Tag: downturn

Impact Lab > downturn
Alternative Transportation, Business, Economy, Latest Trend

Business Travel is Up But Companies Are Being More Frugal

business-traveler

A recent survey found 70% of corporate travel managers expect to spend more on travel in 2011.

Mitchell Goozé usually spends much of the year traveling, giving advice to companies on how to grow. But the phone wasn’t ringing much during the depths of the recession. Now, many of his clients are feeling more confident, and Goozé is back on the road. “I went through a period where I wouldn’t travel for two or three weeks, and now, I’m starting to be gone almost every week again,” says Goozé, whose company is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. “The trend is definitely moving.”

 

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Architecture, Business, Economy, Latest Trend

First-Time Home Buyers Driving Trend Toward Smaller Homes

home_20090828_small_banner

Less is more for home buyers

Out of the depths of housing’s worst downturn, smaller new homes are turning into a bright spot for some home builders.  The trend toward more compact new homes is being driven partly by the fact that more customers are first-time buyers who have less to spend.

 

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Analysis, Business, Economy, Historical Perspectives, Latest Trend, Money Talk

Women Hold Half of U.S. Jobs in Wake of Recession

working women

Households that could afford to have one spouse stay home find roles upended by layoffs in male-dominated industries

Jeff and Vicki Grenz celebrated their 25th anniversary on Sept. 12, 2007. The date marked another milestone for the California couple: Ms. Grenz went back to work. 

 

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Business, Economy, Globalism, Latest Trend, Robots, Science & Technology News

Japan’s Robot Unemployment Rate Soars

robot worker

Yaskawa Electric’s industrial robots in Tokyo, victims of the global recession.

Play a small violin for thousands of Japanese industrial robots which now stand silent, victims of the global economic downturn in a country that hosts the highest robot-to-human ratio.  Recession times have proved a harsh reality check for Japan’s ongoing love affair with robots. Novelty robots have fared the worst, unsurprisingly, as cute or quirky represents the first to go when consumers check their wallets. But even the 370,000 industrial robot workers–the most of any nation–toiling away tirelessly in Japanese factories have seen a sharp drop in demand that mirrors Japan’s 40-percent overall decline in industrial production.

 

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Analysis, Economy, Latest Trend

Census Data Shows Changes Due To Recession

census-workers

A smaller share of Americans married, drove to work alone, owned their own home or moved to a new residence last year than the year before.  More lived in overcrowded housing. Property values declined. And fewer immigrants arrived, which meant that for the first time since the beginning of the decade, the total number of foreign-born people in the country did not grow.

 

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Breakthrough Thinking, Globalism, People Making a Difference

“Time Banking” Pays It Forward

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piVe0G_1XPs&eurl=http://inventorspot.com/articles/time_banking_can_help_during_recession_25133&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] 

In today’s recessionary world its become exceedingly difficult to make time for ourselves and the others we care for. With job lay-offs, the decline of 401Ks and wage decreases, we are spending more time worrying about our finances than taking care of things that still need to be accomplished. Cutting the lawn, walking the dog, tutoring your child are tasks that still need to be tended to, but sometimes overlooked. With our spirits dampened, we fore-go even the basic necessities of our everyday lives.

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