Last week, I, along with approximately fifty other human resource professionals, had the privilege to attend the inaugural “Employee Experience Day” hosted by Microsoft’s Zurich office. It was a day brimming with…
Author: Quentin Toulemonde
Unbuttoning Myths and Tailoring Realities: The New Landscape of White-Collar Employment
My eye was drawn this week to an (old) Forbes article describing the loss of momentum of “white-collar workers” in the job market, and the sense of panic that this instability could…
A Twist of Inflation a Day Keeps the Recession Away
For several months now, it has been hard to open a serious newspaper, whether economic or not, without finding at least one article on inflation. The reasons are understandable: after about fifteen…
Interest rates in Private Equity: the Great Debt Reset?
Interest rates play a pivotal role in shaping the global economy. The recent uptick in these rates (e.g. the FED Fund rate, see below) has sent ripples through financial sectors worldwide: very…
On Maslow and the Hunt for Safety
In 1943, the American psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced his renowned “hierarchy of needs“, a model which, while historical, remains deeply pertinent in understanding modern societal structures and individual motivations. Maslow posited that…
We Don’t Need No (Faulty Higher) Education (2/2)
[Continued from last week] Challenge #3: Cleansing the French Private Education Forest A third significant issue can be perceived in the regulatory deficit affecting the private education sector. Until recently, French students…
We Don’t Need No (Faulty Higher) Education (1/2)
The landscape of higher education, a field I have been personally involved in, is in a state of disarray. This week and next, I would like to focus my analysis on this…
Pushing the Envelope – can paper mail fight back?
This week’s musings took root while leafing through an article in the esteemed French daily, Les Echos. It unveiled an alarming 9% surge in fraudulent bank transfers in France in 2022, as…
Home Advantage?
As we dive into this week’s discussion, our focus shifts to remote work, examining its implications for businesses and employees alike. Remember the dynamics of traditional office life – the ceaseless typing,…
The Swiss Paradox: A Kids’ Paradise, Yet a Working Couple’s Nightmare
As I have often written (here or here for example), demography is a fascinating subject whose impact on economy is complex and wide-ranging. Indeed, demography, while often overlooked, plays a vital role…