More than 10 million jobs are available in America, looking for workers. Yes, the United States has a very unusual problem. A Nigerian here who runs a restaurant business is closing the business as he cannot find workers in Chicago. Another one in Michigan said he is winding down a nursing home due to shortage of workers. Now you may ask: how is that possible? Leadership.

Job openings in the U.S. set the second record in as many months — 10.1 million — while a rising quit rate suggests workers are more confident in their employment prospects. The most recent Labor Department report, from the final day in June, hasn’t captured the impact of the surging delta variant on businesses since then. But, say experts, the rise in openings from 9.5 million in May shows a trend that favors workers’ interests.

• A factor in the number of available jobs outnumbering those looking for work is a mismatch between where people want to work and which industries are hiring, says The Wall Street Journal.

(LinkedIn)

The US has about 100 million more people than Nigeria. Technically, if we are operating at a decent rate, we should be creating at least 4 million jobs per year. If we do that, we can technically deal with graduate unemployment.

Then, we will need another 2 million to handle post-secondary but pre-university opportunities. Farm employment which employs about 65% of Nigeria’s working population has adequately managed our pre-secondary unemployment. All we need there is to boost productivity in farming.

There are critical anchors to execute this playbook as I have noted here. Sure, insecurity is a challenge but I see insecurity as an “effect” and not a “cause”, and with a great playbook, Nigeria can systematically deal with it. I am very confident that Nigeria can experience this unusual US challenge if we execute well as a people.

Inaugural Address by Ndubuisi Ekekwe, President, LinkedIn Nation

It happens in most parts of the world: high demand stimulates reallocation of capital as companies work to boost supply to realign the equilibrium points. With the world struggling on the scarcity of semiconductor products, we all expect companies to move into that domain. Expectedly, companies are responding.

In this piece, Samuel Nwite writes on how India’s TATA is moving into the semiconductor business: “At the Tata group, we have already pivoted into a number of new businesses like electronics manufacturing, 5G network equipment as well as semiconductors, in all probability.”

The production vacuum created by global chip shortage has opened an opportunity for divestiture that many companies are jumping on. From existing semiconductor companies working on production expansion to tech companies delving into chip manufacturing, the semiconductor industry is seeing an uptick in investment interest.

The Tata group has become the latest company looking to make a foray into semiconductor manufacturing and it has set up a business to seize the opportunity.

Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Monday while speaking at the annual general meeting of the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, that Tata is poised at taking advantage of post-pandemic technology by expanding its manufacturing.

Yet, do not expect any shift in the market. This business takes time. TSMC has a minor competitor: TATA Semiconductors. And India is moving into that future.

My proposal for Africa is to follow the MOSIS strategy by having a continent-wide strategy which connects all universities and SMEs, and over time, we can build critical chip making capability for a top-grade foundry. Of course, you do not use generators to power clean rooms which means we will remain spectators as nations build the infrastructures of the 21st century.

Yet, besides changing the name of the science and technology ministry to science, technology and innovation  ministry, Nigeria needs to develop a semiconductor roadmap. The empires of the future would be built on silicon and Nigeria cannot afford not to be part of that future. And that roadmap could be as simple as guaranteed power supply which will make it possible to run foundries and clean rooms. If President Buhari leaves in 2023 without fixing power, it would be exceedingly depressing!

The production vacuum created by global chip shortage has opened an opportunity for divestiture that many companies are jumping on. From existing semiconductor companies working on production expansion to tech companies delving into chip manufacturing, the semiconductor industry is seeing an uptick in investment interest.

The Tata group has become the latest company looking to make a foray into semiconductor manufacturing and it has set up a business to seize the opportunity.

Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Monday while speaking at the annual general meeting of the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, that Tata is poised at taking advantage of post-pandemic technology by expanding its manufacturing.

“At the Tata group, we have already pivoted into a number of new businesses like electronics manufacturing, 5G network equipment as well as semiconductors, in all probability,” he said

Chandrasekaran said global supply chains, currently heavily dependent on China, would see a big change in a post-pandemic world with businesses shifting their reliance to other countries.

“On rebalancing supply chains, India can benefit from global shifts. The Tata group has already set up a business to seize the promise of high-tech manufacturing for electronics. A domestic electronics industry could unlock $1 trillion in GDP and create millions of jobs,” he said.

The Tata group is one of the many automobile companies hardly hit by a global chip that has impacted production, undermining manufacturing output of companies. Semiconductors are used in myriad ways, including in fuel-pressure sensors, digital speedometers, and navigation displays.

India, a manufacturing powerhouse in Asia that is vigorously pushing to wrestle economic authority away from China, does not have any semiconductor facility, which requires high investments. The Vedanta group, which recently emerged as the highest bidder for Videocon, is also looking at the semiconductor industry for a possible foray.

A foray into the semiconductor segment will help the Tata group supply these key components to Tata Motors and Tata Power, apart from other companies across the world. Tata Motors recently announced that its subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover would make a huge loss in the coming quarter due to lack of semiconductors in the UK.

JLR said last month that the semiconductor shortage might worsen and its sales in the July-September quarter are likely to be almost half of what it had planned.

“Based on recent inputs from suppliers, we now expect chip supply shortages in the second quarter ending September 30, 2021, to be greater than in the first quarter, potentially resulting in wholesale volumes about 50 per cent lower than planned, although we are continuing to work to mitigate this,” JLR had said.

Since the announcement that Tata Motors and JLR will fail to meet its sales targets, shares of Tata Motors have shown a downtrend. On Monday, the stock ended at Rs 298, down 0.6 per cent, as against its recent peak of Rs 355 a share.

Chandrasekaran also said when it came to environmental sustainability, businesses needed to have “time-bound goals, not vague and distant targets”. It was critical to invest in research and development in future growth sectors such as renewable energy, he added.

On digital initiatives, Chandra said Tata Digital was building multiple platforms, including a consumer offering covering retail, travel, financial services, health and education.

With Tata’s interest in semiconductor manufacturing, it is hoped that other companies like Reliance Jo will tow the path to minimize China’s dominance in South Asia.

I will be giving out Vetifly helicopter tickets here. Vetifly is an on-demand helicopter service which enables anyone to book a ride and fly over traffic.  The first recipient is Faith Nwaobia, the President of YouthUp Global. Through his organization, he has touched the lives of many people. Faith, go to vetifly.com and download our app. Contact my team and they will put credit to enable you to arrive in style by moving differently.

Vetifly – arrive in style, move different.

I will reveal tomorrow another member ….. thank you good people for the opportunity to practice the joy of free markets and entrepreneurial capitalism. Go and download our app; let’s fly together.

Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe
Board Member, Vetifly