The "Great Resignation" shows no sign of easing and a dwindling supply of workers may be here to stay, according to Randstad NV, a global provider of employment services. 

Fewer people in the job market, underpinned by a long-term demographic trend, is allowing talented workers to have more options and they’re going where their needs are met, said Sander van't Noordende, who took over as chief executive officer of the Dutch company.

"That is sort of a change today: Employees are more prepared to attach consequences to their unhappiness or not getting what they want," Van't Noordende said in a phone interview as Randstad revealed its latest Workmonitor report. "They’re prepared to quit their job if they’re not happy." 

The Great Resignation has been a boon to employees searching for better working conditions and higher pay. Economies bouncing back from the pandemic and work from home options have made it easier for employees to quit unappealing positions and look for alternatives, driving up wages. 

One-third of the participants in Randstad’s survey said they have left a job because it didn’t fit their personal lives. More than half of Millennials and Gen-Z respondents said they would quit a job if it prevented them from enjoying life. That compares with just over a third of those polled who identify as Baby Boomers.

Although 83% and 71% of those polled say flexible hours and workplace were important, respectively, most said they feel like they don’t have a choice of where to work, and two in five can’t control their hours, according to the report. 

"Employers really have to raise their game in terms of personalizing the work experience for every individual employee," Van‘t Noordende said.

With a decline in Covid-19 cases, companies are increasingly calling their employees back to the office, at least for part of the week. Still, apart from some financial services institutions, Van‘t Noordende said he hasn’t heard of many companies asking all employees to fully return to the office. 

"Most senior level executives understand that they can trust their people," in terms of flexible work arrangements, he said. "The role of the office is becoming more of a collaboration and meeting place than a place where the work gets done."-fin24

Unsecured consumer credit provider RCS has acquired Mobicred. The company, owned by French group BNP Paribas now gets a foot in the growing buy-now-pay-later market to fund retail purchases.

This is likely to be a busy year for  Old Mutual's short-term insurance division, Old Mutual Insure. After buying 51% of underwriting management agency ONE Financial Services Holdings in January, Old Mutual Insure said it continues to investigate acquisition options and opportunities for inorganic business growth.

The insurer, which owns iWYZE, Mutual & Federal Risk Financing (MFRF) and Credit Guarantee Insurance Corporation (CGIC), published its integrated annual report on Thursday. In that report, the company said it has developed an acquisition strategy. It also has "comprehensive partnership plans" to help it drive growth in 2022 and beyond.

"OM Insure will continue investigating acquisition options and opportunities for inorganic business growth. Our current 9% market share gives us a lot of scope for upward movement, particularly in the direct channel," said the insurer's MD Garth Napier.

iWYZE is OM Insurer's direct short-term insurer, selling gap cover, home, car and other short-term insurance products to retail consumers. It also launched direct commercial insurance for small businesses in 2020. It is the smallest business in the OM Insure stable, with R1.14 billion of gross written premiums collected in 2021.

MFRF, the group's cell captive insurer that offers insurance to corporate customers like Guardrisk, is the biggest OM Insure subsidiary, with more than R1.7 billion in gross written premiums collected in 2021. CGIC, the subsidiary that provides trade credit insurance across the African continent, is the second largest.

OM Insure already commands a substantial market share in the specialist insurance space. It said CGIC's market share in SA rose to an estimated 80% in 2021.

But there's still a lot of room for growth in iWYZE. In 2021, iWYZE grew premiums by 12.9% from 2020, even though the direct retail insurance market is highly contested by larger incumbents that have been around before it, banks and new InsurTech players.

OM Insure said iWYZE is "steaming ahead" and has been growing its market share. It had approximately 158 000 at the end of 2021. OM Insure said extending iWYZE's product offering and partner network to continue gaining market share and making strategic acquisitions are its top priorities this year.

Last year, the company developed on-demand insurance for iWYZE, Comma Insure, which allows customers to activate cover as and when they need it. Since 2020, OM Insure has also entered into several partnerships to distribute its products through channels not owned by Old Mutual. One of those was the partnership with peer-to-peer InsurTech player Pineapple Insurance.

And as OM Insure chase growth through these partnerships and acquisitions, it said it is determined to not fall into the trap of trying to gain market share while shooting itself and shareholders on foot through selling inferior insurance products at discounted cost.

In 2021, OM Insure's underwriting margin rose to 4.9%, bouncing backing from a loss of 2.6% in 2020. That margin, which gauges the profitability of the business that insurers underwrite, was just 0.4% in 2019. The company's profit after tax of R729 million was also more than double what it reported in 2019 and even bigger than the R705 million recorded in 2018.-fin24

Moody’s Investor Services is scheduled to release its credit rating review for South Africa, the first of three rating decisions expected in the coming weeks, says Nedbank.

South Africa’s official death toll from the coronavirus has passed the 100,000 mark, a week after the country relaxed almost all restrictions in response to a decline in new infections.

JSE-listed Famous Brands on Wednesday announced it has acquired a majority stake (51%) in plant-based casual dining restaurant Lexi’s Healthy Eatery, the group says it aims to make the plant-based sustainable lifestyle more accessible and convenient for consumers.

US executives with a business degree are more likely to oversee declining pay at the businesses they run, yet tend not to deliver an increase in profits or sales, according to a new paper circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has joined the East African Community, bringing the regional trading bloc’s market size to a quarter of the continent’s population and providing it with access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Wealthy Russians are flocking to Dubai's real estate market as Western sanctions prompt them to look at alternative destinations for their luxury property purchases.

Zambia may be better known for mining copper than crypto, but a group of young entrepreneurs are looking to reinvent the country as an African technology hub - with support from Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin.

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