Standard Chartered and UCEP Bangladesh start employment reintegration programme

July 06, 2022. DHAKA, Bangladesh.

A re-skilling and employment reintegration programme for individuals whose livelihoods have been impacted by COVID-19 and by recent flooding in areas of northern Bangladesh.

Standard Chartered Bangladesh and UCEP Bangladesh have launched a re-skilling and employment reintegration programme for individuals whose livelihoods have been impacted by COVID-19 and by recent flooding in areas of northern Bangladesh. Under this partnership, 500 beneficiaries in the Sylhet district will receive market-driven vocational training.

The programme caters to individuals who have lost their jobs and source of income in recent months. Of the 500 selected beneficiaries, 278 are individuals looking to recover from the pandemic, while the remaining 222 are individuals who have been displaced and impacted by this year’s devastating floods. Female beneficiaries and beneficiaries residing in rural locales were prioritised during the selection process.

Naser Ezaz Bijoy, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bangladesh, said, “When the floodwaters flowed across northern Bangladesh, they had a devastating impact on communities that were already battling climate change and dealing with the drawn-out aftershocks of the pandemic. The key to rebuilding these communities is to help them to adapt to their new reality. Bridging the skills gap and empowering members of our wider community to seize new opportunities is an important part of this process. We are happy to continue our partnership with UCEP, and to play a role in equipping people with the necessary skills and resources they need for a prosperous future.”

Dr. Md. Abdul Karim, Executive Director, UCEP Bangladesh, said, “We are thankful to Standard Chartered Bangladesh for their continuing support to expand the re-skilling and reintegration programme, which helps the youth and young adults who have lost their job due to the COVID pandemic.”

The material to be taught as part of the re-skilling and employment reintegration programme has been developed by UCEP Bangladesh following a number of assessments and studies which have identified skill related gaps across both the formal and informal sector. The current programme is designed to prepare participants and to equip them with the skills required to meet the current and future demands of the job market

With over 117 years of uninterrupted presence in the nation, Standard Chartered Bangladesh is dedicated to driving commerce and growth without leaving people behind, negatively impacting the planet, or creating divisions that diminish our sense of community. Raising awareness about the environment and working to combat climate change has been a top priority for the Bank given the extreme risk the climate crisis poses to communities across Bangladesh. The world today is grappling with challenges that are unprecedented – both in terms of scope and scale. While the mounting health crisis is undoubtedly a major challenge, it is one of many.

Depressed economic activity as a result of the pandemic continues to put distressed communities in jeopardy, forcing individuals to deal with health and safety concerns in conjunction with financial stress and PUBLIC uncertainty. To deal with immediate challenges brought on by the pandemic, Standard Chartered is working with development sector partners to deliver aid and essentials to hard-hit communities and to support frontline health services. To enable longer-term recovery, the Bank is focused on empowering communities via education, skills development, workforce reintegration, health interventions, and digital innovation.

UCEP Bangladesh was established by Lindsay Allan Cheyne in 1972. UCEP Bangladesh is a non-governmental organization which provides Second Chance Education to out-of-school children and Decent Work to youth & adults through Technical Vocational Education & Training (TVET) and Skills Development. UCEP places a special focus on Social Inclusion, therefore gives priority to women, children, and youth from poor and underprivileged families.

-ENDS-

For further information please contact:

Bitopi Das Chowdhury

Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand & Marketing,

Bangladesh Standard Chartered Bank

Email: BitopiDas.Chowdhury@sc.com

Standard Chartered

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Source Link: https://av.sc.com/bd/content/docs/bd-press-releasescb-reskilling-and-reintegration-programmes-fv.pdf

Rising prices and return to work lift consumer spending in June

July 12, 2022. SYDNEY, Australia.

But higher interest rates already making impact. CommBank Household Spending Intentions Index tracks the impact of higher prices and interest rate increases, with declines in entertainment, home buying and retail spending.

Consumer spending measured by the CommBank Household Spending Intentions Index rose by a modest 0.9 per cent in June to 117.3, while there was clear evidence of weaker discretionary spending following the recent interest rate hikes.

The marginal rise in the index – which combines Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) payments and lending data and Google Trends search information – was narrowly based. While the index is now equal to its record high set in March 2022, the gain in June was mainly driven by increased cost of goods and higher spending in the transport, education and household services sectors.

Australians returning to the office saw transport spending surge 6.7 per cent in June, due to the higher cost of fuels and an increased use of public transport, car parks, taxis and childcare services. Elevated demand for work clothing also drove increased spending on department stores, dry cleaning and tailoring. While transport spending is up 132.2 per cent on June 2021, it remains well below the pre-pandemic levels.

Travel spending intentions rose by 1.5 per cent in June and are up 71.3 per cent on the year, as pent-up demand is unleashed. Travel agencies, cruise lines, airlines, airports, hotels & motels, tourist attractions, sports and recreational camps and bus lines all benefited, although motor home and RV rentals weakened as people looked to holiday further afield.

CBA Chief Economist Stephen Halmarick said: “Australian consumer spending remains higher than a year ago, as the economy recovers from the 2021 lockdowns, with the CommBank HSI Index up 11.9 per cent relative to June 2021.

“However the index’s modest gain in June was narrowly based, driven mainly by the increased price of many goods and services, such as petrol, which helped drive higher spending on transport, along with increased spending on education and household services.

“Interest rate-sensitive sectors of the economy and are clearly starting to show the impact of recent Reserve Bank interest rate increases, with discretionary spending on entertainment, home buying and retail all declining on the month. With further interest rate increases expected through the remainder of 2022, we would expect to see discretionary spending weaken further in coming months.”

After last week’s third consecutive monthly increase in interest rates, CBA is forecasting a 25bp hike in August and additional increases over coming months taking cash rate target to 2.1 per cent by end of 2022. CBA’s economics team has trimmed its GDP growth forecast for 2022 to 3.5 per cent (from 4.7 per cent) and expects house prices to fall around 15 per cent from peak-to-trough by end 2023.

The CommBank HSI Index combines analysis of CBA payments data (Australia’s largest consumer spending data set covering approximately 40 per cent of payment transactions), loan application information and Google Trends publicly available search activity data. To access this powerful insight into spending trends visit www.commbank.com.au/hsi.

Source Link: https://www.commbank.com.au/articles/newsroom/2022/07/consumer-spending-lift-in-June.html

Sber to hold nine essions and workshops on design at Russian Creative Week

July 07, 2022. MOSCOW, Russia.

They will discuss why it is important to develop creative technology.

Sber is taking part in the Russian Creative Week, which will be held in Moscow on July 7-10 and will see seven Sber panel sessions and two workshops with speakers from Sber and partner companies, Russian and international experts. They will discuss why it is important to develop creative technology in Russian regions, talk about cross-disciplinarity in the creative process and the importance of the national code in a professional journey, creating corporate design processes and features of future interfaces, the importance of research and an inclusive approach, trends in typography and type design in creative industries.

The events of the Russian Creative Week will gather Pyotr Koltypin, vice president, Chairman of the Volgo-Vyatka Bank of Sberbank; Evgeniy Domnikov, head of Creative Technology Development, Sberbank; Alexander Eremenko, head of Brand Development, Sberbank; Maxim Kozlov, head of the Sber AR/VR Lab; Yaroslav Sizov, design cluster leader, SberBank Online; Yuliana Slashcheva, chair of the Soyuzmultfilm Film Studio, CEO of the Gorky Film Studio; Ilya Mikhailov, design director at SberDevices; and other experts from Sber and partner companies.

Sessions and master classes of Sber and the events with experts from Sber and partner companies will be webcast at https://promo.sber.ru/creativityweek.

Evgeniy Domnikov, head of Creative Technology Development, Sberbank:

“Sber has gained a unique expertise. Our team’s multidisciplinary efforts thrive in the following domains: communications, product, digital, industrial, sound and type design, CX / UX research, AR / VR, motion, game and 3D design, visual effects, digital avatars, etc. Sber’s design ecosystem features communities, accelerators, laboratories, and knowledge platforms for innovative projects. Sber has been the first choice employer for creative professionals for the last few years. We are ready to share our experience to develop the creative industries in Russia together.”

The Russian Creative Week has the following sessions scheduled:

• July 7, 2:30–3:30 pm – “International Outlook on Design and its Future (Russia, China, Mexico)”. The session will address cross-disciplinarity in the creative process and the importance of the national code in a professional journey.

• July 7 4:50–5:40 pm — “Regions vs the Capital. Where do Creative Technologies Live?” A session about the importance of developing creative technology in the regions of Russia and if the creative industry can facilitate the development of local economies.

• July 7 5:20–6:20 pm — “Creating Corporate Design Processes”: how many tasks can design tools address; should a product evolve from the design or should the design follow a product; building an effective design system.

• July 8, 11:00–12:00 am — “Designer of the Future: How Will the Trends Change, Where to Study to Become a Designer, What Skills do Businesses Need”: should a designer be able to draw and code; what skills will designers need in the near future; do multidisciplinary designers exist?

• July 8 7:20–6:20 pm — “Device and Digital Product Design: Interfaces of the Future”: what is an interface; should users adapt to the interface or should the interface adapt to the user; are users ready to interact with voice, gesture or neural interfaces; what other ways of interaction will come to being, and how can you tell a beautiful fantasy from a useful tool.

• July 8 6:10–7:10 pm — “Research Practice and an Inclusive Approach as the Key to Successful Service Development”: how timely research can affect the success of a product; what methods and tools can be applied to understand your user; how to develop a product based on user data and what it means to “think about each user”.

• July 10, 3:00–4:00 pm — “Typography and Type Design in Creative Industries”: why buy fonts for a project and can a typeface replace a designer; what to prefer, developing your own font or buying a ready-made one; legal aspects of font use.

Other master classes scheduled at the Russian Creative Week are “Technology Trends in a Metaverse” by Sber AR/VR Lab (July 9, 5:00–6:00 pm) and “Work Practice at Sber’s R&D Laboratory: Methodologies and Tools” by Sberbank’s Customer Experience Lab (July 10 1:20–2:20 pm).

Register for free on the website of the event to participate in the Russian Creative Week in person.

Source Link: https://www.sberbank.ru/en/press_center/all/article?newsID=85235862-5ab8-4619-945b-5925b259386a&blockID=1539&regionID=77&lang=en&type=NEWS