Amidst gloom and doom..hope!!

It is almost 3 weeks since I last posted an entry.

Looking back -the trip to Manila for the NPA Asia Pac conference has significantly contributed to a lot of positives.

I was fortunate to get an opportunity to present my thoughts on the 'global IT' demand for professionals- and so spent a lot of time doing research on the subject- both on the internet and offline-talking to quite a few well informed global professionals -and take advantage of their insights!

En route to Manila, I could spend about 4 days in Singapore and catch up with a spectrum of professionals-ranging from Banking wizards, IT service providers, Business school professor, an editor with an international news agency, topnotch specialist recruiters with global reach, a marketing professional with exposure to Asean nations..and be enlightened about some specific pointers!!

One thing that struck me remarkable was that the cab drivers- be in Singapore or in Manila-are so keyed in with the global economic recession-that they do show their concern in the bits and piece conversations they had as they drive one around! "Singapore economy not good la! things going from bad to worse...foreigners like you help local economy grow la-" Similarly it wasn't too difficult to understand how the locals revere and admire the OFWs ( Overseas Filipino Workers) for their sacrifices-to contribute their mite to the Philippines economy.

We had close to 50 recruiters from across different parts of Asia Pac-and a handful from the US- and needless to say-the discussions were rather sombre- considering that the 'sky seemed to be falling' almost everywhere!!

( I must confess there was quite a sense of relief in most of us. You know the kind of feeling- when as soon as the power goes off in our house..we rush to the balcony to see if our neighbours have light? And the kind of consolation..that aha-we aren't the only one affected..and so things would soon be normal :-)!!)

And so-there was a very conscious effort, from us recruiters too,.. to understand the drivers of economy in our regions- figure out one could leverage on some of the trends- as also with some global migration of professionals!

Needless to say-all the media everywhere has been crying out..layoffs, pink slips, cuts in spending, bail out, ....and economists predicting more gloom and doom for periods ranging from 2 quarters to 2 years!! Perhaps the silver lining in all darkness-is the hope for a miracle?

Exchanging notes- there was one distinct trend-most governments across the world-without exception, are indeed taking a lot of action to address it ...and see what best can be done to improve the confidence of the average citizen. It is always darkest before dawn,la??

PS;Over the next few posts, I shall try and articulate some of the interesting learning's I had.