Botswanan diamond affected by recession

It seems that wherever we are and whichever industry we deal with, all of them will be affected by the ongoing global crisis sooner or later. This is exactly what has happened recently to Debswana, a company that produces diamond in Botswana. The firm, owned by the government and a company called De Beers, is about to shut down two of its mines as there is no adequate demand which would satisfy the firm’s supply. 

The closure of these two mines will affect approximately 600 hundred employees. The good news is that these employees, for whom redundancy is inevitable, will either be given another job at the company or be offered a very early, therefore voluntary, retirement. As De Beers said to BBC: "These actions are being taken to mitigate the effects of the global downturn by reducing production during 2009 to align with demand, conserving cash for the company, protecting employment and maintaining readiness for an eventual upturn in the market.” 

De Beers is considered as the “diamond giant” in the diamond industry since it is the world’s largest diamond producer in terms of value. However, in their statement they said that the production of Debswana fell by 4% last year as more and more people are cutting their spending on luxury products. It seems that the recession caught up with the “rich and famous”. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7906425.stm

Ford to make 850 workers redundant

According to BBC car manufacturer Ford is also affected by the recession that started in the US more than a year ago. 

UK operations will soon have to be carried out with a staff that will consist of 850 fewer workers. As it was claimed the firm expects these redundancies to be met voluntarily. 

The problem is that Ford promised to increase the payments by 5.25%. Yet, as the GMB union stated, "they are going back on the agreement." 

Most of the redundancies will concern the plant in Southampton, while the rest will affect sites in the following regions: Basildon, Brentwood and Dunton, in Essex, Daventry in Northamptonshire, Halewood on Merseyside and Bridgend in south Wales. 

One can wonder whether the sudden change of Ford's decision will result in people's taking industrial action or not. 

According to Justin Bowden, GMB union officer, "Ford of Europe made a profit in excess of £1bn in 2008." 

That is why the workers expected to be paid more as this success can only be associated with the workers' contribution as well as the rate of inflation. Contribution or not, Ford does not seem to give in. 

Representatives of Ford said that only the "unprecedented" economic situation is to blame for this situation. As John Fleming, Ford of Europe chairman and chief executive, said: "As demand across the industry continues to fall, we are facing some immediate and major challenges." He thinks these decisions have to be made quickly as only those quick enough to make up their minds can survive the recession. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/7870823.stm

Unemployment rate at its peak

The ongoing recession worsened the unemployment rate in the European Union, which was 8%, the highest in two years. More and more firms make a certain amount of their employees redundant and it is expected that they continue to give their workers a sack until the very end of 2010. 

It is interesting to see that while unemployment is perhaps the only issue that causes a significant threat to the nations of the EU, the other major economic issue, inflation, that usually accompanies unemployment, fell to 1.1%, the lowest in 10 years. 

Spain is affected by the recession the most in terms of unemployment, whose figure was more than 14%, while the Netherlands and Austria are the least (the figures were 2.7% and 3.9%, respectively). 

The central bank of the European Union, the so-called European Central Bank, is expected to cut the interest rates of the eurozone to give a boost to the economies and try to bring the inflation rate closer to the designated 2%. The decision on the cut will be made next week. 

Unemployment rate rose to 7.4% for the 27-nation bloc last December. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7860469.stm