National competitiveness

Regions looking to increase the marketability of their workforce at the moment typically read the trends then place a Big Bet. India’s focus on offshored call centres as a source of employment is one example. NEMs introduces a new equation. It is likely to encourage a workforce that has broad skills underlined by reliability and response to opportunity. The range of openings available to NEMs users, and the way they can ferret out the markets where they might most profitably operate, should create a workforce that is resilient and flexible rather than one that has been groomed for a specific area of work.

Of course, focused skills can be incentivised in NEMs. Perhaps call centre skills are regarded as critical in an area’s short-term future. Government, or employer, funding can be put into NEMs with the proviso that it be offered to individuals (a) within the target geography (b) who have reached a minimum market level in NEMs, signifying their reliability (c) have some experience of retail or other customer service type bookings. That might produce a target list of 5,000 people of whom half would take up the offer of paid-for training in expectation of future bookings when new call centres opened in their city. This kind of response to opportunity can be immediate.

It’s possible NEMs would drive down crime as it up-skills the workforce. Because of the lumpiness of our current economy there is a thriving “grey economy” around legitimate economic activity. If a cafe owner wants someone to clear tables for an hour or two, a cash-in-hand offer to a friend is often the most cost-effective option. NEMs would give that owner a constantly open, competitive, legal market for filling that need. That could peel back the grey economy, as much of 40% of activity in some economies, leaving hard crime much more exposed.

 NEMs might be opened to non-nationals as buyers only. (There would need to be a validity check to protect sellers willing to serve those outside their own jurisdiction, credit card access could be one way.) That gives the country with NEMs a unique proposition.

Imagine an American couple looking for a week’s vacation in a European country. They could book hotels, transport and activities through the big travel websites in any of them. But one nation has NEMs. By registering their credit card details, they are able to access the website and create a personalised itinerary that pulls together home stays, community provided bus and taxi journeys, localised hire of items and local people as guides, cooks or tuition providers. This wouldn’t work for everyone, many travellers just want the comfortable anonymity of a Marriott or Holiday Inn. Those options are still available of course, but NEMs does create a distinctive offering that the national tourist board could market aggressively.

This level of flexibility in markets can respond particularly well to peaks of activity. Anyone who has tried to visit the Scottish town of Edinburgh during its annual festival will know accommodation is extremely hard to locate. NEMs would allow anyone in the town with a spare room to, check their likely income, set parameters for potential guests, and effortlessly go into the market for those weekends.

Now imagine an executive at a US corporation looking for a site to lead their company’s European expansion. Again, one nation has NEMs. That nation has resources in play which the others can not match. The executive can select a site where the skills required can be easily booked, or training completed in a few weeks.

If he wants to hit the ground running he doesn’t need to think about purchasing trucks for example, he can check the levels of supply and pricing for hiring them, with drivers, as needed. He may even be able to purchase a 7 day option-to-rent on a likely distribution centre that gives him time to fly over and inspect.

•  NEMs and government