In numbers: Keep working
4
Number of workers for every person aged 65 or more in the European Union in 2015. Eurostat estimates suggest that by 2050 that ratio will be 2:1.
69
The retirement age in Germany by 2060, under proposals put forward by the Bundesbank. "The legal retirement age ultimately needs to be adjusted," it said.
49
The surprisingly low percentage of Irish respondents to a Standard Life survey who said they would like a home in the sun (ie abroad) or by the sea when they retire. If they retire. . .
Image of the week: Meanwhile, in Rio (above)
Brazilians have been cheering on new national heroes such as Thiago Braz da Silva, who won the pole vault competition on Monday night in an athletics stadium that was only a quarter full. Elsewhere in Rio, the Olympic Games appears to be rather better at capturing only tax dollars than hearts and minds, and no number of local gold medals will change the fact that 1.4 million residents, or more than a fifth of Rio’s population, live in favelas that often lack decent sanitation, healthcare, education and security. For these Brazilians, the Olympics is nothing more than a costly televised diversion from real life. This electronics store may have a glitterball hanging out of its ceiling, but economic optimism has steadily faded since Rio won its Olympic bid back in 2009. Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
The lexicon: Should've
"Should've" and its apostrophe-less cousin "shouldve" are on the verge of becoming trademarked terms in the UK, where the Intellectual Property Office has approved an application made by Specsavers to protect its well-known advertising catchphrase "should've gone to Specsavers". Third parties now have two months to wave their hands in the air in objection. Single-word trademarks are not unprecedented - see Carlsberg's "Probably" – but they are rare, and the decision means Specsavers could soon have the right to prevent its eyewear and optician rivals from using "should've" or "shouldve" in their communications. Why they would want to anyway is about as clear as a pair of glasses in a hot shower. We await an update on singer Taylor Swift's attempt to trademark "this sick beat".
Getting to know: Will Shu
New Yorker
Will Shu
(36) is the chief executive and co-founder of London-headquartered
Deliveroo
, the multinational takeaway firm where the food is typically delivered via cyclists pedalling frantically under the burden of massive teal blue boxes on their backs. Shu, a former investment banker, has been criticised for trying to pay its technically self-employed couriers per delivery instead of an hourly rate of pay, thereby riding roughshod over minimum-wage laws and arguably incentivising risky behaviour on the roads. After a series of protests and a “hang on a minute, here” from the British government, Shu this week graciously hailed his couriers as “the life blood” of the $1 billion company and said they could stick with the hourly rate system if they liked. The real issue, of course, is that “gig economy” companies such as Deliveroo are redefining employees as self-employees on a mass scale. Bon appetit.
The list: Retreating retailers
Blame the economy, blame Amazon, or blame both, but several big global retailers have announced plans to make themselves smaller, at least in terms of the physical floor space they occupy. So which household names are closing stores?
1. Macy's: the US department store chain has announced it is shutting down 100 stores in the US, mostly in early 2017, as shoppers desert "dead" malls.
2. Sears: the company, which also owns Kmart, was described as "a big hot mess" by CNN earlier this year as it announced it would accelerate a cull of 50 stores due to poor sales.
3. Walmart: it began 2016 by declaring it would close 269 stores worldwide, 154 of them in the US, and lay off thousands of employees, as it tries to compete with Amazon on ecommerce.
4. Ralph Lauren: sales of branded polo shirts aren't quite doing the trick for the clothing retailer. The company is in retreat as new management tries to make it trimmer.
5. Prada: the Italian luxury fashion retailer favoured by devils is both opening and closing stores over the next two years, but will be intensifying its push online. It's on Snapchat now.
