The recent recession and inflation period has affected economies all over the globe with the international financial system remaining highly fragile during 2010. In today’s era of integrative globalization, an impact on any economy has a direct and relevant effect on all economies. It is this inter-connectivity between the components of the various economies that will compel them to work in synergy with each other in the coming times. International trade has further strengthened the dependency of individual economies on current financial stability for the global economics realm. However, economies are working towards recovering their position with rapid growth being evident, especially in the regions that have been targeted as emerging markets. Lets have a look at some of the key trends that are expected to have a long lasting impact on the global business scenario.

Transformation Holds the Key to Successful Recovery for The Global Banking Industry:

The prominent financial crisis that occurred recently may have caused a global uproar but in reality, most financial institutions from emerging markets managed to overcome it without much difficulty. The impact of outcomes for regulators as well as global financial institutions has mutual patterns wherein the regulators have been known to lay more emphasis on the existence of systemic risks posed by major names in the global finance industry while the banks have concerns over their ability to manage the oncoming competition dynamics along with the possible impact of regulations made on returns. Current statistics hold insufficient grounds for determining the final structure of the global framework for financial regulations. However, the changes that hold probability of occurrence include:

Corporate governance would experience heightened levels.
Consumer protection policies as well as initiatives would be strengthened.
Executive pay schemes are expected to be limited in keeping with current financial statistics.
Over the counter derivatives would witness greater regulations and increased transparency.

As is the general consideration that developed countries hold higher prospects of maintaining stability during economic recessions and financial crises, current statistics reveal that while financial institutions in the developed countries are striving for effective recovery, those in emerging markets are exhibiting better recovery results with most of the financial institutions overcoming the crisis with hardly any hiccups. However, in light of enhanced and revised regulatory frameworks, the cost of business would most likely hit a new high for most large financial institutions.

Global Workforce Expected to be Transformed Due to Demographic Shifts:

One of the most notable occurrences to have marked the current era is the dearth of potential candidates for employment opportunities despite the growing population numbers being witnessed on a global scale. Statistics indicate that almost 31% of employers throughout the globe are faced with the issue of dearth of required talent in the market due to which recruitment has become quite tedious. Demographic shifts have been credited with being the driving factor behind the recruitment issues. The problem of fewer talents in the population pool is not due to less population numbers. In fact the problem may be attributed to the evident decline in working age of the population in various regions. This in turn has caused the condition to worsen with a statistical probability of the labor gap becoming 8.3 million by the year 2030.. It would be wise to consider the gradient at which the issue is currently escalating instead of focusing on the current gap which is only 200,000.

There may be scope for profits from a larger segment of the population at retirement age, but there is also a major concern regarding the availability of new population members from the talent pool who are required to replace the retiring working population. Emerging countries like Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico have labor forces comprising of younger members of their demographics. While this may seem to provide benefit arising from increase in productivity, demographic dividend and growth, the only way in which success may be ensured is to provide the youth with economic as well as educational opportunities in the right form and at the right time. Only then will they be able to prepare themselves to manage the business scenario of their region in the years to come. One of the major complications arising out of the dearth of proper educational provisions is the reduction in the talent pool due to which the population members are unable to meet the rising talent and skill requisites. The need of the hour is to promote educational opportunities in all regions globally with emphasis on awareness being made about changing skill requisites as well as sophistication.

Women may prove to be major players in the future recruitment efforts as their empowerment and increased acceptance of women as an equal entity in social circles would ensure that they be considered for job opportunities. However, the decrease in talent pool in the population of various regions has led to employees gaining bargaining power. In light of these changes, it is pretty evident that in the near future, the workplace in organizations would be defined by the priorities of the employees themselves instead of being defined by the perceptions of the employer. The most appropriate solution for organizations to manage these changes is to work towards engaging and re-engaging the experienced segment of their acquired talent. Those who fail to keep up with these changes may very well lose the power to attract, retain and even develop the required talent which would be a direct result of the failure to define their EVP (Employee Value Proposition).

Going Green Would Prove to be Major Leverage:

The efforts for reducing carbon footprint can be seen extensively in all economies with various organizations striving hard to achieve and maintain greener policies. This green approach for creating a resource-efficiency economy may well be the precursor to the next major industrial revolution and in the long term may also churn out financial benefits in addition to the obvious environmental benefits. There is no stopping the transformation and inclination towards green technologies, so the only recourse available to organizations is to rework their strategies and come up with contingent measures to ensure that they maintain compatibility with the changing trends. Even statistics have gone ahead to reveal the rapid growth of investors in green technology with with the investments surging to 243 billion USD as reported by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. This is staggering 30% increase from the previous year and almost 5 times more than the figures calculated for 2004.

Despite these investments, there is a significant gap which exists between the required capital to fund the widespread implementation of green technologies and the available financial capabilities for meeting the requirements that are crucial for sustaining the transition being made towards low carbon economies. If current figures and data are to be considered, the energy demand would grow by approximately 36% over the period 2019 – 2035. The majority of the demands (estimated at 93%) is expected to emanate from the emerging markets.

If predictions by the International Energy Agency (IEA) were to be considered, then the period 201 to 2035 would experience the increase in renewable resource based power generation by 300%. Nuclear power and natural gas are major components of the “future energy mix” which is expected to gain prominence in the coming years in place of fossil fuel that would lose its market share gradually. While renewable energy is still available at high costs in most places, the prices would see a decrease as soon as solar and wind energy projects achieve successful completion. More than mere provision of green sources, it is the awareness of its implications which holds greater significance as people would be required to adapt to the changing technologies. As of now, the use of natural gas appears to be transition aiding component that is bridging the gap between the use of traditional fuels and the use of renewable energy sources.

If the business aspect of the implications of renewable energy were to be considered, then resorting to green methods would not only enhance the usage of resources but it would also bring visible cost benefits in the long run. The raw materials required in the production of a large number of products are not available in unlimited quantity and with the stringent rejection of raw materials owing to non-compliance with quality standards, the need for going green seems to be the only recourse in the current economic scenario. Such concerns revolving around resource utilization are expected to bring about an increased demand for organizations to prove their business’s adherence to sustainable practices. Sustainability reporting as of now is only voluntary and is mainly used to encourage organizations and businesses to declare their socio-environmental impact. However, the tides may turn pretty soon in light of the various developments being made due to which sustainability reporting may no longer be a choice, it would become a mandatory component of public declarations for all businesses.