Recession 2022… Why.. How.. What...??
I got a call from an old buddy, a textile business owner, yesterday which made me type this article. I had been thinking about writing some observations about the current world situation but it made more sense after receiving a very interesting overseas call.?
Just to give you a background, I have been associated with the North American Textile Industry for almost a decade. Prior to this, I worked for two major overseas textile manufacturing companies, conducted 21 interviews all over England and hired two textile designers, made a number of connections throughout the globe in my 18+ year ongoing journey. I have international business relations with more than 10 countries and over 4 continents. Some still call me and ask for advice especially when times are unreal. I offer my services to companies to understand situations especially during unprecedented times. I personally feel these are the best times for strategizing for the next phase.?
Enough of the background, let's get to the point..??
We are currently experiencing recession, sense it or not, feel it or not, accept it or not, it is happening.
What does that mean? Sales are low, operations are slow, heavy e-commerce/ tech boom has paused, companies have started laying off, inflation is rising, interest rates keep creeping, etc. Oh My God i just lost my dream job!!?
Let's look at the recent list of companies that have been affected by,?
Amazon - 10,000 employees (1 - 3%)
Meta - 11,000 employees (13%)
Twitter - 3,700 employees (50%)
Zillow - 300 employees (5%)
Peloton - 500 employees (12%)
Snapchat - 1,300 employees (20%)
SoundCloud - approx 20%
Netflix - 150 workers (2%)
List goes on… more companies that have laid off could be found below,?
For once, I thought these companies hire the smartest CEOs to run their companies..?
Interest rates is another big one, we are at a doubled interest rate situation, less investment opportunities, more options to buy from, access supply and less demand, however you phrase it...??
Property value going down ↓ and prices along with cost of living going up ↑
Inflation is high, developed countries referring to 7% - 8% which means developing/ underdeveloped countries are 2X - 3X, in some cases 20% - 30%.?
Inflation also affects the economy, look at GBP, Euro, PKR, AUD, etc.?
Take a moment and evaluate your current situation right now,?
Why is this happening to us / me ??
How long or How will we cope up with the changing environments ??
What can we/ I do ??
If you can relate to any of the above, then I suggest you continue reading…?
领英推荐
This means somehow the recession has an effect on you/ your family/ your company/ etc.?
Lets reorganize the WHYs, HOWs & WHATs,?
WHY: have you not done anything so far ? did you not hear from so many sources that a recession is predicted, after the pandemic there will be a recession, history repeats itself, answer lies in the history books,?
HOW: is it that we react so late to understand these situations ??
WHAT: can we do to be more proactive and create a positive impact instead of a negative one ??
Instead of laying off, how can we be the ambassadors of hiring during recession,?
This will require courage and planning, it requires Leadership of companies and industries to be more open to ideas, listen and not panic especially when you see someone else panic, ask the right questions at the right time, this will push us out of our comfort zones way before the situation hits us, it also focuses on understanding CHANGE, since that element is constant, right ? First time in my life, I witnessed a global recession. I also witnessed constant CHANGES.? I saw fights over basic items, and I watched the best collaborations between countries, “we are in this together” became the global motto to keep us going.?
On the business side, the e-commerce game took off at full speed which tested the supply chains in many ways, obviously the shipping lines fell apart, containers were short, price hikes up to 5X. Huge demands, Work From Home along with other things pushed online purchasing to new heights, stores were not able to service orders on time. Let's go back to last Christmas, if you got your gifts on time, you were lucky. Mine arrived on Christmas day which means the shipping companies were paying overtime for deliveries, I’ve heard some got theirs in the New Years. Shipping was the biggest disappointment and look at it now, stores are overstocked, everyone projected higher sales and now the supply chain is frozen due to mis-planning, who are we to blame? Some retail stores are refusing to even pay their suppliers. This is another problem that will have after-effects. In short, WE ARE STUCK! Which leads to the current situation of recession…
Coming back to the third point, What can we do going forward so that CHANGE becomes a catalyst to progression rather than an obstacle to our society ??
Can we build bridges? And collaborate ?
Can we not panic and plan better ??
Can we keep breathing even in the most complicated situations…?
Can we think out of the box ??
Can we keep innovating ??
I will leave it here for now, and continue some thoughts in the next article which will target more of the Textile sector..?
If you can relate to the above and feel stuck in your business and like to understand what can be done better, reach out through the below email address, we believe, where there is a challenge there is an opportunity!
Aamir Thobhani
CEO/ Creative Consultant?
InnoTex Solutions & Collaborations Inc.?
Nov 29, 2022
Team Lead Account Management at talabat | Delivery Hero
2 年Welldone Aamir bhai, you pointed precisely all the major challenges in your article. Yes, recession is impacting!