Are you being 'managed out' of your job?

OVER the past year, the pandemic's bite has forced many businesses to scale back costs, and employment is one big expense that companies grapple with. Rather than retrench, which exposes a business to the costs of such an exercise, some employers take a much less obvious route to cutting staff - a tactic now known as "managing out". In Brunch in The Business Times Weekend, we uncover how this plays out, and whether there is recourse for employee protection in the complicated game.

In The Raffles Conversation, Francis Van Parys, Asia-Pacific vice-president at Cytiva, focuses on ensuring that the biopharma company stays ahead of clients' quickly-evolving needs in the Covid state of constant flux.

To VTL or not to VTL? That is the question many in Singapore are wrestling with today. We stare at airfares, weighing the untold pleasures of stepping out once again into the world, against the unknown risks of falling ill or being caught out by changing protocols while overseas. In Perspective, a frequent flyer takes a reality check where all roads lead to home.

Earlier this year, El Salvador took the plunge and went crypto-loco, embracing Bitcoin as a country. The results were less than optimal. In This Time Is Different, our columnist takes a look at Bhutan's planned adoption of digital currency, and discusses if crypto might indeed increase national happiness.

Every driving enthusiast knows what a Mini Cooper is, but who was John Cooper, and why does his name grace these zippy city cars? A drive in the new Mini John Cooper Works tells you everything you need to know, as The Steering Column finds out.

And on our Health page, a cardiologist spells out the sobering risks of lingering damage to the heart post Covid-19 infection.

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