• The timber market is the same as last year
• A generation has grown up ignoring home kitchens
• Insurance “Protection for business”
• It is necessary to plan time for extracurricular activities
• Remote work poses a threat

Everything that happened last week in Ukraine and the world and that is relevant and interesting for the furniture maker, read in our digest:

1. Forest is a renewable resource, but how to use it properly? This is what the woodworkers, the ecological community and the representatives of the State Forestry Agency discussed during the round table.

We now have a situation where woodworkers are demanding more raw materials on the market, and the ecological community, on the contrary, says that the number of fellings should be reduced. And there is and there is a scientific point of view and international practice of foresters. 

Taking into account the previous dynamics of timber harvesting, it is expected that this year the Ukrainian economy will receive about 17-17.5 million cubic meters of domestic timber, which is comparable to the volume of timber harvest last year. 

During the round table, it was decided to adopt a joint resolution that could to some extent balance the needs of woodworkers, the requirements of environmentalists and the real capabilities of foresters, taking into account the views of scientists. Read more about the bill “On the wood market” in the article at the link.

2. Furniture makers need to take into account and respond to emerging trends in cooking and nutrition. According to experts, the tendency to eat outside the home is mostly related to the new behavioural habits of young people in the world and in Ukraine. A generation has grown up that ignores home cooking: starting the day with coffee in a coffee shop or ordering pizza at the office is becoming commonplace for buzzers and millennials. Retail, which is not directly related to food in its profile, actively responded to this, and began to step on the heels of the restaurant business, driven into a corner by lockdowns. Not only do grocery supermarket chains increase the size of culinary department stores and open food venues, but even construction hypermarket chains open food and ready-to-eat areas. Now Ukrainians are fed by gas stations and numerous slaughterhouses with fast food.

3. Since the beginning of 2021, 2532 cases of occupational injuries have been recorded in Ukraine, of which 287 have been fatal. Usually, damages and treatment are borne by the employer and the Social Insurance Fund. On average, the number of such payments can reach 4-5 thousand hryvnias. This is often not enough to cover the cost of treatment and further rehabilitation.

The Corporate Business Department of TAS Life has developed the product “Protection for Business”, which fully meets the needs of both employees and employers. There are insurance payments in case of more than 130 of the most common occupational injuries and diseases, including CODIV-19. And an unlimited number of consultations with a physician or paediatrician and four consultations with specialized doctors. In addition, it is possible to obtain an alternative medical opinion from leading experts in Ukraine and the world, and in case of loss of life at work, the program guarantees payment of 100% of the sum insured. By ensuring the team, the employer not only strengthens the HR brand but also reduces the turnover of valuable staff. 

4. Quarantine, globalization and digitalization have affected the world. People carry out most transactions on the Internet, you do not need to leave home to work, and technological solutions help not only to make money, but also to promote the brand of the country. And Ukrainian businesses are adapting to new conditions. Every business has its own solutions for this. Entrepreneurs interviewed by Rabota.ua named the key ones:

– use of Microsoft cloud services;

– connection of commands to Microsoft Teams for acceleration and synchronization of internal communications;

– creation of BCP team (business continuous planning);

– digitization of the Kanban board of the HR team in Trello;

– use for Miro brainstorms.

One of the main insiders reads: “It is necessary to plan time for extracurricular activities because the most creative ideas are born in the queue for coffee.” 

5. According to a global survey by ESET, 73% of executives with remote employees in the state consider cyber threats to be a very real threat to their business. At the same time, half of the organizations have been attacked by hackers before.

There are several vulnerabilities that attackers rush to take advantage of. When a team operates within its corporate network with a configured firewall, policies, and restrictions, the situation can be kept under control. But once employees leave the walls of the office and connect to corporate resources from less secure personal devices, it multiplies cyber risks.