Job Market Monitor
Michel Cournoyer
Walmart’s Raise – Could it raise the floor for the entire labor force ?
Remember when Walmart got panned for running a Thanksgiving food drive for its own employees—overlooking the irony of demonstrating noblesse oblige by asking customers to subsidize the workers the company itself impoverished? The retail giant took a more strategic approach last week when rolling out its latest do-gooder scheme: raising its base wage incrementally to … Continue reading
Unemployment leads to 45,000 suicides every year study finds
One in five suicides around the world is caused by this and the figure is rising. Unemployment is linked to 45,000 suicides around the world each year, a new study finds. This represents around one in five of the total number of global suicides. The research, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, gathered data from 63 … Continue reading
Closing the Skills Gap in US – Walmart pledges $100 million to boost jobs
America’s largest company launches a new initiative to help the retail industry close the skills gap that keeps Americans unemployed. One week after announcing plans to increase the pay of low-wage workers to at least $9 an hour, Walmart is delivering more good news on the job front: The company will donate $16 million to … Continue reading
2015 US Manufacturing Skills Gap Report – The skills gap is widening
A strong manufacturing industry is fundamental to our nation’s economic prosperity. Since the industrial revolution, manufacturing has contributed to higher export potential, better standards of living, and more jobs. Investments in manufacturing have a strong multiplier effect for the broader economy, too. Every dollar spent in manufacturing adds $1.37 to the U.S. economy, and every 100 … Continue reading
UK – The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) reports on the partial review of the shortage occupation list (SOL)
In the year ending September 2014, 46,000 Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) applications were made for out-of-country, non-EU citizens to permit them to work in the UK. There are three main routes: Thus, the shortage occupation route accounts for only a small fraction (3.0 per cent) of the total annual inflow of non-EU work migrants. In … Continue reading
Millennials in US – Myths, Exaggerations and Uncomfortable Truths : an IBM Study
IBM today announced that pretty much everything you thought you knew about Millennials could well be wrong. A new IBM study reveals much of the hype about Millennial employees simply isn’t true. They aren’t the “lazy, entitled, selfish and shallow” workers that many believe them to be. The results of the global, multigenerational study “Myths, Exaggerations and Uncomfortable Truths” … Continue reading
Canada – 4.8 unemployed people for every job vacancy in November 2014
Canadian businesses reported 247,000 job vacancies in November, an increase of 27,000 compared with November 2013. There were 4.8 unemployed people for every job vacancy, down from 5.6 a year earlier. This decline in the ratio was the result of both fewer unemployed people and more job vacancies. The national job vacancy rate was 1.6% in November, up from 1.5% recorded 12 months earlier. via The Daily — Job vacancies … Continue reading
US – Non-routine cognitive analytic and non-routine physical demands are associated with worse health, earlier labor force exit, and increased use of Disability Insurance
Work accounts for a significant portion of Americans’ daily lives and is increasingly recognized as a determinant of health status. Research dating to the Whitehall study results of the 1970s has shown a relationship between occupation and long-term health outcomes including mortality, diabetes and cardiovascular disease that cannot be explained by differences in income, education, … Continue reading
US – Alternative entrepreneurship measures indicate that entrepreneurship is back to pre-crisis levels Boston Fed finds
In recent years, it is argued, the level of entrepreneurial activity in the United States has declined, causing concern because of its potential macroeconomic implications. In particular, it is feared that a lower rate of firm creation may be associated with lower productivity growth and, hence, lower economic growth in the coming years. This paper … Continue reading
US – Unemployment rates among college graduates are declining
Hard times are becoming better times for most college graduates, though how much better varies widely among college majors – and for Communications and Journalism majors, whose unemployment rates are still rising, better times have yet to arrive. Overall, however, unemployment rates among college graduates are declining. The earnings advantage they enjoy over high school … Continue reading
US – The broad facts of income inequality over the past six decades
The broad facts of income inequality over the past six decades are easily summarized: The years from the end of World War II into the 1970s were ones of substantial economic growth and broadly shared prosperity. Incomes grew rapidly and at roughly the same rate up and down the income ladder, roughly doubling in inflation-adjusted … Continue reading
Immigrant Integration in Europe – The Role of Origin Countries
A number of major migrant-sending countries (including Morocco, Turkey, and Mexico) have started to promote the successful integration of their immigrants abroad, with the expectation that successfully integrated immigrants have more to offer their countries of origin. Until now, the substantial diaspora engagement measures seen most often at the national level have overshadowed activities at the regional … Continue reading
US – The 2015 Economic Report of the President on the labor market
Chapter 3 of [The 2015 Economic Report of the President] addresses the opportunities and challenges facing the U.S. labor market. The sharp drop in unemployment in 2014 came amid a stabilization in the labor force participation rate and the strongest annual job growth since the 1990s as businesses added more than 3 million jobs. But … Continue reading
EU – Labor force projections up to 2053 by level of educational attainment
A significant amount of research has been published on the potential economic consequences of population aging in developed economies. One topic that has received repeated attention is the expected shrinkage in absolute and relative terms of the working population between the ages 15 and 65. Concurrently, the share of people above the age of 65 … Continue reading
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in US – Coursera goes to train the unemployed
As Coursera has expanded to become a leading platform for massive open online courses, so has its acceptance as a training ground for skills sought after by employers around the world. In this interview with McKinsey’s Michael Chui, Coursera CEO Richard Levin, whose background includes 20 years as president of Yale University, explores the platform’s … Continue reading
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