Daily Market Update - February 26, 2015

Report: US faces labor shortage in next ten years… Insurance sector welcomes 14,000 new colleagues… HP publishes cyber risk report… Wal-Mart division warns of risk from climate change…

Risk Management News

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Report: US faces labor shortage in next ten years
The United States is facing a shortage of skilled labor in the manufacturing sector according to a new report. The study by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute highlights a risk to manufacturers; the sector will need 3.5 million new jobs over the next ten years but more than half of those vacancies will be unfilled due to a skills shortage. Among the challenges is a lack of interest in the sector from younger Americans at a time when many baby boomers will be retiring. The research found that 82 per cent of manufacturing business executives feel that workforce gaps will harm their growth and ability to implement new technology. Most say they are willing to pay above-market-rates to secure the talent they need. The time it takes to recruit workers is also increasing; it can take up to 90 days to hire the right talent for the business.
 
Insurance sector welcomes 14,000 new colleagues
There were 13,900 new insurance jobs created in the US during January. The figure, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics represents a 0.55 per cent increase in the sector’s workforce which now stands at 2.52 million employed workers. From a year earlier there has been an increase of almost 4 per cent.
 
HP publishes cyber risk report
Tech firm HP has published the latest edition of its annual cyber risk report which highlights the current vulnerabilities for businesses. It found that the word ‘malware’ was hot in 2014 with more businesses concerned about the risk from hidden software on their devices and networks. There was also an uptick in security of mobile devices with Android smartphones and tablets of particular concern to business owners, while Apple and Windows devices were considered less risky. That said the detection rate of issues by ‘reputable vendors’ was 99 per cent. Point-of-sale systems were also a potential vulnerability for retail businesses. The emerging threat of ‘ransomware’ is also highlighted in the report; this is software that encrypts data until the owner pays a ransom to release it. The connected world, the ‘internet of things’, also poses a risk says HP. On the plus side, the report is optimistic that detection rates and solutions are improving with encryption and privacy tools making security stronger…if businesses choose to use them! Read the report.
 
Wal-Mart division warns of risk from climate change
The UK business of Wal-Mart has warned that at least U$600 million of value could be at risk if the firm does not tackle climate change issues. Chris Brown from Wal-Mart owned supermarket chain ASDA told a conference on sustainability that “Only five per cent of our fresh produce supply chain is not at risk from climate change impacts.” He pointed to events such as flooding and droughts as being dangers to agricultural production that would result in sharp increases in produce costs.
 

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