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Australia

Mongolian foreign workers arrive in Australia as country grapples with record-high job vacancies

Mongolian foreign workers arrive in Australia as country grapples with record-high job vacancies

Two Mongolian nationals have arrived in Brisbane on a working holiday in an Australian first, as industry bodies call for increased government support to incentivise international workers to fill dire labor shortfalls.

Prior to the pandemic, up to 150,000 working holiday-makers came to Australia annually, providing local businesses access to casual workers, often in regional areas and the agricultural industry.

The reciprocal cultural exchange scheme opened to Mongolia in July, making it the 47th country to participate in the program.

Khishigdelger Khurelbaatar, 23, is a trained journalist with a degree from the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture in Ulaanbaatar, who left behind her husband and child to work in Australia.

Turbat Lkhamsuren, 25, has a degree in humanities and has previously worked as a chef.

Mr Lkhamsuren said he was in disbelief upon arrival.

“It’s so wonderful right now, I imagined this for so long. I don’t have any words, it’s like a dream,” he said.

“I’ve only seen Australia in a movie and now I’m here, it’s amazing.

“It’s so different from my country in the culture and the weather, I’m so excited.”

Ms Khurelbaatar said she was eager to start work.

“I really want to see some animals, like a kangaroo and koala bear,” she said.

Man and woman hold up mongolian flag at airport.
Khishigdelger Khurelbaatar (left) and Turbat Lkhamsuren arrive at Brisbane Airport from Mongolia on working holiday visas.(Supplied: Brisbane Airport Corporation)

The pair started their time in Australia kayaking down the Brisbane River and abseiling down the Kangaroo Point Cliffs before they headed to a Sunshine Coast farm and hone necessary skills including horse riding, tractor driving, and cattle mustering.

Mongolia was a country with a long and proud tradition of horsemanship, making Ms Khurelbaatar and Mr Lkhamsuren highly sought after.

“Mongolians have a reputation as the greatest horsemen and women on Earth, so their skills will be highly valuable to the employers we place them with in regional areas,” Australian Working Adventures director Joanna Burnett said.

After completing a nine-day program and working for three months on a farm, they will then be eligible to apply for a second-year Working Holiday Maker visa.

Incentivizing foreign workers ‘essential’

Woman on a horse
Like many Mongolians, Khishigdelger Khurelbaatar is an accomplished horse rider.(Supplied)

Queensland Farmers Federation spokesperson Diana Saunders said these types of schemes were vital in supporting the agricultural industry.

“We are experiencing shortages across all levels, so not just the casual workforce, but also our skilled workforce,” Dr Saunders said.

“Government schemes and incentives are extremely important because they set the parameters of engagement, set out the role and how we can support them.

“Even in terms of being able to match skill sets, and the people available, with the needs of the industry, it’s so essential.”

A mongolian family smiles.
Khishigdelger Khurelbaatar with her husband, son and parents, before leaving to come to Australia.(Supplied)

Dr Saunders said she would like to see more done to advertise Australia as a great place to work.

“Agriculture has a lot of benefits at the moment and it’s an industry that is set to grow and has a lot of opportunities, but we need the workforce to make that possible and attracting workers from overseas is very important.

“Employers are willing to really work with employees to get them to work on what they want and where they want to go, but also grow that person and develop that person to make sure that they retain them and be a part of the culture.”

‘Retailers screaming to fill jobs’

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said there were currently more than 40,000 job vacancies in the retail industry.

“That’s up nearly 40 per cent in the last three months and there’s no end in sight,” he said.

“Most retailers are screaming to fill jobs and we just don’t have the people to fill all the vacancies.”

Paul Zahra wears a blue suit and white shirt.
Chief executive of the Australian Retailers Association Paul Zahra says strict COVID lockdowns caused brand damage to Australia.(ABCNews)

Mr Zahra said images of strict COVID-19 related lockdowns broadcast worldwide had made Australia a less attractive location.

“We’ve so heavily relied on international students in the past to fill particularly hospitality roles, but also frontline retail roles. We’re just not seeing those people come back to the country.

“There was a lot of brand damage through the lockdowns and of course we’re no longer a place people want to visit.

“They’re concerned about some of the COVID regulations that have occurred historically in this country, and they’re traveling and working within Europe and aren’t coming to Australia. That’s a massive issue for the country.

“Right now we need an intervention with a new government policy to cut out the bureaucracy with visas, but equally we need incentives to get those people back into the country and here working.”

National job vacancies at record high

According to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released in June, there were 480,100 total job vacancies in May.

Graph shows Australia's job vacancies have climbed.
Graph showing Australia’s job vacancies have risen by about 14 per cent.(Supplied: Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Head of labor statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Davis, said the number of job vacancies rose by 14 per cent over the three months to May.

“This reflected increasing demand for workers, particularly in customer-facing roles, with businesses continuing to face disruptions to their operations, as well as ongoing labor shortages,” he said.

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Categories
Business

In New Zealand wages are growing. Will Australian workers’ pay packets get a bump?

In New Zealand wages are growing. Will Australian workers' pay packets get a bump?

The cost of living is soaring. Rocketing food prices and rising interest rates mean that without a substantial rise in wages, workers find themselves going backwards.

So are wage rises coming?

Ahead of official data out next week there are conflicting signals about what’s going on with wages.

going up

The good news, if you’re a worker, is that it’s a great time to be you.

Job vacancies are at a record high and there’s a massive shortage of labor (partly because so many migrants have gone home since the pandemic began and haven’t returned).

For advanced manufacturing company ANCA, that means paying people more.

Johanna Boland 1
Advanced manufacturing firm ANCA has been lifting wages to reward staff and lure new talent as they expand, says Johanna Boland the company’s strategy and communications manager.(ABC News: Simon Tucci)

“If we don’t have the right people, then we’re not going to be able to succeed in the marketplace. So we’ve got to pay what the market’s asking,” says the company’s strategy and community manager Johanna Boland.

“I think it’s not just inflation, it’s also been a really hot market for talent.”

ANCA is competing with tech companies, banks and start-ups for software engineers and designers with in-demand skills. It employs 1,300 people globally, most in Bayswater in Melbourne’s outer suburbs.

The staff work in a variety of divisions, making things like complex robotic tools and components. Its machines are used by other companies in high-precision work, for example in cutting components used in mobile phones and medical equipment.

Early this year some staff started asking for more money to deal with rising living costs. The company did a “wide-scale analysis” looking at its entire staff and lifted wages for all.

The budget for wages has already changed since May and at the review in October it will be more again.

ANCA staff will get more money. Will you?

Kiwi wages lift

Australia’s unemployment rate is at its lowest level since 1974, at just 3.5 per cent. In New Zealand it’s down to 3.3 per cent – ​​and it was even lower in the previous quarter.

(Even though it’s a blunt measure, with someone working an hour a fortnight considered “employed”, it is the measure generally used globally.)

That should mean higher demand for workers, leading to a boost in wages. In Australia that hasn’t happened yet, but New Zealand figures out this week show big lifts in how many workers are taking home in pay.

We have similar economies – and in New Zealand average hourly earnings are up to 7 per cent, year on year, for workers in the private sector, those not employed by governments. That’s almost catching up to the consumer price index (inflation) growing at 7.4 per cent.

Auckland city at sunrise
Auckland is beautiful. And wages there are rising.(Reuters: Stefan Wermuth)

Also, 26 per cent of jobs surveyed received a pay rise of more than 5 per cent, the highest proportion since 2008. And about two-thirds of jobs received an increase in ordinary-time wage rates in the past year –the highest level on record.

breaking history

Australians aren’t getting that kind of a boost. They’re going backwards.

The Reserve Bank of Australia see wages rising about 3.5 per cent next year, but that’s a significant pay cut in real terms. That’s because inflation is expected to peak at 7.75 per cent by the end of this year, be about 6.2 per cent by the middle of 2023 and 4.3 per cent by the end of next year.

So prices will keep rising faster than pay packets, meaning a cut in ‘real wages’ for millions of people.

There’s a simple answer on wages, according to Joseph Stiglitz, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics:

“They need to be higher.”

Joseph Stiglitz
Former World Bank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz wants to see people get higher wages.(International Monetary Fund/flickr.com/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

“The only thing Australians might feel good about is that they’re better than what’s happening in the United States, where things are devastating,” he said during a visit to talk to parliamentarians, trade unionists and business leaders.

Asset prices like houses and stocks have soared during the pandemic. A decade of low wage growth means people who get their income from wages are falling behind.

“The price of inequality is that low-paid workers are less productive. If we as a society reduce inequality, we’ll have a better performing economy. Better paid workers are less anxious… more satisfied, less likely to quit.”

Cost pressure

For many businesses, it’s not easy to raise wages.

Peter Burn, director of public policy at the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), notes salaries are a big cost. But they’re just one, and many of the other major elements that go into running a business have already asked for more.

“Cost pressures are widespread,” he said.

Peter Burn
Dr Peter Burn of the Ai Group doesn’t see broad, large wage rises coming.(ABC Newsβ€”Dan Irvine)

“There’s cost pressures coming from energy costs β€” electricity and gas, petrol β€” freight has been a major cost increase for a lot of businesses. The prices of building materials have risen very sharply, digital equipment [too]. They’re the big ones we’ve been hearing about.”

Dr Burn says these costs are particularly strong, but they also flip what’s become normal.

“We’ve become used to low or even falling prices in recent years. So this is a sudden reversal of what we’ve become used to,” he said.

He sees “big gaps” in the wages picture. There are aggregates (for everyone) of around 2.5 per cent growth, but certain industries and roles are seeing sharp wage rises.

“But what we’re hearing from particular businesses is they’re increasing the wages, they’ve got to pay (bigger) salaries attract particular staff,” he says, pointing to tech and project management as key fields enjoying substantial leaps in salary .

That’s putting wage pressure on businesses those business, he adds.

“But as a general rule across the economy, wage pressures are not high.”

Job seeking

Australia’s largest job site is a gold mine of information about what’s happening with wages. Or it could be.

“So most employers don’t put the salary on the job ad,” advises Kendra Banks, managing director of Seek. “This is something we do advise employers to think about more carefully. If the salary is good, if they think it’s above average, it will certainly attract more applicants.”

Why don’t they – especially in a tight labor market where people are looking to make more money to meet the cost of living? Because they cause chaos in their workplaces.

“It’s quite often in some organizations that newcomers will have different salary levels than the existing employees. So advertising that through the ad could create challenges internally for some companies or organisations,” she says.

Kendra Banks
Kendra Banks says some advertised jobs have large salary increases. (ABC News: Simon Tucci)

This is like the so-called ‘loyalty premium’ paid by consumers. Long-term bank customers with a home loan, for example, are sometimes shocked to learn that people walking into the branch and taking out a mortgage are offered a better rate.

In jobs, too, there’s a benefit to switching.

“We see that through some of the ABS data that looks at wage changes for people who’ve moved employers and those who haven’t,” Ms Banks says.

“And the wage change for those who’ve moved employers is significantly higher than those who haven’t.”

With other costs rocketing, employers may be offering inducements that aren’t money.

“Participation in the labor market in Australia is already very, very high, so it may be that wage growth is not exactly what it takes (to lure workers),” she adds.

Perks like flexible working, the ability to work from home, to set your own hours and leave stronger entitlements may be areas “employers are leaning on more in order to attract the best candidates.”

Cost pressure

Switching employers might bring more money, but for many workers it’s not possible or desirable. They have to either push their boss for a bigger pay packet, or wait for external pressure to do it.

And that might not eat.

“For 10 years, we’ve been told that some Magic Wage Growth Fairy will come along and one day boost wages,” says an exasperated Richard Denniss, chief economist of the Australian Institute.

“The reason we have low wage growth is because employers are not offering decent wage rises.

“The only way that wages can grow in Australia is if employers pay their workers higher wages. And every employer, including the public sector is saying, ‘Oh, we can’t afford to offer high wage growth’.

“So unless lots of employers are offering wages that start with a 5 (per cent), then we’re not going to see average wage growth start with a 3.”

A man in a blue shirt stands in front of an apartment building.
Richard Denniss, chief economist and former executive director of the Australia Institute.(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

Data out on August 17 from the Australian Bureau of Statistics will let us know what’s happened to wages in the recent past. What happens in the future is up to workers, unions, bosses, governments and companies.

“The way a market is supposed to work is when something is scarce, the price goes up,” Dr Denniss says.

“That’s what’s happened with gas. But when it happens with labour, apparently there’s a problem.”

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Categories
US

Is the economy in a recession? Top economists weigh in

Is the economy in a recession? Top economists weigh in

‘We should have an objective definition’

Officially, the NBER defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” In fact, the latest quarterly gross domestic product report, which tracks the overall health of the economy, showed a second consecutive contraction this year.

Still, if the NBER ultimately declares a recession, it could be months from now, and it will factor in other considerations, as well, such as employment and personal income.

What really matters is their paychecks aren’t reaching as far.

Thomas Philipson

former acting chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers

That puts the country in a gray area, Philipson said.

“Why do we let an academic group decide?” he said. “We should have an objective definition, not the opinion of an academic committee.”

Consumers are behaving like we’re in a recession

For now, consumers should be focusing on energy price shocks and overall inflation, Philipson added. “That’s impacting everyday Americans.”

To that end, the Federal Reserve is making aggressive moves to temper surging inflation, but “it will take a while for it to work its way through,” he said.

“Powell is raising the federal funds rate, and he’s leaving himself open to raise it again in September,” said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, an economics professor at George Washington University and former chief economist at the Labor Department. “He’s saying all the right things.”

However, consumers “are paying more for gas and food so they have to cut back on other spending,” Furchtgott-Roth said.

“Negative news continues to mount up,” she added. “We are definitely in a recession.”

What comes next: ‘The path to a soft landing’

The direction of the labor market will be key in determining the future state of the economy, both experts said.

Decreases in consumption come first, Philipson noted. “If businesses can’t sell as much as they used to because consumers aren’t buying as much, then they lay off workers.”

On the upside, “we have twice the number of job openings as unemployed people so employers are not going to be so quick to lay people off,” according to Furchtgott-Roth.

“That’s the way to a soft landing,” she said.

3 ways to prepare your finances for a recession

While the impact of record inflation is being felt across the board, every household will experience a pullback to a different degree, depending on their income, savings and job security.

Still, there are a few ways to prepare for a recession that are universal, according to Larry Harris, the Fred V. Keenan Chair in Finance at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and a former chief economist of the Securities and Exchange Commission .

Here’s his advice:

  1. Streamline your spending. “If they expect they will be forced to cut back, the sooner they do it, the better off they’ll be,” Harris said. That may mean cutting a few expenses now that you just want and really don’t need, such as the subscription services that you signed up for during the Covid pandemic. If you don’t use it, lose it.
  2. Avoid variable-rate debts. Most credit cards have a variable annual percentage rate, which means there’s a direct connection to the Fed’s benchmark, so anyone who carries a balance will see their interest charges jump with each move by the Fed. Homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages or home equity lines of credit, which are pegged to the prime rate, will also be affected.

    That makes this a particularly good time to identify the loans you have outstanding and see if refinancing makes sense. “If there’s an opportunity to refinance into a fixed rate, do it now before rates rise further,” Harris said.

  3. Consider stashing extra cash in Series I bonds. These inflation-protected assets, backed by the federal government, are nearly risk-free and pay a 9.62% annual rate through October, the highest yield on record.

    Although there are purchase limits and you can’t tap the money for at least one year, you’ll score a much better return than a savings account or a one-year certificate of deposit, which pays less than 2%. (Rates on online savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit are all poised to go up but it will be a while before those returns compete with inflation.)

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

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Categories
Technology

Apple drops mask requirements for most of its corporate workers

Apple drops mask requirements for most of its corporate workers

RIYADH: Digital platforms have changed people’s lives across every area from work to play, and travel is no exception. Online and social media have changed how people discover destinations and deals, how they book their travel, and even how they share their travel experiences.

In Saudi Arabia, for instance, residents start dreaming about traveling 10 weeks before their journey, with video and digital platforms inspiring 50 percent of their choice of destination, according to Fahad Almaghrabi, head of business partnerships at Global Business Solutions for TikTok in Saudi Arabia .

More than 70 percent of people look at TikTok for discovering travel ideas, while 64 percent book a trip after getting inspired by TikTok content, he added.

Arab News spoke to Almaghrabi to learn more about the role the short-form video platform plays in travel.

Tell us more about travelers today and how they have changed in the last decade

Over the past two decades, digital platforms have transformed how we live our lives, permeating every sphere of activity, and shaping how we interact with each other and the world around us.

This generation of β€œalways-in market” travelers β€” dreaming, considering, or booking a getaway throughout the year β€” have also developed a penchant for a real and authentic travel experience, and that’s why they love going to their community for trustworthy travel inspiration.

Today’s intrepid travelers are just as keen to share their compelling stories and authentic visuals of journeys on entertainment platforms like TikTok, rounding off a creative cycle that in turn inspires countless others.

A study by Amp Agency found that 84 percent of millennials and 73 percent of non-millennials today were highly likely to plan a trip based on someone else’s vacation photos or videos or social media status updates.

How does this affect the way tourism destinations market themselves?

These authentic vignettes have re-ignited the demand for travel and significantly altered how destinations are being marketed globally, with travel and tourism marketers increasingly leveraging the opportunity presented by this new breed of digital platforms.

What role does TikTok play in this space?

This is a journey in which TikTok has taken the global lead as a disruptive platform with undeniable potential and momentum β€” and the Gulf and Middle East markets are no exception.

But TikTok’s success in becoming the platform of choice for travelers and in shaping digital travel and tourism trends across the industry is not happening.

Travel and tourism is a key segment of interest for a global and expansive hyper-engaged community of more than 1.8 billion users that straddles all markets and is growing at an astounding rate. This provides the perfect backdrop for TikTok to emerge as a platform where the community is primed not only to consume, but also to express themselves and tell their stories through authentic, visual, and geo-tagged content that is at once enticing and liberating.

This is enabled by easy-to-use editing tools, native content on the platform, and creators that fuel dynamic content.

This powerful combination of the medium and the message amplifies TikTok’s power as a creative platform and enables it to be the internet’s repertoire of travel & tourism inspiration.

TikTok is that intimate, accessible, and inspirational window through which travelers take a trip before deciding if it’s worth it β€” the trip before the trip.

Can you give us some examples of how TikTok has influenced travel decisions?

While TikTok continues to induce FOMO in would-be travelers with content highlighting some of the world’s most beautiful and established destinations, there are also plenty of examples of TikTok’s effectiveness in driving a surge of interest to hitherto unknown destinations, which led to a dramatic rise. in tourist footfalls overnight.

At least 83 percent of Saudi residents have either gone or plan to go on an international trip in the next six months with Egypt, UAE, and Turkey being the top short-haul and France and Germany being the top long-haul destinations.

More significantly, 74 percent of users were found to look for travel discoveries on TikTok and 73 percent were found to have impulse purchased their trip in a short span of time.

What does this mean for brands?

With such lucrative figures at their disposal, brands can natively integrate into major travel conversations and leverage the community to speak with them, about them, and for them.

In essence, this represents a paradigm shift in the typical acquisition process for travel and tourism operators to stand out within an increasingly saturated ecosystem and collapse the sales funnel to move travelers directly from the β€œinspiration” phase to the β€œbooking” phase.

Whether it’s the assortment of clever hacks, unadulterated advice, safety tips or the sheer visual appeal of short-format videos, the power of TikTok in shaping and inspiring the Kingdom’s travel trends is an opportunity that could become a model for authentic and organic tourism in the years to eat.

Can you share some examples of how TikTok has increased the visibility of a tourist destination?

In a year of restricted travel, the UAE launched the β€œWorld’s Coolest Winter” campaign to highlight all the amazing sights and activities the Emirates has to offer.

INSERT WORLD’S COOLEST WINTER IMAGE

For the campaign to realize its full potential on TikTok, the ‘7’ was created, using one of TikTok’s recognizable hand gestures that looks like the number 7 in Arabic and symbolizes the seven emirates at the same time. The ‘7’ became a visual prompt that rallied residents to share their favorite hidden gems through a branded hashtag challenge.

The UAE’s top 20 creators kicked it off, including @khalidandsalama, @_m7md, @azlife.ae, @bayan.dxb, and @dxbxd – and the rest of the nation’s TikTokers soon followed.

The campaign took on a life of its own with 8,700 user-generated videos in just six days, creating a library of the UAE’s best-hidden spots and secrets available for all to explore.

The ‘7’ sign became a symbol of UAE pride, and the campaign delivered remarkable results, with a 25 percent jump in brand awareness, 85 percent increase in ad recognition, 89 percent boost in ad likeability, and over 70 million views. The campaign successfully got an entire nation smiling and moving at a time they needed it most.

Further west, TikTok was also used by Switzerland Tourism, the national marketing organization, to hype up the incredible country.

INSERT SWITZERLAND TOURISM IMAGE

Switzerland Tourism spent the first six months of its business account building its following entirely organically, focusing on a test-and-learn strategy, to thoroughly understand how TikTok works.

As their established community responded well to its hashtags, #INeedSwitzerland, and #inLOVEwithSWITZERLAND, ads were a natural next step because paid campaigns would mean it could directly target a different demographic to learn more about them.

Doubling down on its popular hashtag #INeedSwitzerland, Switzerland Tourism ran its first ever TopView ad showing a three-way split screen of dramatic scenery and nature. Spurred on by this campaign’s success, it then ran three more seasonal TopView campaigns: A summer experience tips ad, a summer in the city ad, and a funny autumn-themed ad.

In just 12 months, Switzerland Tourism has driven huge momentum on TikTok, with over 700,000 likes across all its posts and a whopping 35.5 million hashtag mentions. Most of this was organic, with some videos going viral without so much as a penny behind them.

Its TopView campaigns have achieved average engagement rates of 20 percent, which is remarkably high and shows the power of a brand putting out brilliant content on TikTok.

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Categories
US

Utah man trying to kill spider with lighter started Springville wildfire, police say

Firefighters battle a wildfire from the ground as a helicopter drops water above them in Springville on Monday. The fire started when a man tried to burn a spider with a lighter, police said.

Firefighters battle a wildfire from the ground as a helicopter drops water above them in Springville on Monday. The fire started when a man tried to burn a spider with a lighter, police said. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

SPRINGVILLE β€” A wildfire near Springville, which police say was started by a man who claimed he was trying to kill a spider Monday afternoon, is now 90% contained, according to firefighters.

Cory Allan Martin, 26, of Draper, was arrested Monday evening for investigation of reckless burning, as well as possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, according to Utah County Jail records.

Reports of a fire “north of town on the mountainside” came in just before 5 pm, Springville fire officials said. Utah County sheriff’s deputies also responded to a report of the fire, which was located by the Bonneville Shoreline Trail near 1400 N. Main in Springville.

When deputies arrived, firefighters at the scene said they had come across a man who said that he started the fire. The crews escorted him down the mountain to speak with authorities. The man identified himself as Martin and explained that he saw a spider on the mountain and tried to burn it with a lighter, according to a police booking affidavit.

“When he attempted to burn the spider, the surrounding brush ignited and the fire began spreading very rapidly,” the affidavit states.

Martin was arrested at the scene and placed in a squad car. Deputies later found a jar of marijuana and drug paraphernalia while searching his belongings, the arrest report adds.

The fire quickly grew to 40 fires in size Monday evening; it had burned about 60 acres of US Forest Service land within the Pleasant Grove Ranger District as of Tuesday morning, according to Utah Fire Info, an information center for state and federal firefighters.

Two crews, one squad and one engine, were assigned to the fire Tuesday. Firefighters said they expected “containment to drastically increase” by the end of Tuesday’s shift, and it improved from 10% to 90%.

Officials asked residents to avoid the area to “help open the roads for emergency vehicles.”

The Bonneville Shoreline Trail is also temporarily closed between the Buckley Draw and Little Rock Creek as crews continue to fight the fire.

Photos

Most recent Utah wildfires stories

Arianne Brown is a breaking news reporter for KSL.com. She also enjoys finding and sharing stories of everyday Utahns, a talent she developed over several years of freelance writing for various Utah news outlets.

Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com. He previously worked for the Deseret News. He is a Utah transplant by the way of Rochester, New York.

More stories you may be interested in

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Categories
US

Parkland trial a rare, curtailed look at mass shooting gore

Broward Sheriff's Office Sgt. Richard Van Der Eems describes the scene he encountered at the school after the mass shooting as he testifies during the penalty phase trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz, Friday, July 22, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Broward Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Richard Van Der Eems describes the scene he encountered at the school after the mass shooting as he testifies during the penalty phase trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz, Friday, July 22, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Mike Stocker, South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. β€” Few Americans outside law enforcement and government ever see the most graphic videos or photos from the nation’s worst mass shootings β€” in most states, such evidence is only displayed at trial and most such killers die during or immediately after their attacks . They never make it to court.

That has made the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz for his 2018 murder of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School unusual.

As the worst US mass shooting to reach trial, the surveillance videos taken during his attack and the crime scene and autopsy photos that show its horrific aftermath are being seen by jurors on shielded video screens and, after each day’s court session, shown to a small group of journalists. But they are not shown in the gallery, where parents and spouses sit, or to the general public watching on TV.

Some online believe that should change β€” that to have an informed debate on gun violence, the public should see the carnage mass shooters like Cruz cause, often with high-velocity bullets fired from AR-15 semiautomatic rifles and similar weapons.

Others disagree. They say the public display of such videos and photos would add to the harm the victims’ families already endure and might entice some who are mentally disturbed to commit their own mass shooting. They believe such evidence should remain sealed.

Liz Dunning, a vice president at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, doesn’t believe releasing such videos and photos would have the political impact some think. Polls show that most Americans already support stronger background checks for gun buyers and bans or restrictions on AR-15s and similar weapons, said Dunning, whose mother was murdered by a gunman.

“Public perception is not the issue,” Dunning said. “We should be asking more of the powerful.”

Since most of the worst US mass shooters were killed by themselves or police during or immediately after their attack, it is rare for anyone outside government to see such surveillance videos or police and autopsy photos. The public didn’t see such evidence after the Las Vegas shooting in 2017, Orlando in 2016, Sandy Hook in 2012, Virginia Tech in 2007 and others.

Medical Examiner Dr. Wendolyn Sneed describes the wounds of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School victims as she testifies in the penalty phase of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz's trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, July 25 .
Medical Examiner Dr. Wendolyn Sneed describes the wounds of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School victims as she testifies in the penalty phase of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz’s trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, July 25 (Photo: Carline Jean, South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)

But Cruz, 23, fled after his shooting and was arrested an hour later. He pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of his first-degree murder-his trial is only to determine if he is sentenced to death or life without parole. The videos and photos are part of the prosecution’s case.

Since the trial began July 18, everyone in the courtroom and watching on TV has seen and heard heartbreaking testimony from teachers and students who saw others die. They have heard the gunshots and screams as jurors watched cellphone videos.

But when graphic videos and photos are presented, those are not shown. Usually, they only hear medical examiners and police officers give emotionless descriptions of what the jury is seeing.

Then at the end of each day, a group of reporters reviews the photos and videos, but are only allowed to write descriptions. That was a compromise as some parents feared photos of their dead children would be posted online and wanted no media access.

Miami media attorney Thomas Julin said in Florida before the internet, any photos or other evidence presented at trial could be seen and copied by anyone. Newspapers didn’t print the most thick photos, so no one cared.

But in the mid-1990s as the internet boomed, Danny Rolling faced a death penalty trial for the serial murders of four University of Florida students and a community college student. The victims’ families argued that the publication of crime scene photos would cause them emotional harm. The judge ruled that anyone could view the photos, but no one could copy them. Such compromises have since become standard in Florida’s high-profile murder trials.

The surveillance video of the Stoneman Douglas shooting is silent. It shows Cruz moving methodically from floor-to-floor in a three-story classroom building, shooting down hallways and into classrooms. Victims fall. Cruz often stops and shoots them again before moving on.

The crime scene photos show the dead where they fell, sometimes on top of or next to each other, often in contorted shapes. Blood and sometimes brain matter are splattered on floors and walls.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is led into the courtroom during the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, July 25.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is led into the courtroom during the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, July 25. (Photo: Carline Jean, South Florida Sun-Sentinel via P.A.)

The autopsy photos show the damage Cruz and his bullets did. Some victims have massive head wounds. One student had his elbow blown off, another had her shoulder blown open. Another of her had most of her forearm of her ripped away.

Yet, despite their grossness, Columbia University journalism professor Bruce Shapiro says most autopsy and crime scene photos wouldn’t have a lasting public impact because they don’t have context.

The photos and videos that have a strong effect on public opinion tell a story, said Shapiro, who runs the university’s think tank on how journalists should cover violence.

The photos of Emmett Till’s battered body lying in its coffin after the Black teenager was tortured and killed by Mississippi white supremacists in 1955. Mary Ann Vecchio screaming over Kent State student Jeffrey Miller’s body after he was shot by National Guard troops in 1970. Vietnamese child Phan Thi Kim Phuc running naked after being burned by a napalm bomb in 1972. The video of police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck until he’s dead in 2020.

“They work not just because they are graphic, but because they are powerful, stirring images,” Shapiro said.

And even if the graphic photos and videos were released, most major newspapers, wire services and television stations would be hesitant to use them. Their editors weigh whether the public benefit of seeing an image outweighs any prurient interest β€” and they usually pass.

That would leave most for only the most salacious websites. They would also become fodder for potential mass shooters, who frequently research past killers. cross did; testimony showed he spent the seven months before his attack making hundreds of computer searches about committing massacres.

“The images of the carnage will become part of their dark fantasy life,” Shapiro said.

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What is emotional intelligence and why is it becoming ‘a must-have skill’ at work?

A woman and a man in deep conversation, with their hands raised.

Daniel Goleman has a blunt warning for jobseekers in 2022 and beyond: It’s no longer enough just to be smart.

Dr Goleman, an American author and psychologist, has spent decades touting the importance of ’emotional intelligence’ in the workplace and other areas of life.

And it appears companies and organizations have caught up with him.

“[In the mid-1990s] someone said to me, ‘you know, you can’t use the word emotion in a business context’. Today, it’s very, very different,” he tells ABC RN’s Future Tense.

But what exactly is emotional intelligence or EI? And is it just more work-speak or ‘a must-have skill’ of the future?

What is emotional intelligence?

There are several definitions of emotional intelligence, but it boils down to understanding your emotions, understanding the emotions of those around you, and acting accordingly.

Dr Goleman, who put the term on the map with his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, says it has four main components.

An older man with gray hair, a gray beard and glasses smiles at the camera.
Dr Daniel Goleman says we can all work on our emotional intelligence. (Getty Images: Daniel Zuchnik)

first-up, self awareness. Or as Dr Goleman puts it: “Knowing what you’re feeling, why you feel it, how it makes you think and want to act, how it shapes your perceptions.” So, for example, being able to label an emotion like anger and know the causes behind it.

The second part is “using that information to manage your emotions, in a positive way. To stay motivated, to stay focused, to be adaptable and agile, instead of rigid and locked in.”

The third part involves connecting with other people’s emotions β€” practicing empathy. It’s “understanding how someone else feels without them telling you in words, because people don’t tell us in words, they tell us in tone of voice and facial expressions, and so on”.

And finallyβ€” relationship management or “putting that all together to have effective relationships.”

Dr Goleman also makes a key point: It’s not simply about being nice.

“There’s a difference between being nice and being kind. And it’s really important to understand. You might be nice just not to create waves and get along β€” but that doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily helping.”

Why does it matter?

Amol Khadikar is a program manager at the Capgemini Research Institute and is based in India.

“[Emotional intelligence] is increasingly seen as a very valuable thing, and its importance has only increased in the last couple of years,” Mr Khadikar says.

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