ReleaseWire

While the first sign of the pandemic in many industries was an increase in activity, in the world of R&D jobs in pharma it was when nothing happened at all. The usual supply of clinical data simply disappeared as lockdowns forced people to stay at home and made normal structures and circumstances impossible. 40% of life sciences companies had to delay or cancel a study as a result of the conditions that were triggered by the pandemic and this has forced a rethink in terms of the way that clinical studies happen going forward.

The most recent fixed income outlook from Goldman Sachs asset management has identified an ongoing situation of changing landscapes and challenges as the pandemic continues to evolve. However, it's not just COVID-19 that is having an impact on the way that the market is changing but also other factors including logistical problems and changing demand dynamics. Financial conditions have eased somewhat since 2020 and there is a positive impulse from fiscal spending as well as global activity that is expansionary.

Times have been lean for everyone at moments over the past year but, as we come round to the bonus season once again, it seems like there is a much more positive outcome to look forward to. Tight talent markets in locations such as New York and London have meant that firms are introducing discretionary special bonuses that are designed to act as an incentive to keep hold of those who might otherwise be looking elsewhere for great benefits and higher salaries. Paul Weiss has already announced that it intends to pay these discretionary special bonuses, which will be received by those lucky enough to deserve them, on top of the regular bonuses for the end of the year.

Modular construction is a burgeoning trend thanks to rapid urbanization across the world as well as a rise in demand for building methods that are greener and more sustainable. In 2020, the Global Modular Construction Market was valued at USD 95.49 billion and this is projected to rise to more than USD 140 billion by 2027. As affordability begins to bite for many construction projects there is also a need to be able to integrate more complex design and this is where modular construction has many advantages. It tends to be not only a more cost-effective construction process but also one that is easier to manage and which can significantly reduce the volume of labor that is required on-site.

October was a pretty impressive month for cryptocurrencies - the most well-known of all, Bitcoin, enjoyed a 40% spike and many others also pushed up to reach an all-time high. The Shiba Inu coin, for example, gained more than 800% during the month. Shiba Inu coin was created as a spin-off from the Dogecoin but overtook the original by a long way thanks to October's incredible activity. There's no doubt that Bitcoin changed the financial world forever when it was invented in 2009 and it now has the potential to dominate the balance sheets of corporate America too.

Insuretch is a burgeoning industry across the world and the US sector enjoyed a positive wave of funding in the third quarter of 2021. According to a recent report from Forrester Research Inc, global insurtech funding reached $53 billion in the third quarter of this year. This is in comparison to the same time period the year before where only $1.87 billion of insurtech funding was recorded. Of this increased amount, 70% was received by US insurtechs with the largest volume of funding being channeled into early-stage start-ups. In terms of Q4, the outlook remains strong and the forecast is bullish for the rest of the year.

Wastewater treatment is a vital process, one that can have many challenges - and cost is often one of the biggest. Using aeration technology can have multiple benefits, whether that relates to performance, reliability or energy efficiency. Proper aeration is a crucial part of the process, as it will ensure that organic compounds are biologically decomposed. The air itself is, of course, a free resource. However, aeration systems can be incredibly costly, not just in terms of paying for the infrastructure but also the energy - new research has revealed that aeration can account for up to 90% of the energy costs of a wastewater plant. Different plants tend to have a range of different aeration needs and these are generally met either by surface aeration or air being introduced at the bottom of a tank, with the former often the more costly option.

Elon Musk has become a big figure on Twitter since he joined but using the social media platform to make investment decisions is not something anyone anticipated he would do. Nevertheless, Musk recently launched a Twitter poll that appeared to give Twitter users the chance to decide whether or not he would sell a large chunk of Tesla shares. However, it has now emerged that Elon Musk had actually already committed to selling many of his shares in the company weeks before he even mentioned it on social media. According to an SEC filing, Musk had actually committed to selling at least $1 billion of shares in Tesla in September.

Cloud computing and the Internet of Things there are now many more places where organizations might be vulnerable. For logistics businesses, there are three best practice principles that could help to protect and avoid an unnecessary breach. The first step is to ensure that security is being integrated into every part of an organization - this will require increased collaboration between IT teams and business leaders to push this to the top of the priority list.

Progress and keeping up with the latest developments are vital to those in development engineering jobs, as well as organizations looking to expand and grow in the tech world. A new community launched by Microsoft could be vital to collaboration and progress across the tech sector. The .NET Tech Community Forums are designed for all .NET developer topics and chats - users can create chats and collaborations around any subject that interests them. Updates are then received on a regular basis via the user's homepage or via email or RSS feeds.

A CO2-neutral transport network would change the way that logistics operates in the future. This is something that is being prioritized across industries in order to help ensure that the world meets global emissions reduction targets. The transport network is one of the biggest contributors to US greenhouse gas emissions - recent statistics indicate that transportation accounts for the largest portion (29%) of total U.S. GHG emissions. Road transport is the biggest offender when it comes to emissions and those emissions are predicted to rise through to 2050.

Truck drivers are vital to a healthy supply chain, something that has been brought into sharp focus by recent crises. Although there has been a shortage of drivers for some time, in recent years this has become more acute as many older drivers have retired and the often-stressful conditions of truck driving have pushed others out of the profession.

A leading talent acquisition agency, Larson Maddox offers professional recruitment and hiring services for the regulatory and compliance sector. The sector has seen a steady rise recently, with many organisations looking to hire skilled professionals from the industry. Although there has been an increased demand for talent from this industry, many companies find it challenging to navigate challenges associated with skilled hiring due to the rapidly evolving regulatory compliance landscape. Larson Maddox delivers the best in industry professionals that help business enhance their position as industry-leading providers of innovative solutions and world-class services.

Renewable energy has been a topic of conversation for decades when it comes to saving the earth from global warming. The move towards the use of renewable energy has necessitated the creation of instruments to help tackle climate change. Unlike in the past, the cost of renewable energy instruments has decreased over the past few years. This has increased the need to recruit individuals qualified for tasks in the renewable energy field.

The global economy has taken a severe hit after the COVID 19 pandemic, making recruitment for various sectors like quality operations challenging. While the demand for talented professionals for a wide range of quality sector careers has increased, many companies struggle to find suitable candidates to meet their growing needs. EPM Scientific, one of the top recruitment agencies, has been at the forefront of helping businesses fulfill their requirements by screening and sourcing the best-fit talent from across the globe. With many offices at key locations worldwide, it has created a vast network of experienced professionals best suited to meet even the most complex roles and responsibilities.

Big Data is a critical field in today's industry with the need for personalised data analysis growing evermore. Generated mostly from internet connected devices, Big Data has allowed for the collection and analysis of this data. The sector will continue to grow rapidly as society becomes more reliant on technology, with more than 150 zettabytes of data that will need analysis by 2025 and worldwide. This is leading to a massive increase in the number of jobs available in the sector which need to be filled.

2020 was the year in which the treatment that topped every list was the vaccine that would beat COVID-19. This year, as vaccines have been approved and rolled out, we have seen the focus switch to the part of the virus that we know much less about: Long Covid. For patients who suffer from Long Covid life can become a daily struggle with exhaustion and a whole myriad of challenging conditions, aches and pains.

The financial innovation of the past decade has created some incredible opportunities but also opened up a new, more complex risk landscape. Retail investments in particular have seen a large number of investment products with much more intricate risk-reward profiles. As a result of this shift, the Monetary Authority of Singapore is now taking steps to try and introduce more safeguards for these products. In particular, it has proposed changes to the classification of certain products that will mean those that are labelled as 'complex' will come with a number of new safeguards attached.

While Singapore has thankfully remained out of the headlines for structural failures since the collapse of the Hotel New World in 1986, the Asia Pacific region in general has not been so lucky. We have continued to see structures fall - and people die - which has underlined the need for those in forensics jobs to focus on finding the causes in order to prevent disasters happening again. In July this year, for example, 17 people died when a building collapsed in the city of Suzhou in China.

One of the key learnings for banks and financial services as a result of the pandemic has been the way that third party suppliers are contracted and the risks that institutions may potentially be exposed to as a result of these relationships. The Deloitte 2021 Third Party Risk Management (TPRM) survey reveals how much work has gone into reviewing this as a result of the pandemic, and evolving the way that third party suppliers are dealt with in the future.

While the European energy crisis has caused a lot of issues for suppliers and consumers there are some who have found a way to profit from the challenging situation. In particular, hedge funds that ventured into natural gas and German electricity have done incredibly well - one shooting up by 40%. Shortage fears have been behind the significant increase in gas prices in recent months - some funds that were able to make sizable moves in European electricity have seen profits soar.

Investment in the tech industry has risen significantly over the past year thanks to the sharp spike in demand due to the pandemic. As a result, tech-related vacancies now account for 13% of the total number of roles available in the country. The figure for the same period last year was just over 12%. The tech industry in Britain currently employs around 9% of the workforce but with many organisations making large investments in their tech teams over the course of 2021 this figure is only going to increase. So far this year around £13 billion has been invested by businesses in UK tech.

SPACs - Special Purpose Acquisition Companies - have attracted a lot of interest in the last year in the private equity world. Over the past 15 months, 10% of the SPACs raised have been backed by private equity firms. In many ways this represents a great match of two interests. SPACs can be a quick way to cash out on investments, an easier option for buying into a private business and another route to liquidity for investors and enterprises that aren't keen to go down the IPO route.

The International Procurement Instrument was first proposed back in 2012 but it has taken until this year for its intention to be put into effect. Finally, after nine years of negotiating, the ambassadors of 27 member states reached an agreement in June of this year, allowing the International Procurement Instrument to go ahead. This will allow European companies to have access to third countries' procurement markets, in the same way as foreign companies currently have access in Europe.

The German biotech boom goes back many years but has recently gathered new momentum thanks to the success of the BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The business partnered with Pfizer on vaccine development and the success of the efforts resulted in billions in investment pouring into the biotech sector in Germany.