crisis

The German IT inter-trade organisation Bitkom is alarmed

Recently the Bitkom reported that the delays caused by the incidents in Japan would not be as terrible as it first seemed. The high-tech market didn’t seem to be seriously affected.

However now, a random survey of manufacturers and merchants of electronics shows that actually the economical effects are becoming a growing problem. The survey was based on information and communication technology as well as consumer electronics. By now you can see price increases very clearly: Products or components are about 20 percent more expensive.

The Bitkom didn’t specify which products are affected. It is generally difficult at the moment, because even the Japanese themselves do not share information. Of course the greatest consequences will be seen at products that can not be made without Japanese influence. For example some car manufacturers need a special component for their cars, that is only produced by the Japanese company “Hitachi”. Due to the total failure of Hitachi, production stops occured.

Shortages are also expected in the production of the special Blue-Ray lasers, made by Sony. Currently it seems as if the Japanese are doing everything to start their production again, so that they won’t lose their customers to the competitors. Due to the current situation of power supply, further problems are expected.
Even if the same quantity can be achieved again, a potentially radioactive contamination could affect the supply chain. Precise appraisals are not possible at the moment.

Some price increases are, certainly only speculative. For example the Taiwanese memory chip market DRAMeXchange.com reported that the prices for NAND flash memory chips are increasing by 5 to 15 percent. These chips are integrated into e.g. USB sticks, digital cameras, memory cards, smart phones and tablets.

The second largest producer in the world for these memory chips is the Japanese firm Toshiba whose factories are located in the South of Japan where the work continues ostensibly without problems.

The economic problems in Japan will probably take several weeks and months, so that we can just make a guess about the consequences now. Did you notice something about price increases or delivery shortages? We are looking forward to your comments.

this bnet article by alice chen gives 3 effective tips for better coping with the increasing stress in our today’s working environment…

according to dw-world.de, “rising unemployment as a result of the continuing global economic crisis is having a particular effect on young germans under the age of 24, a new study says…”

during the current market crisis, companies should focus on their employees´ professional development. this is how prof. scheer, president of the hightech-organisation BITKOM, comments on the latest survey concerning e-learning.
but further professional development is also an important factor for freelancers in order to enhance their knowledge during decreasing demand. it can help ride out the financial crisis, as crises tend to make market selections.
according to the survey 36% of the german net users already employ e-learning techniques, and 26% focus on their professional development.

projektwerks’ market-monitor

project market: recovery despite crisis

hamburg. after a low point in may, in june the number of projects offered on projektwerk rose again after a sharp downturn at the beginning of the year. while oracle was the only bright spot in the first and second quarter of 2009, project numbers for sap, j2ee/java as well as sql soon closed the gap.

vertical axis: number of projects offered / horizontal axis: period

projektwerk ceo christiane strasse commented on the latest developments on the projektwerk platform as follows, “we assume that the bottom has been reached – while businesses primarily economized on external resources at the beginning of the crisis, it is now the freelancers that first experience the trend toward recovery”.

the trend is also supported by current data from a series of economic indicators, which at least indicate a positive tendency that essentially lightens the mood in germany.

thus, the consumer climate index settled down at 2.6 points, with a promising outlook for an upward swing in july. the ifo-institute was the first to spread the positive news and announced the downward trend was halted.

zew-president wolfgang franz told the “handelsblatt” that he was optimistic about the rising economic expectations, “expert assessments suggest that the downward momentum is coming to a standstill, and they see recovery at the end of the year.”

projektwerk

“the recession is a scary thing. mentioning the word recession makes peoples’ eyes bulge and their body language switch from open and happy to reserved and timid. is it the fact that the super big businesses across the world are closing or filing for bankruptcy? or could it be that the smaller businesses are closing shop and leaving entire strip malls across america vacant?

whatever the reason behind it, i am sure the recession has scared all of us at one point or another. the nervousness we get when we look at our financial records and wonder if they’re going to be dipping to an all time low. the uneasy feeling we get when all of our leads have dried up and we do not know what to do next. or the view of the freelance world from the outside looking in — the first time freelancer who doesn’t know if they should take the jump now because times are so hard…”

…read the full article here.

as in the u.s., growing unemployment rates in the eu and euro zone undercut optimism that the global economic crisis is easing.

as generally known, businesses worldwide are suffering heavily due to the reigning financial crisis. unfortunately, operational difficulties arise for a variety of reasons currently, such as a low order volume or insufficient financing options for example. as a result, instead of shrinking operations, employees are laid off en masse. how long will this development continue? there seems to be no prospect for a quick recovery of the economy, at least in the near future.

however, this economic crisis seems to boost a trend in the labour market that has long been apparent. the developments clearly demonstrate a shift away from permanent, full-time employment towards temporary, flexible work. a growing number of people is increasingly engaged in self-employment or freelance work, a development projektwerk can confirm due to increasing user numbers and registrations to its service.

although the economic situation in general is unfortunate, among the many losers, there are also have to be winners. just now projektwerk comes into play. projektwerk’s online marketplace provides the platform for independent professionals, freelancers and businesses, companies to connect and get work done efficiently. on the one hand, projektwerk enables businesses to flexibly react to their needs and hire qualified personnel on demand, relatively independent of economic fluctuations. on the other hand, freelancers get access to multiple up-to-date projects, not dependent on a single employer. undeniably a possibility for both sides to benefit, especially in challenging times…

projektwerk

los angeles times: “hiring might not rebound in an economic recovery”