Job Market Monitor
Business
Quebec / Alcoa and Alcan postpone smelter upgrades with impacts on jobs
With an aluminum market weighed down by surpluses, Alcoa Inc. and Rio Tinto Alcan are postponing billions in upgrade and expansion plans to their smelters in Quebec. While some 750 Rio Tinto Alcan employees will get to keep their jobs longer, 500 Alcoa workers will be pushed into early retirement. Alcoa is deferring by three … Continue reading
RBS / 1,400 Jobs cut in UK
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the recipient of the world’s biggest banking bailout, will cut 1,400 jobs at its U.K. consumer banking unit in the next two years. The lender will spend 700 million pounds ($1.07 billion) updating its branches and improving its complaints handling and mortgage processing, it said in a statement today. … Continue reading
ThyssenKrupp / 3,000 admin jobs to be cut
German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp said on Wednesday it plans to axe 3,000 administrative jobs worldwide as disastrous investments in steel operations overseas tore holes in its balance sheet in the second quarter. “Overall the number of employees in administrative functions in the group worldwide is to be reduced by around 3,000 from its current … Continue reading
HSBC / Up to 14,000 jobs to be cut
HSBC has said it may cut an additional 14,000 jobs globally as part of a restructuring plan to reduce costs and increase profitability. The bank is aiming to save another $3bn (£2bn) in annual costs as tougher regulations eat into profits. The layoffs would cut the firm’s total headcount to between 240,000 and 250,000 over … Continue reading
UK / Recession is a good time to start a business says Lord Young
The prime minister’s adviser on enterprise has told the cabinet that the economic downturn is an excellent time for new businesses to boost profits and grow because labour is cheap, the Observer can reveal. Lord Young, a cabinet minister under the late Baroness Thatcher, who is the only aide with his own office in Downing … Continue reading
Sharp / To cut another 5,000 jobs
Japan’s financially beleaguered Sharp Corp. is expected to reveal that it will be eliminating 5,000 positions from its current workforce of 51,000 by March of 2016. As the TV manufacturer struggles to stay afloat after losses amounting to billions of dollars over the last fiscal year, their revival plans will see the sales of factories … Continue reading
Lloyds / To slash another 850 jobs
The latest cull means the bailed-out banking giant has axed more than 30,000 jobs since 2008, according to the union. The new round of cutbacks includes 690 jobs which are expected to go with the closure of a large office in Southend, Essex. The remainder are going in its commercial and insurance operations. Chosen excerpts … Continue reading
Electronic Arts / Layoffs Hit 10 Percent of Workforce
So, those “hard but essential changes” and “difficult organizational decisions” Electronic Arts announced back in late April, but refused to explain in detail? It did so last night during its fourth-quarter earnings call, and they’re not pretty. Since announcing that organizational update on April 25, EA has sacked 10 percent of its workforce, CFO Blake … Continue reading
US / A bill to change overtime pay law
The Republican-led House is poised to approve a bill that would give private sector workers the option of choosing paid time off instead of cash wages for working overtime. The measure would allow employees who work more than 40 hours a week to save up their earned time off for use weeks or months later. … Continue reading
Americans Give Priority to Jobs and the Economy over Guns and Immigration Reform Gallup finds
Americans put reforming immigration and reducing gun violence — the focus of much of the attention on Capitol Hill in recent weeks — at the bottom of a list of 12 priorities for Congress and the president to address. Americans instead say leaders in Washington should give highest priority to jobs and the economy, followed … Continue reading
