Ira, it is the acronym of the year, of all the conversations at the Davos forum, in Switzerland. By having his Inflation Reduction Act law adopted, in August 2022, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, hit the bull’s eye. With this invented formula, perhaps he thought (or his advisers) of his distant Irish origins, but the text is badly named. Indeed, its objective is not so much to curb inflation, which is rather the responsibility of the federal reserve, as to accelerate the decarbonation of the economy, while funding, with grants, the return of factories on national soil.
This perspective makes European political leaders scream and makes all the bosses of the old continent jealous. Adityya Mittal, at the head of the steelmaker ArcelorMittal, or Martin Lundstedt, the CEO of Volvo (trucks), say in substance the same thing: this is what we need in Europe in order to be able to pass the speed. Technologies exist to get rid of oil or coal, but it must be accelerated by adoption by reducing their cost.
The debate raised by this new deal goes beyond the question of competitiveness. Asked about the subject, Tuesday, January 17, the American work secretary, Marty Walsh, first kicked in touch. The question of trade relations between Europe and the United States is not its job.
Air call
However, after a break, he recognized that the consequences on his, that is to say the work, would be considerable. The reality is that America does not have enough qualified personnel to answer the air call that this tsunami will cause. The response by training and education is essential for this son of Irish immigrant who was unionist and mayor of Boston.
The basic employee, invisible, has become, due to the shortages, the subject of all attentions. “This is the first time that I have seen businesses understand the link between social and economic,” says Christophe Catoir, president of the interim company Adecco. No sudden altruism, but the recognition of a new balance of power that pushes businesses to get their footsteps on layoffs, unlike what they had done during the 2008 financial crisis.
More spectacular is the call to his colleagues from Alan Jope, the director general of Unilever, a multinational consumption, to ensure a decent salary for all their employees in the world. “The pandemic [of COVID-19] accelerated the overhaul of the contract binding the employee to the employer,” confirms Martine Ferland, CEO of the consulting and insurance company MERCER. And this is only the beginning.