Wednesday morning news drop
The global housing market is broken — and it’s dividing entire countries Soaring property prices are forcing people all over the world to abandon all hope of owning a home (Financial Post)
CPABC: Greater Victoria unemployment down to 4.4% but employment below pre-pandemic levels According to the BC Check-Up: Work, an annual report by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) on employment trends across the province, Greater Victoria’s unemployment rate fell to 4.4 per cent in September 2021, down from 9.6 per cent in September 2020. As of September 2021, total employment across the capital region reached 206,400, a 1.2 per cent increase compared to September 2020. (CPABC / Yahoo)
Victoria labour market starved for talent The latest labour-market snapshot shows Victoria’s unemployment rate remains one of the lowest in Canada and B.C. is leading the pack when it comes to economic recovery, but it also paints a picture of a market that is starving for talent. (Times Colonist)
How to Attract Top Tech Talent Labor markets are tight for many types of workers, but that’s especially true for employees with technical skills. Demand for these workers by non-tech companies has increased even as tech giants like Facebook and Amazon seek to hire thousands of them. To fill these roles at a time when highly-skilled people have many opportunities, seek to broaden the funnel of potential candidates by thinking harder about what skills are truly essential (and which are trainable), and by making your company more appealing to potential workers. (Harvard Business Review)
Own It – fostering healthy work cultures that encourage loyalty To foster real connection and belonging within an organization, employees need genuine ownership over what they are doing — thankfully, there is more than one way to make that happen. (Douglas)
Vancouver’s Industrial Facility Shortage Could Hurt BC’s Economy Vancouver has a vacancy rate of 0.6% in its industrial sector, which is 1.2 million sq. ft out of a total 204 million, and with a shortage of facilities larger than 100,000 sq. ft available, the provincial economy risks taking a hit. (Storyes)
The Ruthless Math of Political Campaigns: Is Big Data Bad for Democracy? As the fate of elections is increasingly tied to analytics, we could end up with voters nobody will bother trying to persuade (Walrus)
Fear and Loathing in Cryptoland I see far too many parallels between the DotCom bubble and crypto. There is so much outrageous behavior in these markets that it is hard for me not to see it this way. On the other hand, I also say this as a partial compliment. (Of Dollars And Data)
How Car Shortages Are Putting the World’s Economy at Risk Because so many jobs depend on automaking, the industry’s production problems are causing the pain to ripple. (New York Times)
Chokepoint Economy, When Shortages Start to Matter Everywhere you look, there are shortages and bottlenecks. Containers for shipping are in short supply and ports are struggling to keep up with demand. Semiconductors — a crucial component in everything from cars to iPhones — have been so scant that they’re impacting production of cars and GDP. There are shortages of lumber and pallets. (Bloomberg)
The Unvaccinated May Not Be Who You Think 95% of those over 65 in the US have received at least one dose — a remarkable number, given that this age group is prone to online misinformation, is heavily represented among Fox News viewers and is more likely to vote Republican. Clearly, misinformation is not destiny. (New York Times)
What’s the deal with Amazon trucks’ weird-ass backup sound? We’re used to ‘beep-beep,’ but we’re getting harsh, staticky noise. It’s super-annoying — and safer for us. (Input)
Ranking the 75 Best Sneakers In NBA History In honor of the NBA’s 75th anniversary, The Crossover is counting down the best shoes to ever touch an NBA court. (Sports Illustrated)