On 27 July 2022, Wavteq hosted a webinar focusing on the current trends in FDI, along with how Wavteq predicts FDI to perform in the coming years. In the session, expert speakers Dr Henry Loewendahl (CEO, Wavteq) and Guillermo Mazier (President, Americas, Wavteq) offered critical corporate investment projections that take into account disruptive drivers that will impact FDI over the next 3 years. Below are the three main key takeaways.
It has become clear that embracing remote working post pandemic is a must do for economic developers. Pre pandemic, 1 in 67 jobs on LinkedIn were advertised as being fully remote, with this figure drastically changing to 1 in 6 after the pandemic. This change has impacted talent's decision on where they want to work and live, but it is also impacting a company's decision on where to go and what to invest in.
What should my organisation do?
- Build soft landing initiatives/programs that support more remote work. (Example - Tulsa Remote)
- Market your location's assets specific to the remote work (i.e. cost of living, transport, nature).
These methods will open your location up to more opportunities, no longer restricting your talent pools to a limited geography.
According to EMSI research, resignations have increased for a large portion of the market. If economic development requires dedicated knowledge, how might we keep our teams engaged so they don't leave to find new positions?
2022 is your ultimate opportunity to invest in your own knowledge, along with your team's knowledge. Grow your team through knowledge building - in most cases your team are assets you already hold which can be excelled to a new level through the use of industry specific training. Wavteq has noted a massive growth over the last number of months in economic developers wanting to brush up on their FDI knowledge through the use of inhouse training sessions and E-Learning platforms. This upskilling has also become a lot more industry specific, with Guillermo Mazier stating that he had helped deliver more industry specific training over the last few months than he had in the last three years.
Over 1,000 EDO and IPA officers are currently subscribed to our full Wavteq Institute Knowledge & E-Learning Platform. Institute provides practical tools you need to enhance your skills and knowledge as an economic developer. As well as professional certification, eLearning subscribers also benefit from access to specifically developed report content and our latest thinking on issues ranging from policy to practice. If you would like to find out more about Wavteq Institute, reach out to us.
Firstly, identify the competitive advantages in relevant re-shoring factors and map out value chains for key industries. Below outlines the factors most relevant to reshoring or localization discussions.
Set your sights on specific industries where you may have an advantage and market to them. This marketing message can involve speaking about the benefits of onshoring to your location (i.e. easier logistics, forecasting, inventory management, transportation cost etc.). Think Incentives - what financial package can you offer an investing company which will also bring benefit to your location? (Example: Ohio is offering up to $600m in onshoring incentive grants)
If you would like access to the presentation slides and recording, please visit the link below on our Publications page.
