Latest news with #Hartmann
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals boom
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ and Nine to Noon More than 50,000 people made withdrawals from their KiwiSaver accounts on the basis of hardship in the year to June - compared to about 18,000 five years ago. KiwiSaver provider Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said the increase started in 2023 and the reasons were easy to understand - the recession and cost-of-living crisis were putting ongoing pressure on people's budgets. "But some context - the number of hardship withdrawals were 1.6 percent members, and 0.3 percent of savings. The hardship, as is true for the wider society, is concentrated pain among a few." Sorted's personal finance lead Tom Hartmann told RNZ's Nine to Noon programme today it was likely the ability to withdraw from KiwiSaver was giving people "peace of mind" that if their situation worsened they could draw on their savings. The average withdrawal was $8800, he said. For someone in their 30s earning $75,000 a year, a withdrawal of that size in a year could reduce their not-inflation-adjusted final balance by about $40,000. Hartmann said there had not been an increase in savings suspensions, which indicated that the withdrawal was a temporary stop gap for people who would get back to making contributions. People can opt to stop contributing to KiwiSaver for a year at a time, and can renew the suspension at the end of the 12 months. The number of people on a savings suspension had dropped from 89,000 a year ago to 85,000. Hartmann said the key thing for people considering a withdrawal was to make it a last resort. "Typically, there are other sources of support that need to be explored first." Financial helpline MoneyTalks was one option, he said. "The team there have reporting seeing an increase in even middle-income people exploring their options." Eaqub said for people making a withdrawal, it was often a choice between "certain hardship today versus more savings later in life". But he said the situation was worse for those without KiwiSaver. "Many low-income people do not contribute to KiwiSaver because the employee contribution lowers their take home pay. "But they also miss out on the employer contribution and government subsidies. It means when non-contributors face hardship, they do not have this fallback." But Rupert Carlyon, founder of Koura KiwiSaver, said people on lower incomes could build up good balances. "Someone earning $60,000 contributing 3 percent will end be putting in [about] $3500 per year, so over 10 years plus returns that really adds up. "You can easily see a $60,000 salary becoming a $45,000 balance over 10 years. That is the power of KiwiSaver, we are often encouraging people to save that would not otherwise do it."
DW
11-07-2025
- Business
- DW
Germany's business elite and the illusion of meritocracy – DW – 07/11/2025
Germany sees itself as a meritocracy, meaning if you work hard, you can make it to the top. But is that really true, considering who actually sits in German executive offices and how they got there? Populist leaders like Donald Trump frequently claim they are protecting ordinary people from the elites. But do these elites really exist — the kind that pull the strings behind the scenes? And what actually determines who holds power in the boardrooms of Germany's biggest companies? Is it performance — or do other factors, like social background, play a bigger role? Sociologist Michael Hartmann has studied Germany's executive class as it evolved over the past 150 years, trying to figure out who actually ends up in top corporate positions and why. The results surprised even him, emeritus professor at Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany. "To this day, more than four-fifths of Germany's economic elite come from the top three to four percent of the population," he told DW. Hartmann says there was a slight shift between 1907 and 1927, with more Germans from lower classes managing to climb the social ladder. "But in the nearly 100 years that followed, the share of those from lower social backgrounds who made it to the top increased by only about two and a half percent." Over the past decade, companies have introduced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs meant to create a level playing field for labor market participation for all. According to a recent survey by German technology-sector lobby group Bitkom, two-thirds of German companies with 500 or more employees now have formal DEI goals, and nearly another third are planning or discussing such initiatives. Still, when it comes to influential leadership positions, the elite tends to stick to its own. But in recent years, more women have entered executive roles — thanks in large part to legally mandated gender quotas, Hartmann said. The German-Swedish AllBright Foundation has criticized the continued gender imbalance in its latest report. "Personnel decisions for top management levels — especially supervisory board and executive board chair positions — are still almost entirely in male hands. In general, the higher the position, the fewer women are represented," the report stated. And those women who do reach the top often come from even more exclusive social backgrounds than their male peers, Hartmann says — something that would also apply to people with migrant backgrounds. "My assumption is that if you already have one 'obstacle,' like, for example, gender or migration background, then your social origin has to be even more elitist," he said, adding that you "can't afford to have two obstacles." In Germany, class bias begins early, namely with the type of education. Children of academics have a far easier time accessing resources and support than children of working-class families. According to a Germany study by British specialist recruitment firm PageGroup, around 80% of children from academic households go on to attend university, compared to just 25% or so of children from nonacademic homes. Without a university degree, Hartmann said, it's nearly impossible to reach the highest levels in the business world. But even when elite offspring achieve the same academic qualifications, their career path tends to be quicker and smoother than those with other backgrounds. After analyzing multiple cohorts of Germans with academic degrees, Hartmann has found that children of business executives holding PhDs were 17 times more likely to make it onto the board of one of Germany's 400 largest companies than working-class children with the same degree. Moreover, additional factors would help determine who rises to the top, for example, how someone speaks, how they present themselves, and even their hobbies can play a decisive role. "People like to surround themselves with others who share their interests, who think like them, who speak like them," said Hartmann, and that's true for the executives making hiring decisions as well. There has been one positive development in Germany in recent decades, Hartmann noted, as the share of top leaders from working-class backgrounds has increased noticeably — though still from a very low base. However, this progress has come at the expense of children from the middle class, he added. "Put simply, when a working-class child achieves a high level of education and becomes a contender for a top business role, they often displace someone from the middle class — say, a teacher's child." Overall, the proportion of children from elite backgrounds in top corporate roles in Germany has remained the same. When social origin largely determines career success, it affects more than just individuals — it slows economic growth, PageGroup says, calculating the cost of the lack of social mobility in Germany at around €25 billion ($29 billion) in GDP growth each year. A McKinsey study found that in the 27 EU countries, GDP could increase by 9% — or €1.3 trillion — if social mobility were improved. There are, of course, stories of individuals from modest backgrounds who make it to the top like, for example, the often-cited example of former Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser — the son of a factory worker. Although regularly highlighted in the media, such stories, cautioned Hartmann, are featured so often that "people start to believe they're common." So how can the dominance of elites in Germany be challenged? Hartmann believes the answer can only be legally binding quotas to overcome all sorts of discrimination and class bias. These may be unpopular, he admits, "but in my experience, nothing else will work."
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Software-defined vehicle innovation stalled by EU overregulation, lawyer says
European overregulation is stifling innovation among automakers in the race to develop software-defined vehicles, while U.S. and Chinese automakers are benefiting from more flexible regulatory environments, a lawyer says. Europe is struggling to unlock its SDV potential because of heavy regulation and fragmented policy approaches, placing the region's long-term competitiveness at risk, said Volker Hartmann, a Berlin-based lawyer at Reuschlaw, which specializes in product liability, compliance and supply chains. 'We still have a strong automotive industry in Europe with a superb engineering tradition,' Hartmann told Automotive News Europe. 'But when it comes to new technologies such as SDVs, we see that some of the EU tech regulation collides with what is going on in reality around the globe. As a result, we can see a rapid deterioration in R&D around SDV innovation in Europe.' Sign up for the Automotive News Europe Focus on Technology weekly newsletter, looking at advancements in all aspects of the vehicle including performance, autonomous driving, batteries and more. SDVs offer significant potential for automakers but face a host of safety regulations and standards, including ISO/SAE 21434 and UNECE WP.29. These requirements increase development time and cost. Adding to the challenge, there are no global industry standards or universally accepted hardware interfaces or data models. That makes system integration across SDVs more difficult. Hartmann said the issue isn't that the EU regulates — but how it regulates. 'The EU has a lawmaking and regulatory tradition based on regulating technology upfront, very comprehensively and in high detail,' he said. 'Before we have a technology in place, we often already have a regulation.' This complex system drains automakers' resources, he said. Larger manufacturers may manage the bureaucratic burden, but it often stifles innovation at startups. 'The EU has created a complex web of rules and a conservative investment environment that makes it difficult for startups to grow and compete globally,' Hartmann said. 'In Europe, it seems like a huge uphill battle to bring a good idea to market, so innovators just go to the U.S. and to China.' Hartmann added: 'If you look at German automakers now compared with 10 years ago, there is not much there. They have lost a lot of money, talent and energy. The regulatory aspect worsens this situation. Our industries are fighting partly self-made problems and, on top of that, have a framework that is not supportive enough.' Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management, agrees that overregulation is a challenge. 'If you have too much regulation, it will affect business models,' he said. 'California, for example, has a more hands-on approach, and I don't see so much overregulation there.' But not everyone shares that view. Gartner Vice President of Research Pedro Pacheco doesn't see EU regulation as a significant hurdle. 'The proof of that is that Tesla — which was the top carmaker in Gartner's Digital Automaker Index 2024 — was able to roll out a competitive stack in Europe, the U.S. and China,' he said in an emailed reply to questions. For Pacheco, the greater obstacle to SDV success is internal: 'Legacy automakers have to think and act truly 'software first,' and this has been something very challenging for several of these companies.' The European Commission defended its approach in an emailed statement, citing its Automotive Action Plan launched in March. The plan includes steps such as the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance and joint investments in developing a computing and software architecture for future autonomous vehicles. Despite those efforts, Hartmann warned that growing geopolitical fragmentation could hinder innovation. 'We are not likely to see a global digital auto happen,' he said. 'SDV architecture platforms cannot happen anymore from a global approach but have to happen in separate regional boxes — China for China, the West for the West, the EU for the EU, or North America for North America.' Pacheco noted that sanctions and trade barriers might slow the SDV rollout but not stop it. 'Several Western automakers have already established software centers in China so that they can tap into the strong SDV knowledge there,' he said. 'However, if the West shuts the door to Chinese cars and Chinese tech, it will be harder for Western customers to buy competitive products from a software perspective.' Still, Hartmann sees an opportunity in Europe's emphasis on data privacy. 'All over the globe, people want to have their data privacy rights respected,' he said. 'This is our chance, because China is clearly not putting this into focus — they have a security, state-centric approach.' He also pointed to the EU's transparency and regulatory predictability as a strength. 'China has a black box regulatory regime. They can decide to do something tomorrow and just do it. There is a higher level of unpredictability in the Chinese system.' Looking ahead, Hartmann encouraged European automakers to diversify supply chains and reduce their dependence on China. 'There might have been an unhealthy focus on China in the last two decades from the European automotive industry,' he said. 'Now there is a chance to correct this. India, for example, has a huge talent pool with low labor costs. Latin America is very underestimated — it has a huge chance in this new world because it shares some of the fundamental cultural principles with the EU and North America.' 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Global News
04-07-2025
- General
- Global News
Endangered western painted turtle released by Interior Wildlife Rehabilitation Society
After a long drive, a very important passenger is minutes away from freedom. Members of the Interior Wildlife Rehabilitation Society have travelled to Kelowna's Wilden neighbourhood to release an endangered western painted turtle that had been in their care for several weeks after being run over by a car. 'She had a cracked shell, and one of the cracks on her shell in the back end was floating,' said Eva Hartmann, founder of the Interior Wildlfire Society. The turtle was found on the road near Still Pond in Wilden, and Hartmann says it's important to return the turtle to its original place for many reasons. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'It's very important that they are only exposed to anything that may be in their home pond, where they are from, and that is exactly where they go back to because we don't want to spread diseases around,' said Hartmann. Story continues below advertisement The turtle's home pond is next to a wildlife tunnel built into Wilden. However, not all the animals find their way through it. Like the turtle being released Thursday, some take the road. 'On either side of this road are wetlands, so they're migrating between those ponds to lay their eggs,' said Johanna Eger, Wilden marketing manager. The society has partnered with developers of Wilden to keep turtles and other wildlife safe. 'We need to be alert, especially with the nesting season right now, with the turtles,' said Jody Crumb, Interior Wildlife Society volunteer. 'If we just slow down, we can give them the chance to cross the road safely, lay their eggs and make their way back in.' Now that the turtle is back in Still Pond, it can flex its flippers and go on a big swim.
NBC News
15-06-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
How a city in Nebraska is recovering after the state's largest worksite immigration raid
Immigration The city of Omaha is trying to forge ahead following the raid's chilling effect on the local workforce and the community at large. June 15, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT By Nicole Acevedo OMAHA, Nebraska — Every seat in the waiting area of Glenn Valley Foods was occupied with people filling out job applications early Thursday afternoon, two days after the meatpacking plant became the center of the largest worksite immigration raid in the state of Nebraska so far this year. Dozens of prospective employees, many of them Spanish speakers, had been coming in and out of the plant all day. Some were hoping to land a new job; others were coming in for training. The scene gave the company's president, Chad Hartmann, a glimmer of hope amid the chaos that ensued after Tuesday's raid purged roughly half of his staff — many of whom had been longtime employees of the company, which has been processing boxed beef for more than 15 years. Hartmann had never seen or experienced a raid before. He is finding out in real time that 'there's no playbook' on how to move forward after one, Hartmann told NBC News. The process of re-hiring new workers, Hartmann said, feels like asking someone to replace a family member. 'You cannot, in my mind,' he said. 'They were part of our family, and they were taken away.' Seventy-six people working at Glenn Valley Foods were arrested by federal immigration authorities Tuesday morning, the Department of Homeland Security told NBC News in an email. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the arrests were part of an enforcement operation to execute a federal search warrant in connection to an investigation into ' the large-scale employment of aliens without legal work authorization.' As of Friday night, criminal charges had not been filed against those arrested in the raid. About a dozen of them have already been deported or transferred out of state. At least 63 others were taken to the Lincoln County Detention Center. The county's sheriff, Jerome Kramer, said none of the detainees are 'violent offenders' and he hopes to help them 'complete the process to correct their work status and reunite them with families or employers.' Samantha Santiago, who owns a business selling accessories in South Omaha's predominantly Latino business district, said many of the detained people were her customers. 'There are just too many families who were affected,' she said in Spanish, adding that some of people in the community canceled " quinceañeras" and baptisms planned for this weekend because 'the sadness is too deep.' The raid happened on the same week John Ewing officially took office as the first Black mayor of Omaha. Ewing, a Democrat, defeated Republican incumbent Jean Stothert in last month's election. At the same time, anti-ICE demonstrations have been raging across the nation in cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and Philadelphia — protesting the tactics being used when conducting raids and immigration enforcement actions. 'It's a collective effort, as a community, to both mourn together and also try to find solutions together for everybody,' Douglas County Commissioner Roger Garcia, the first Latino to occupy that position, told NBC News. Douglas County, where Omaha is located, is one of just two counties in Nebraska that went blue during the 2024 presidential election. The state as a whole is largely considered a Republican stronghold. Nevada Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, issued a statement in support of the raids and signed a proclamation Friday to activate the National Guard as a precautionary measure ' in anticipation of anti-ICE protests ' this weekend. In a news conference Wednesday, Ewing said that he does not support workplace raids and Omaha police would not, as a normal course of business, ask people about their immigration status. The dueling points showcase the source of nationwide tensions as Americans grapple with President Donald Trump's actions to fulfill his campaign promise of mass deportations. On Friday, over 500 people protesting Omaha's immigration raids peacefully marched to Charles Schwab Field, where the College World Series — the city's biggest sporting event — was kicking off. 'It is big for tourism in Omaha,' Juan Elizondo, one of the protest's lead organizers, told NBC News. 'The nation here with us — being there present, and letting them hear us, I think is more impactful.' A diverse crowd of demonstrators, from children and young people to older adults, were mostly dressed in white to show peace, though a handful of them even dressed in work uniforms to symbolize immigrants' contributions. Most of them held signs, upside down American flags signaling distress and Latin American flags to represent some of the people's heritage. Dozens of other people driving by honked at the demonstrators and placed flags outside their car windows to show support. The march marked the first time Elizondo, 32, had organized a protest. As an Omaha native and a son of Mexican immigrants, Elizondo said, he felt compelled to step up after he saw that the main message of the protests across the nation was being marred by instances of violence. 'This is definitely an extreme moment in the community,' he said. 'It's gotten a lot more political.' Reeling from the aftermath News of the ICE raid this week sent a crippling, chilling effect across the city. The local library and community college closed early on Tuesday. Construction sites and other workplaces have been desolate. South Omaha's business district, known as a vibrant Hispanic and immigrant enclave, shut down immediately after the raid. As of Friday, some had reopened. About a third of the remaining staff at Glenn Valley Foods showed up to work on Wednesday, with many staying home because they still felt afraid or traumatized, resulting in a roughly 20% drop in production that day, according to Hartmann. As more of the remaining employees showed up Thursday morning — most still reeling from the stress caused by the raid — workers and employees held a meeting. Hartmann described the meeting as a combination of 'tough love' and even passionate disagreements, as people tried to make sense of what happened and find a way to move forward. About 80 employees were at the plant processing meat early Friday afternoon. At the South Omaha business district, a popular Mexican bakery reopened Friday and welcomed dozens of customers taking home pastries for Father's Day weekend. Three hair stylists sat outside their empty salon. They said this weekend tends to be busy for the business, but many of their immigrant customers were not coming in because they were still afraid to be out in public following the raid. Santiago was back at her store Friday after taking a couple of days to process what was happening around her. During those two days, Santiago said she would cry unprompted 'every five minutes.' To find comfort, she went to church and prayed. Scrolling on social media, Santiago saw GoFundMe pages, raffles and other efforts to raise funds for the families affected by the raids. She said some are struggling to afford legal fees and immigration attorneys as well as keep up with family expenses without their spouse's income. Looking for a way to help, Santiago had the idea to take a portion of the proceeds from her bestselling item — the popular Labubu dolls — and donate them to the affected families. Commissioner Garcia's family is among those directly impacted by the raids. His wife's aunt was among the 76 people who were taken into immigration custody. Her son was able to speak with her on Wednesday at around 1 a.m. and learned she was being taken to an immigration processing center in Omaha. Currently, she is at a state detention center elsewhere. 'A lot of these individuals have been here for many years, if not decades, raising a family here, have citizen children and family members here, and they don't fit that profile of being the high-level criminals that are supposed to be the priority for immigration enforcement,' Garcia said. Grappling with a system that 'needs to be repaired' Wrapping and loading boxes of product into trucks, processing meat, maintaining the intricate machinery and repairing and cleaning the plant: these are some of the jobs, Hartmann said, that workers at Glenn Valley Foods do to ensure the meatpacking plant passes strict Safe Quality Food audits and inspections from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hartmann explained some of these jobs require rigorous safety training; 'it takes skilled people that take pride in what they do,' he said. The company's president said they have continuously used E-Verify as part of their hiring process. The system is operated by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration to let employers know if a prospective employee has legal authorization to work in the U.S. Every employee at Glenn Valley Foods, including those who were detained by ICE, has been approved through E-Verify, Hartmann said. When he told this to DHS during the raid, an agency official described the system they operate as flawed and easy to cheat. Now, as he hires a new workforce, Hartmann has no other alternative but to continue using E-Verify system to screen employees, he said. 'That system doesn't capture a solution if somebody's got a fake ID. That's what needs to be repaired.' Garcia said that limiting immigrants' ability to remain in the country legally is what often pushes people to 'borrow' or 'make up' false identifications. It is for the 'sole purpose of working and nothing else, because there has been no other way for them to adjust their status and work under their own proper name or identification.' 'But our comprehensive immigration reform efforts have not gone through yet, unfortunately. And it's still badly needed,' García said. In researching alternatives for E-Verify with guidance from Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., DHS and federal authorities, Hartmann said the options he was presented included temporary work visa programs such as H-1A — meant for industries dealing with workforce shortages — and H-2B, for nonagricultural jobs. But because these immigration programs are for seasonal workers, 'it doesn't fit our needs,' Hartmann said. Saying goodbye to workers every six months is 'not building a business.' Hartmann wishes government officials would consider creating a limited period of amnesty for undocumented people who 'meet certain qualifications' such as never having committed a crime, a desire to work, pay taxes and be part of the community. This could be a temporary remedy for people looking to get legal immigration status, he suggested. While that might not be the answer to the larger immigration issue, he said it's 'some version that makes sense.' 'There should be no problem with that,' Hartmann said, 'to just stop the bleeding, stop the problem.' A new generation of residents speak out Elizondo organized Friday's protest with the help and support of other more experienced Latino and immigrant rights advocates. A group of them met on Thursday afternoon at a downtown Omaha restaurant to plan the demonstration. They shared advice on how to work with local law enforcement to ensure the protests remained peaceful and focused on how immigration raids are hurting their communities, the community activists said. 'That has made the new generation speak up,' Rosa la Puente, one of the advocates mentoring Elizondo, said about the recent events. Many in the community are questioning the timing of the Omaha raid, wondering if the city was targeted for political reasons. When asked about this at a news conference on Wednesday, Ewing said, 'I don't know why Omaha was targeted.' For young Omaha residents like Elizondo and Jennifer Reyna, 29, the issue feels personal. Elizondo said he was inspired to step up after he saw his mother's leadership, consoling co-workers at James Skinner Baking, a local baking manufacturer, who were paralyzed with fear following the raid. 'It breaks your heart,' he said. Reyna, who attended Friday's protest, said they want their voices heard beyond Omaha. 'Everyone at this point in time in the community is afraid and is extremely upset,' Reyna said. Amid a feeling of helplessness, "we're trying to live normal, hardworking lives in this country that we do love,' she said. Nicole Acevedo Nicole Acevedo is a national reporter for NBC News and NBC Latino.
