GERMANY
Industry wages to increase
The largest labor union and employers yesterday agreed on two rounds of wage increases for industrial workers, averting the threat of strike action in Europe’s biggest economy. The IG Metall union said the deal in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg would raise pay 5.2 percent next year and 3.3 percent in 2024, on top of 3,000 euros (US$3,108) in tax-free bonus payments to counter inflationary pressures. The union has recommended the agreement to cover about 3.9 million industrial workers. The deal results in a 8.5 percent wage increase, the union said, without clarifying how it calculated the hike. The talks with the Gesamtmetall employers’ association have been one the most significant domestic showdowns of Europe’s energy crisis so far.
UNITED STATES
New China curbs mulled
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator John Cornyn are lobbying hard for a ban on government business with Chinese chipmakers, Politico reported on Thursday, citing three people familiar with the matter. The senators want to get their amendment, which blocks federal access to semiconductor products and services made by Chinese firms, into the final version of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, the report said. The measure would broaden provisions that prohibit government agencies from doing business with Chinese telecoms or contractors that use their technologies, Politico said, adding that Schumer and Cornyn got their proposal added to the Senate draft act last month.
UNITED STATES
Starbucks workers on strike
Starbucks Corp workers at more than 100 stores on Thursday were on strike in their largest labor action since a campaign to unionize the company’s stores began late last year. The walkouts coincide with Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives free reusable cups to customers who order a holiday drink. Workers say it is often one of the busiest days of the year. Starbucks declined to say how many red cups it plans to distribute. Workers say they are seeking better pay, more consistent schedules and higher staffing levels in busy stores. Starbucks, which opposes the unionization effort, said that the protests are happening at a small number of its 9,000 company-run locations.
E-COMMERCE
Amazon to keep cutting jobs
Amazon.com Inc CEO Andy Jassy on Thursday said the company would be cutting jobs into next year as it adjusts to business conditions, his first public comments about the cost-reduction plans roiling Amazon since reports that it planned to wipe out about 10,000 jobs. “Leaders across the company are working with their teams and looking at their workforce levels, investments they want to make in the future, and prioritizing what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses. This year’s review is more difficult due to the fact that the economy remains in a challenging spot and we’ve hired rapidly the last several years,” Jassy said in the statement. The CEO said people were notified in the company’s devices and books business and that some in Amazon’s “People, Experience and Technology” organization, which includes recruiters and human resources professionals, were offered voluntary buyouts. Many employees were given 60 days to find new jobs within the company, which would be followed by a severance package based on tenure if they fail to land new roles, company documents showed.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
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