Chinese Investors in North Rine-Westphalia

Within the next days the chinese XCMG group will announce the acquisition of SCHWISCH, a North Rhine-Westphalian (NRW) manufacturer of concrete pumps. More and more chinese companies are purchasing and participating on the NRW-market and are now very welcome.

It is not possible to keep on working at Schwisch without any investor and therefore it was necessary to accept that deal with the chinese company. Many employees are already working a long time on short-time working arrangements which are not allowed anymore. Also an amount of nearly 150 employees had to leave the company this year. With more than 3000 employees and a an annual turnover of 400 milion Euros, Schwing is one of the biggest manufactures of concrete pumps in the world.

Many years China was only known as a big sales market for german products such as inudstry goods or cars. But nowadays many chinese companies are showing a huge growth and are also able to invest into german companies which are searching for investors.

After a third trip to china for keeping economic relations between Germany and especially North Rine-Westphalia and China, North Rine-Westphalia´s minister of trade and commerce Voigtsberger had the impression that the chinese interest of investing into german companies is incredibly high. Over the years NRW has established his good reputation with three chinese provinces and also with the federal government in Bejing. Due to the fact that a personal contact assume a high status in the chinese business, Voigtsberger takes care a lot about the economic relationship between NRW and China.

More than 700 chinese companies have their own branch offices in NRW, mostly in the car industry, mechanical engineering, textile trade, steel trade or IT technology. Many workplaces have been created by companies like Genertec, Huawei or Midea. Investments by chinese companies have increased within the last two years and the investors have recognized that it is easier to develop ther german market with creating branch offices in Germany and especially in NRW.

Chinese investments does not mean only disadvantages. Chinese companies also know that the german Know-how is not exportable. On the one hand there are for sure companies which try to buy the Know how and want to reduce or dissolve german locations. On the other hand many chinese investors want to develop the german locations as an advantages for both sides. Finally, there is no other country in the world in which chinese investments has increased so fast like in Germany, and North Rine-Westphalia is the heart of these investments.

sources:

http://www1.wdr.de/themen/wirtschaft/schwing100.html

http://www.chinanews.ch/2012/04/21/xcmg-kauft-mehrheit-an-schwing/

Women’s issues at work

One of the mainly women’s issues at work is safety and health. The safety and health conditions at work are very different between countries, economic sectors and social groups, even between men and women. Deaths and injuries take a particularly heavy toll in developing countries, where a large part of the population is engaged in hazardous activities, such as agriculture, fishing and mining. Throughout the world, the poorest and least protected – often women, children and migrants – are among the most affected.

Gender inequalities in the workplace and work-life balance issues have become increasingly important as employment rates of women have continued to grow in all world.

For example, America’s work force has changed in the last 50 years. Though men still outnumber women in the workforce, the percent of women working has steadily increased from 34% in 1950s to 60% today. The percent of men working has been decreasing during this time, from 84% in the 50s to only 73% working today.

But also gender inequalities in the workplace and work-life balance issues have become increasingly important in all EU Member States. In 2009, 58.6% of the European work force (EU-27) was female and women filled 59% of all newly created jobs, the extent to which women contribute economically still seems to be underestimated.

        „The greater the work pressure, the higher the risk for heart disease among women ages 51 and under”

Women face different workplace health challenges than men. This is partly because men and women tend to have different kinds of jobs. Women are more often in monotonous jobs with high productivity demands and little control over the content of the work.

Following are some of the prevalent problems of working women face:

 1.Financial problems – all those problems that need financial investment and planning are included here. Beginning from arranging their kid education to health insurance coverage, and loss of revenue to neglected work etc.

2.Logical concerns – the list of concerns contained in the logical concerns contains the synchronization of work of a working women. She should strategize all her details of her entire working day. The concern might start with the utilization of regional vehicle to managing working hours, handling with her kid’s medical check-up and sickness, preserving breast milk to feed her kid.

3.Health concerns – burden relevant illness is very prevalent in working women. The percentage of working women dropping down due to sickness much more than women who are working outside and stay at home. Overloaded pressure, less sleep, social problems on women going out for work, personal culpability of leaving kid alone in home and much more all these are major elements of stress in working women. Poor working conditions cause stress, and stress causes a whole range of physical problems, from cardio -vascular disease to gastro -intestinal problems.

4.Professional development problems- frequently working women tend to miss chances of promotions and also for various health insurance advantages because of their cut-back at working time or participating in part-time work. Also, Like all workers in insecure jobs, women may fear that bringing up a safety issue could result in job loss or more difficult work situations. They may also be less likely to report a work-related injury.

5.Interpersonal problems – working women who have low control on their work are majorly prone to such problems. This not just leaves the women emotionally irritated however also physically tired. This might cause disturbances and needless disputes in home. Probaly part of women now marrying later in life, staying in school longer, delaying childbirth, and having fewer children than in previous years. More women are choosing to continue working while also balancing the traditional parenting responsibilities.

                       

To sum up, the balance between different genders refers to the way a person could combine his work along with other areas of his life like socialization, exercising and childcare. It is often a problem for all of us because it is about how long we have to work and the nature of our work. Therefore women’s problems that occur in their day to day life, mainly can be solved by themselves and their fellow beings – take significant care of yourself and to support and observe women’s right in general. Of course, demands for paid maternity leave and job protection, equal pay for work of equal value,policies to prevent sexual harassment all improve women’s working conditions and women’s occupational health.

Source:

http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/safety-and-health-at-work/lang–en/index.htm

http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?issue=Gender+and+occupational+safety+and+health&Language=EN

http://www.womens-healthcare.org/mental-health/work-life-balance.html

http://osha.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/040122_gender_report

Gender differences in Bangladesh labour market

Although women are getting more and more accepted in the worldwide labour markets, their position in the world of work remains always more disadvantaged compared to that of men, especially in countries like Bangladesh. Despite women’s emancipation and modern developments, they still aren’t considered to be primary players in the economy, nor are they perceived as primary participants in the Bangladesh labour market. This fact is definetely due to the traditional views still held by society on the role of women. Furthermore the demand for female labour is partially determined by the quality and levels of women’s skills and education as well as by the differences between men and women in terms of these qualifications. Recent statistics show that a much higher percentage of women than men are uneducated and therefore they’re not enough qualified to get an appropriate job. Indeed, more than 50 per cent of the female labour force has received no formal education at all, which is a big gender gap and cause for concern. Obviously in Bangladesh it is men who have mainly benefited from new job opportunities. This also indicates that female employment levels will not rise until all unemployed men have been absorbed into the labour market. Indeed, as long as there are male workers available, employers in Bangladesh tend to employ them first rather than break with tradition. Many employers revealed that they prefer to continue employing men for jobs that they have traditionally performed because they feel they would “not gain anything by employing women!” A statement which is totally discriminatory and sexist. Policies and the labour market should give up traditional pictures and recognize that women’s labour force participation can change the dynamics of the entire labour market and the female labour force can play an important role in the economic growth of a developing country such as Bangladesh.

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