The end of employees + more

The end of employees

The End of Employees – WSJ – temp agencies, zero-hour contracts, outsourcing, asset-light businesses, focusing on core competences etc etc all driven by revenue per employee metrics. The end of employees is about financial engineering, it is an example of late stage capitalism. You can thank McKinsey & Company for the ‘thought leadership’ that brought on this sorry state about the end of employees. I can imagine them ideating over a double finger of The Macallan 40 year old single malt aged in a bourbon cask 

This Tech Entrepreneur Shares Her Strategy For Managing Remote Workers Globally  – great interview with Tamara Middleton

Design

hiroshi fujiwara’s park-ing ginza X SONY collection | Design Boom – great tribute to Sony – now can they just get their mojo back

Fullstopnewparagraph — Freelance copywriter | London – really nicely designed site

Economics

People are quitting gig jobs in the sharing economy — Quartz – not terribly surprising, this is likely to accelerate interest in automation

Finance

Apple tells Australian Commission that their Bank’s acting as a Cartel has a Chilling Effect on the Benefits of Competition | Patently Apple

FMCG

Is This the World’s Most Expensive Strawberry? | Time.com – interesting how the largely ex-pat Hong Kong Mums group kicked this story off. Gift giving is very important in Asia, is this any more offensive than Cadbury Christmas selection boxes, foil laminate packaging like Capri Sun or brittle plastic blister packs

Hong Kong

The Enigma of Hong Kong in the 1950s: Werner Bischof’s Photos at the F11 Photographic Museum – Zolima City Magazine

Innovation

Shell begins huge task of decommissioning Brent oil rigs | The Guardian – reduced tax revenue just as the UK goes post-EU with Brexit….

Emerging Theme Radar – Goldman Sachs – rising importance of lithium and blockchain (PDF)

Japan

Nanidato | Free Listening on SoundCloud – this week I have mostly been listening to Japanese pop with a disco feel

Media

60% of content created by brands is just clutter | Marketing Week – Havas meaningful brands study

‘Planet Earth II’ Snapchat Show Will Promote BBC TV Series | Variety – bit size lean back media for millennials

Bot Traffic Report 2016 | Incapsula Blog – interesting drill down into bot traffic for web properties

Thousands of College Kids Are Powering a Clickbait Empire | Backchannel – content marketing using university students

Software

Tucows – AVC – interesting how they morphing into an alternative telco infrastructure company

Style

Harajuku style bible FRUiTS stops publishing after 20 years | Dazed – Noooooo!

Wireless

Apple iPhone loses Chinese market share for first time as Oppo, Huawei, Vivo gain ground | South China Morning Post – and the iPhone 7 didn’t impress