country has been on lockdown, their stores have been closed, so the only way for customers to shop is online, and so their customer services are also online as a result. Their online customer services have gone from, being used from time to time, to being used as the primary way to contact employees, so undoubtedly, they would need more staff working to help these customers, and so there is a possibility that they may have to employ new staff to help, and there will be some sort of training to help them. This training can be done by monitoring the customer services for new staff to listen to and understand.