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Touch of Class actor George Segal, 87

GEORGE SEGAL, the Oscar-nominated actor who sparred with Richard Burton in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, romanced Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class, and won laughs in the TV sitcom The Goldbergs, has died at the age of 87.

“The family is devastated to announce that this morning George Segal passed away due to complications from bypass surgery,” his wife Sonia Segal said in a statement on Tuesday.

Charming and witty, Mr. Segal excelled in dramatic and comedic roles, most recently playing laid-back widower Albert “Pops” Solomon on the comedy series The Goldbergs.

“Today we lost a legend,” Adam F. Goldberg, who created the TV series that was based on his own life, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “It was a true honor being a small part of George Segal’s amazing legacy. By pure fate, I ended up casting the perfect person to play Pops. Just like my grandfather, George was a kid at heart with a magical spark,” Mr. Goldberg added.

Mr. Segal’s long time manager Abe Hoch said in a statement that he would miss his friend’s “warmth, humor, camaraderie and friendship. He was a wonderful human.”

Mr. Segal’s acting career began on the New York stage and television in the early 1960s. He quickly moved into films, playing an artist in the star-studded ensemble drama Ship of Fools and a scheming, wily American corporal in a World War Two prisoner-of-war camp in King Rat in 1965.

Two years later he earned an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actor in the harrowing, marital drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

“Elizabeth and Richard were the king and queen of the world at that moment and there was a lot of buzz about it,” Mr. Segal told The Daily Beast in 2016. “For me, there was a great satisfaction of being involved with it.”

But it was in comedies that Mr. Segal cemented his star status in a string of films in the 1970s with A-list directors and co-stars such as Ms. Jackson, who won an Oscar for her performance in A Touch of Class.

Mr. Segal played a lawyer in the 1970 dark comedy Where’s Poppa with Ruth Gordon, a gem thief along with Robert Redford in 1972’s The Hot Rock, an out-of-control gambler in Robert Altman’s California Split, and a philandering Beverly Hills divorce attorney in Paul Mazursky’s Blume in Love in 1973.

He starred opposite Jane Fonda in Fun with Dick and Jane, fell for the charms of Barbra Streisand in The Owl and the Pussycat, and played Natalie Wood’s husband in The Last Married Couple in America.

“I always try to find the humor and the irony in whatever character I am playing because I think of myself as a comedic actor,” Mr. Segal said in an interview with the online movie journal filmtalk.org in 2016. “So that makes drama a lot more fun for me by not taking it so seriously, you know.”

He credited an early appearance on the late-night talk show The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson for his switch to comedic roles. “It was the first time that the people who make movies saw me doing comedy and having this funny interchange with Carson,” Mr. Segal told the Orlando Sentinel in 1998.

He said he considered himself lucky in a business that he compared to gambling because you’re always waiting for your lucky number, or a great part, to come up.

He also had a life-long passion for the banjo and performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1981 with his group, the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band.

HITS AND MISSES
George Segal was born on Feb. 13, 1934, in Great Neck, Long Island in New York. Although his ancestors were Russian Jewish immigrants, his family was not religious. In interviews Mr. Segal summed up his Jewish experience as going to a Passover Seder at Groucho Marx’s house where the comedian asked, “When do we get to the wine?”

Mr. Segal was a shy child but said he felt free on the stage. After seeing the film This Gun for Hire  when he was nine years old, he knew he wanted to act. Following a stint in the Army and graduating from Columbia University with a drama degree, he made his film debut in The Young Doctors in 1961.

Two of Segal’s most acclaimed performances — in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and as Biff Loman in the 1966 TV movie of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman — were in roles that actor Robert Redford had turned down.

“I owe Redford a lot. I think I may have thanked him when we did The Hot Rock,” he told Variety in 2017.

When Mr. Segal’s film career waned in the 1980s he appeared in TV films and series before returning to the big screen in supporting roles that included Look Who’s Talking in 1989 and 1996’s The Cable Guy with Jim Carrey.

He found a younger generation of fans as a women’s magazine publisher in the hit TV comedy Just Shoot Me! which ran from 1997 to 2003.

“He could make characters who should have been jerks seem lovable,” producer Steve Levitan, who worked with Mr. Segal on Just Shoot Me, told Variety in a 2017 interview.

Mr. Segal said he did not contemplate retirement because people kept offering him interesting roles. “Being in your 70s is OK but, when you get to your 80s, you get creaky,” he told Variety. “I’ve got my second wind — although I’m not going as fast as I used to.” — Reuters

SMC says northbound section of Skyway Extension ‘structurally complete’

SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) on Wednesday said the northbound section of the Skyway Extension project is “structurally” complete.

“I’m happy to announce that soon, we can open the northbound section of the Skyway Extension for our motorists coming from the south,” SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang said in an e-mailed statement.

He said the nearly four-kilometer, three-lane expansion will have an additional capacity of 4,500 vehicles per hour, which should ease congestion and allow motorists to bypass the Alabang viaduct.

“Those coming from SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) or MCX (Muntinlupa–Cavite Expressway) can go up the ramp at Susana Heights, and directly go to Makati, Manila, Skyway 3, all the way to Quezon City and North Luzon Expressway,” Mr. Ang added.

He noted that motorists should be able to reach NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) in 25 to 30 minutes instead of two to three hours. They can also “bypass the usual traffic chokepoints such as Alabang, Magallanes, and EDSA.”

The project aims to extend the Skyway from Susana Heights on SLEX to Sucat and back and provide direct access to the elevated section of the Skyway. Construction of the four-kilometer elevated viaduct started in June 2019.

SMC said the project’s 3.8-kilometer southbound section is now 52.31% finished. Full completion is expected in July this year.

“We would not be where we are today, nearing the full completion and opening of this project, without the cooperation of our motorists, who have had to adjust to new traffic schemes, and the support of our stakeholders in government, as well as the private sector, which accommodated the necessary traffic rerouting schemes,” Mr. Ang said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Intel plans to spend $20 billion to build US chip plants as CEO challenges Asia’s dominance

INTEL CORP. will greatly expand its advanced chip manufacturing capacity as the new chief executive announced plans to spend as much as $20 billion to build two factories in Arizona and open its factories to outside customers.

The move by CEO Pat Gelsinger on Tuesday aims to restore Intel’s reputation after manufacturing stumbles sent shares plunging last year. The strategy will directly challenge the two other companies in the world that can make the most advanced chips, Taiwan’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) and Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

And it will aim to tilt a technological balance of power back to the United States and Europe as government leaders on both continents have become concerned about the risks of a concentration of chipmaking in Taiwan given tensions with China.

Intel shares rose 7.5% after the company disclosed its new strategy and full-year financial guidance for 2021. Some investors such as Third Point LLC had previously urged Intel to consider spinning off its costly chip manufacturing operations.

Intel said it expects $72 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings per share of $4.55, compared with analyst estimates of $72.9 billion and $4.77 per share, according to Refinitiv data. The company said it expects to spend $19 billion to $20 billion on capital expenditures.

Gelsinger said that 2021 forecast “reflects the industry-wide shortage” of some components such as substrates.

Intel is one of the few remaining semiconductor companies that both designs and manufactures its own chips. Rival chip designers such as Qualcomm, Inc. and Apple, Inc. rely on contract manufacturers.

In an interview with Reuters, Gelsinger said Intel has “fully resolved” its problems with its most recent manufacturing technology and is “all systems go” on chips for 2023. It now plans a massive manufacturing expansion.

That will include spending $20 billion on two new factories at an existing campus in Chandler, Arizona, that will create 3,000 permanent jobs. Intel will then work on future sites in the United States and in Europe, Gelsinger said.

Intel will use those factories to make its own chips but also open them to outside customers in what is called a “foundry” business model in the chip industry. Gelsinger said the new factories will focus on cutting-edge computing chip manufacturing, rather than the older or specialty technologies that some manufacturers such as GlobalFoundries specialize in.

“We are absolutely committed to leading process technology capabilities at scale for the industry, and for our customers,” Gelsinger said, adding that Intel has lined up customers for the new factories but could not disclose their names.

He did say on a webcast Tuesday that Amazon.com, Inc. , Cisco Systems, Inc., Qualcomm, Inc. and Microsoft Corp. support its efforts to offer chip manufacturing services. On a conference call, Gelsinger said that Intel “will pursue customers like Apple.”

The move is a direct challenge to TSMC and Samsung. The two have come to dominate semiconductor manufacturing business, moving its center of gravity from the United States, where much of the technology was once invented, to Asia, where more than two-thirds of advanced chips are now manufactured.

“Intel’s investment will help to preserve US technology innovation and leadership, strengthen US economic and national security, and protect and grow thousands of high-tech, high-wage American jobs,” US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Gelsinger said Intel will aim to change the global chip manufacturing balance by embracing the foundry business, where it historically has been a minor player. Intel will offer chip customers the ability to license out its own technological crown jewels — known as x86 computing cores — as well as offer to build chips based on technology from Arm Ltd. and RISC-V technology from startup SiFive.

“We will be picking our next sites within the next year for US and Europe,” he said.

The American sites could benefit from a $30-billion subsidy package that lawmakers hope to bring to the floor of the US Senate next month. The bill remains largely unwritten, and Gelsinger said on a conference call that Intel’s plan “does not depend on a penny of government support. It is the right strategy for us going forward.”

Intel also announced plans for new research collaboration with IBM focused on computing chip and packaging technology.

But even as Intel jumps into competition with TSMC and Samsung, it also plans to become a larger customer of theirs by turning to them to make subcomponents of its chips called “tiles” to make some chips more cost-effectively.

“I’ll pick the best process technologies wherever they exist,” Gelsinger said. “I leverage internal and external supply chains. I’ll have the best cost structure. That combination of supply, products and costs, we think is a killer combination.”

Intel has given few details of exactly how it will use outside factories, but analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy said he expects Intel to use them as “gap fillers for some of the highest performance” chip parts until Intel can regain a manufacturing lead over its rivals. — Reuters

Disney delays Black Widow debut, adds streaming option in summer movie shuffle

LOS ANGELES — Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday delayed the worldwide release of Marvel Studios film Black Widow by two months until July and said it would offer the movie simultaneously in theaters and for a fee on the Disney+ streaming service.

Theater operators had been hoping that Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson as the Russian-born spy-turned-superhero, would kick off a summer blockbuster season in early May and draw crowds back to theaters after extended closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Shares of AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest cinema operator, slumped 16% after the announcement.

Disney also said it would offer live-action movie Cruella for a fee to Disney+ customers on the same day it hits cinemas, which is scheduled for May 28, and that Pixar animated movie Luca  would skip most theaters and debut to all Disney+ subscribers on Jun. 18.

The Pixar film will play in theaters only in international markets that do not yet have access to Disney+. The service is available in much of the world but has just begun rolling out in Asia.

Cruella and Black Widow will cost Disney+ customers an additional $30 each to stream at home.

“Today’s announcement reflects our focus on providing consumer choice and serving the evolving preferences of audiences,” Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, said in a statement.

The company delayed a handful of other films, including Marvel film Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which is now set to reach theaters on Sept. 3 instead of Jul. 9.

Movie theater executives had been encouraged by recent cinema reopenings in Los Angeles and New York City, the two biggest moviegoing markets in the United States, and an increase in vaccinations across the country. But Disney’s changes are likely to dent box office sales during the summer as some moviegoers opt to watch Black Widow or Cruella at home, and in most cases will not have a chance to see the latest Pixar film in theaters.

The next big-budget action movie on theaters’ summer schedule is Fast & Furious movie F9, from Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, on Jun. 25.

The shifts are among several changes Hollywood studios have tested during the pandemic. AT&T, Inc.’s Warner Bros. is offering all of its 2021 theatrical films on the HBO Max streaming service on the same day. On Tuesday, Cineworld Plc announced that Warner Bros. had agreed to a more traditional release pattern in 2022 of showing movies only in theaters for a time, though the exclusive window will be shortened to as little as 31 days in Britain and 45 days in the United States. — Reuters

Smart: More than 2,000 5G sites now available nationwide

SMART COMMUNICATIONS, Inc., the wireless arm of PLDT, Inc., said it now has more than 2,000 fifth-generation (5G) sites in the country.

In an e-mailed statement on Wednesday, the mobile services provider said the continuous expansion of its 5G network is “alongside the company’s efforts to widen its array of Smart 5G-certified devices to make 5G easier to access.”

As of September last year, Smart’s 5G service was commercially available in Makati Central Business District (CBD), Bonifacio Global City CBD, Araneta City, Mall of Asia Bay Area, North Avenue in Quezon City, Taft Avenue in Manila, Ortigas CBD, New Clark City in Pampanga, EDSA, and in other locations in Metro Manila and nearby provinces such as Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.

It said it would be making its 5G service available in key areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Smart recently launched Rocket WiFi, a 5G Pocket WiFi.

“With the first 5G Pocket WiFi, Smart is enabling 5G speeds on other devices for as long as they have a WiFi connection,” Smart said.

“Specially designed for sharing and multitasking, Rocket WiFi can connect up to 15 WiFi-capable smartphones, tablets, or laptops,” the mobile services provider added.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Telemedicine adoption increasing despite cultural, infrastructural barriers

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

DESPITE cultural and structural barriers, telemedicine will become a permanent part of the country’s health-care system, according to experts.

Demand for telemedicine has increased “tremendously,” said Ron Estrella, the country manager for Medgate Philippines, Inc., at the BusinessWorld Insights online forum on Wednesday.

“Over the past year, we’ve seen a jump of about 170% in terms of demand, so it’s been massive. Certainly, that speaks well to the fact that people are now more accepting and more willing to try new things,” he added.

Enrique A. Tayag, director IV at the Department of Health’s Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service, said the agency started offering telemedicine last year because “there was a demand for it.”

But he pointed out that the consumption of telemedicine services has not been “optimal” because of infrastructural and cultural challenges.

He said some Filipinos are not comfortable with the technology, so they still prefer face-to-face consultations.

“Another cultural thing is the intergenerational gap. There are young adults who can actually be more focused on social media conversations rather than telemedicine, so they may make choices outside the telemedicine universe,” Mr. Tayag explained.

Some are also worried about their privacy when using digital tools, he added.

For his part, Juan Miguel Tan, president and managing director of Siemens Healthineers Philippines, said: “The future is homecare. We should be able to diagnose remotely, we should be able to consult remotely, and a lot who have been working from home have appreciated these services.”

He noted Siemens Healthineers would be launching a robotics system or cardiac interventions.

“I think, in the future, it’s also going to be neuro. These robots can be controlled even by a doctor from another hospital,” Mr. Tan said. “Remote treatment is the future. We are there. Technology is there. It will be the way to go for the future.”

Mr. Tayag said his agency is hoping that telemedicine will reach more people in the next “few months” or “few years.”

“This is now an opportune time for the public and the private sector to join hands, so we can actually reach out to many Filipinos. Forget about the cultural barriers… so that we can move forward,” he added.

Mr. Estrella said, “We need more doctors, frontliners to provide healthcare. Then, we can leverage platforms and technology. But this requires affordable fiber bandwidth.”

TDF yields up before rate ruling

YIELDS on the Philippine central bank’s term deposits inched up on Wednesday, a day before it holds a meeting where it is widely expected to keep record low benchmark interest rates despite rising consumer prices.

Total tenders for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s term deposit facility (TDF) hit P669.409 billion, more than the P480-billion offer. It was also higher than the P653.865 billion in bids it got a week ago, according to data posted on the central bank website.

“The auction results show that amid ample financial system liquidity, market yields continue to rise as the Easter holidays and tax season approach,” BSP Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila, Jr. said in a statement.

The demand for the one-week debt paper reached P261.363 billion, more than the P140 billion auctioned off and P181.075 billion in tenders last week.

Accepted rates for the term deposits were 1.71% to 1.899%, compared with 1.64% to 1.999% a week ago. The tenor’s average rate increased by 3.83 (basis points) bps to 1.8432% from March 17.

Meanwhile, the 14-day securities fetched P408.046 billion in tenders, higher than the P340-billion offer. It was lower than the P472.79-billion bids last week.

Accepted rates for the two-week debt were 1.5% to 1.929%, compared with 1.75% to 1.95% a week ago. The average rate for the debt instruments inched up by 0.59 bp to 1.8898% from a week earlier.

The BSP did not offer 28-day debt for the 23rd consecutive week to give way to its weekly auction of bills with the same tenor.

The central bank uses the term deposit facility to mop up excess liquidity in the financial system and guide market interest rates.

“The modest weekly rise in most BSP term deposit facility yields may also be attributed to the recent tighter quarantine restrictions,” Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. said in an e-mail, citing a fresh surge in coronavirus infections.

This could slow demand conditions and help temper inflation, he added.

Nineteen analysts in a BusinessWorld poll last week unanimously said they were expecting the central bank to keep policy rates to support the economy amid a coronavirus pandemic.

They also expect the monetary policy pause amid a decline in lending activity and rising consumer prices due to low supply after recent typhoons and an African Swine Fever outbreak.

The BSP’s key policy rate is at a record low 2%, while February inflation hit a 26-month high of 4.7% as oil and food prices rose.

Philippine central bank would keep an accommodative policy this year to support the economy amid a coronavirus pandemic, Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said on Wednesday.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) chief said it was too early for exit strategies after monetary authorities relaxed policy measures in 2020.

Still, the central bank would be on the lookout for more visible signs of second-round effects on inflation, he told an online news briefing.

These include a clamor for wage and transport fare increases and expectations of faster inflation, Mr. Diokno said.

“The BSP remains ready to respond to second-round effects,” he said. “Thus far, demand-side pressures remain muted.”

Nineteen analysts in a BusinessWorld poll last week unanimously said they were expecting the central bank to keep the policy rates to support the economy during the pandemic.

They also expect the monetary policy pause amid a decline in lending activity and rising consumer prices due to low supply after recent typhoons and an African Swine Fever outbreak.

The BSP’s key policy rate is at a record low 2%, while February inflation hit a 26-month high of 4.7% as oil and food prices rose. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Silicon Valley firms in no hurry to open up offices despite easing of virus ban

SAN FRANCISCO — Several of San Francisco Bay Area’s largest technology companies including Twitter, Inc. and Google plan to keep their offices largely closed for months more despite the government allowing them on Tuesday to be opened in a limited capacity.

Taking into account declining coronavirus infections, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties eased guidelines that had kept most office buildings closed for the last year except to crucial security and support staff.

Starting on Wednesday, companies are allowed to open up their offices for up to a quarter of their capacity.

“San Francisco is going to come alive,” Mayor London Breed told reporters. “When we start to reopen, more and more people are going to want to return to work and want to be around other folks.”

But Silicon Valley companies that committed last year to allowing workers to stay home until this summer or indefinitely said that they stood by their timelines.

They cited their own analyses of public health data, other safety considerations and workers’ preferences. Adoption of vaccines, which in California are accessible to only the most vulnerable populations, is also a factor but a smaller one.

Networking gear maker Cisco Systems, Inc. and file-storage service Dropbox, Inc. said their mandatory work from home policies would remain effect until June, while Box, Inc. said its reopening is still scheduled for September.

Pinterest, Inc. is not eyeing a significant reopening until at least August, Alphabet, Inc.’s Google until September and DocuSign, Inc. not before October.

Twitter, Adobe, Inc., PayPal Holdings, Inc., Twilio, Inc., Yelp, Inc., and Zoom Video Communications, Inc. also will stay closed despite what Breed and other local government officials described as a move to the “orange tier” from the “red tier” of California lockdown restrictions. 

Breed’s spokesman Jeff Cretan said San Francisco officials expect smaller and mid-sized companies to be the first to return.

‘HIRING ADVANTAGE’
Among the few companies aiming to take advantage of the easing were SAP SE, which said it is strongly considering partially reopening its Bay Area offices within weeks, and Slack Technologies, which is weighing a date to invite back some workers.

San Francisco ecommerce software startup Fast will open its doors — and windows for safety — to up to 25% of its 56 Bay Area employees on Wednesday, spokesman Jason Alderman said. He said the company expects to start getting job applications from people forced to work remotely by their current employers.

“Companies like Fast that are allowing people to come into the office if they want to is going to be a hiring advantage,” he said.

A survey late last year of 9,000 knowledge workers commissioned by workplace chat software company Slack found 20% want to work remotely, 17% in the office and 63% a mix of the two.

Facebook, Inc., whose offices otherwise remain closed globally until July 2, said this month it is opening 10% of seats in Seattle area offices to help workers struggling at home. It did not have similar news to share about its San Francisco offices.

Microsoft Corp., which announced plans on Monday to partially reopen its Redmond, Washington, headquarters next week, did not immediately comment on San Francisco locations.

IBM declined to discuss Bay Area plans. But several senior executives at its New York headquarters have begun working from their offices with doors closed. — Reuters

Banksy’s tribute to health workers sells for record $20 million at auction

Banksy, Game Changer — CHRISTIES.COM

LONDON — A Banksy painting showing a boy playing with a toy nurse as a superhero sold for more than $20 million on Tuesday, setting an auction record for the elusive British street artist.

Game Changer, unveiled last May at University Hospital Southampton, paid tribute to the frontline workers of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) in their fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The black-and-white hand-painted artwork shows a boy lifting a nurse, her arm outstretched and wearing a cape, while traditional superheroes Batman and Spider-Man lie in a bin.

Through Southampton Hospitals Charity, proceeds from the sale will be used to “fund wellbeing projects for staff and patients, and distributed to a wider community of healthcare providers both within the NHS and charitable sectors,” Christie’s said.

A reproduction of the painting will hang in the hospital, it said.

In a Christie’s auction streamed live, the painting sold for a hammer price of 14.4 million pounds ($19.85 million). Added fees gave it a final price of 16.75 million pounds, a world auction record for Banksy, according to Christie’s.

The painting had carried an estimate of 2.5-3.5 million pounds.

“Banksy is an extraordinary artist who is a constant barometer of nationwide sentiment,” Katharine Arnold, Co-Head, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Europe at Christie’s, said in a statement.

“With the perfect image of a little boy playing with his superhero doll; a nurse sporting the international Red Cross, he perfectly captured the essence of this moment in time.”

David French, Interim Chief Executive Officer at University Hospital Southampton, said: “This incredible gift will be invaluable in helping us to focus on promoting and protecting the welfare of our staff as they heal and recover from the last year.”

The sale took place as Britons across the country on Tuesday marked one year since Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the nation into its first lockdown. A minute’s silence was observed to remember the more than 126,000 people who have lost their lives to the virus. — Reuters

Overseas work becomes less attractive for Filipinos

THE decline in willingness to work abroad has been caused by pandemic-related restrictions and health anxieties. — BW FILE PHOTO

Jobstreet report cites pandemic restrictions, health concerns

FEWER Filipinos are willing to work abroad compared to previous years, a report released by online employment portal JobStreet on Wednesday said.

Only 54% of Filipino respondents in the 2020 survey said that they would consider working overseas compared to the 75% who said the same in 2018.

However, the number is still slightly higher than the global average of 50%, which also declined from 57% in 2018.

The Decoding Global Talent Philippine Edition Report 1 surveyed 15,178 people in the Philippines in November last year. Done in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group and The Network, the global report surveyed 208,805 people in 190 countries.

The decline in willingness to work abroad, the report said, has been caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions, along with health anxieties associated with travel. Tighter immigration rules in key economies like the United States, JobStreet added, could have also caused the decline.

“Virtual working [is] becoming the norm, [so] people may not need to move abroad anymore to find work but can do so remotely,” the report said.

Skilled Filipino workers are still likely to look for jobs abroad. More than 60% of those in engineering, automation, information technology, media, and health said that they would be willing to work abroad.

Top work destinations for Filipinos are still Canada and Australia in 2020. But the third top destination in 2020 is New Zealand, replacing the United States, which held the spot in 2018.

Many are also considering Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.

“In 2018, many Filipinos preferred western countries to pursue their careers. With the pandemic, we have seen that more Asian countries have grown in popularity among jobseekers likely due to better management of COVID-19,” JobStreet Philippines Country Manager Philip Gioca said in a statement.

According to the report, almost half of Filipinos are willing to work remotely for a foreign employer. Respondents prefer Australian, Canadian, and United States employers.

“For the past year, we have seen a growing demand for remote jobs, and more Filipinos are starting to adapt to this new working environment due to the current situation. Companies should invest more or provide a flexible working infrastructure to attract talents at this time,” Mr. Gioca said. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Central bank touts Islamic banking

MARKET PARTICIPANTS will have new opportunities waiting  for them as the country’s Islamic banking industry continues to advance, according to the Philippine central bank.

“For non-Muslim investors, Islamic banking is available to those who want to diversify their portfolios,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno told an online news briefing on Wednesday.

The central bank in 2019 released the rules on Islamic banking after a measure seeking to regulate them was passed.

Islamic banks operate under Shari’ah-compliant principles such as the noninvolvement of riba or interest. It also allows funding through “sukuk,” a bond-like instrument.

The BSP has received inquiries from interested parties but has yet to get a formal application for an Islamic bank or banking unit.

“The BSP would take a light hand in regulation, preferring to leave issues on Shari’ah compliance to the Islamic banks,” Mr. Diokno said.

He said forthcoming regulations on Islamic banking include those covering liquidity management, reporting framework, capital adequacy and leverage ratio framework.

“The BSP will continue to maintain flexibility in its approach to allow industry players to thrive in this new environment,” the BSP chief said.

Players that will set up Islamic banks or banking units must establish a Shari’ah Advisory Council composed of qualified people with experience in Shari’ah, banking, finance, law and related disciplines.

The Al Amanah Islamic Bank is the sole Islamic lender in the country. It has been under the control of the Development Bank of the Philippines since 2008.  — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Nintendo to use faster Nvidia chips in new 2021 Switch model

NINTENDO CO. plans to adopt an upgraded Nvidia Corp. chip with better graphics and processing for a new Switch model planned for the year-end shopping season, according to people familiar with the matter.

The new Switch iteration will support Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling, or DLSS, a novel rendering technology that uses artificial intelligence to deliver higher-fidelity graphics more efficiently. That will allow the console, which is also set for an OLED display upgrade, to reproduce game visuals at 4K quality when plugged into a TV, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is not public.

The US company’s new chipset will also bring a better CPU and increased memory. DLSS support will require new code to be added to games, so it’ll primarily be used to improve graphics on upcoming titles, said the people, including multiple game developers. Bloomberg News previously reported that the new Switch is likely to include a 7-inch OLED screen from Samsung Display Co. and couple the console’s release with a bounty of new games.

“The move should propel more support to the platform from outside software developers, thus it’s definitely a big plus to hardware and software sales,” said Morningstar Research analyst Kazunori Ito. “Nintendo is learning well from mistakes in the past, when its hit Wii lost momentum so quickly because the console wasn’t compatible with high-definition resolution.”

Nvidia and Nintendo representatives declined to comment.

The Switch games release calendar remains mostly empty for the latter half of the year, though the company announced Tuesday a new partnership with Niantic, Inc. on augmented-reality smartphone apps, set to commence with a Pikmin app in 2021.

Analysts expect the new Switch will be offered at a higher price than the current model’s $299, a level unchanged since the Switch’s initial release in 2017. Bloomberg Intelligence’s Matthew Kanterman foresees an increase of as much as $100.

“$349.99 will increase the value proposition of the device, but I still think Nintendo can drive strong demand even at $399.99,” he said.

DLSS was first introduced as an image upscaling feature in 2018 and remains exclusive to Nvidia graphics cards. It’s an atypically advanced addition for Kyoto-based Nintendo, which has tended to opt for more mature and lower-cost technology than rivals Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. adopt with their consoles. The new Switch will still lag the overall performance capabilities of its pricier rivals.

If implemented, “the graphics boost is a direct shot at core gamers who want to play the next Breath of the Wild, Pokemon, or the new Monster Hunter in the best quality,” said Michael Prefontaine, a global lead developer at Silicon Studio Corp. But “it is not a big appeal to Nintendo’s usual target of families and kids, who are mostly driven by content. It does show however that Nintendo wants to compete more.” — Bloomberg

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