Job Market Monitor
Michel Cournoyer
Minimum wage / Ford instituted a $5 per day minimum wage on Jan. 5, 1914
On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford announced a series of work reforms and special payments for Ford Motor Co. employees that included a $5 per day minimum wage, at a time when the average pay for American workers was $12.50 a week. Ford also announced that its factories would run continuously, up from 18 hours … Continue reading
Alpha Natural Resources / 1 200 layoffs as 8 mines to closed
Alpha Natural Resources announced plans this week to cut more than 1,200 jobs and idle eight coal mines as part of a company-wide move that will cut coal production by 16 million tons. The company made the announcement Friday that will cut a total or 10 percent of its workforce. There will also be an … Continue reading
China / College Grads seeking better jobs take education entrance exams
College graduates who are taking postgraduate entrance exams are doing so largely because they desire better job opportunities, according to survey results released on Saturday. The survey, carried out by independent survey institution My China Occupation Skills from Nov. 23 to Dec. 19, 2012, indicated that 34 percent of respondents believe taking the exams will … Continue reading
Gender Gap in offshore oil jobs
Well-paid jobs are luring more women to the rigs and vessels that draw oil from the ocean floor more than 300 kilometres east of St. John’s, N.L., but life offshore is still very much a man’s world. At any given time there are more than 700 workers toiling in all kinds of weather at the … Continue reading
US / Unemployment and deficits go together
The unemployment rate is too damn high, and all that America’s politicians can talk about is the budget deficit. If only they knew that we can take care of both of them at once. Friday’s unemployment report, showing joblessness still stubbornly high, makes the absolute insanity of Washington’s deficit obsession even plainer. In fact, unemployment … Continue reading
Infosys / Doesn’t deny layoffs but …
Indian software major, Infosys Limited, clarified on Friday over a report suggesting that it might lay off up to 5,000 of its underperforming employees. It says that it is not 5,000, but “the number that may be affected is significantly lower.” Just a week ahead of its third quarter results for 2013 (Q3 FY13), the … Continue reading
Work Stress / Associated with heart problems for older workers
Work stress has been linked to an increased heart attack risk in older men, according to new research. A study published in Occupational Medicine found that older men with stressful jobs and little power to make decisions were at a higher risk of heart problems than their counterparts with less job strain. In fact, older … Continue reading
US / Defined contribution retirement plans cost more than defined benefit
Private industry employers now spend more per employee hour worked for defined contribution retirement plans (retirement plans that specify the level of employer contributions and place those contributions into individual employee accounts) than for defined benefit retirement plans (plans that provide employees with guaranteed retirement benefits that are based on a benefit formula). March 2012 … Continue reading
Recessions impact Babies study finds
Kids born during the economic recessions of the 1980s had a higher chance of substance abuse and arrest as teenagers, a new study has found, leading researchers to wonder if babies born in recent years could face a similar fate. “The mechanisms involved may be different in intensity and severity, (but) based on the study … Continue reading
Unemployment predictions for Greece (28%) and Spain (27%)
A study of the Ernst & Young financial auditors company predicts a new record low for unemployment in the eurozone, with the number of unemployed surpassing the 20 million mark in the second half of 2013, from 18.7 million in October, protothema reported. Ernst & Young bases its assessment mainly to the decrease of competitiveness. … Continue reading
Canada / Employment rose by 40,000 and the unemployment rate declines the lowest in four years
Employment rose by 40,000 in December, the fourth increase in five months. December’s increase was all in full-time work. The unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 7.1%, the lowest in four years. Chart 1 Employment Compared with 12 months earlier, employment increased 1.8% or 312,000, all in full-time work. Over the same period, the total number of hours worked rose 1.6%. Provincially, employment increased in Ontario, … Continue reading
There have been only two administrations that turned in a worse performance in private-sector job growth says NYTimes.com
The December jobs figures out today indicate that there were 725,000 more jobs in the private sector than at the end of 2008 — and 697,000 fewer government jobs. That works into a private-sector gain of 0.6 percent, and a government sector decline of 3.1 percent. In total, the number of people with jobs is … Continue reading
Where The Jobs Are: ZeroHedge on The Jobs Gerontocracy
Tyler Durden of ZeroHedge writes: A good jobs report? Sure, if one is 55 and over. In December the American jobs gerontocracy continued its relentless course … some 2.7 million jobs in the 16-55 year old category have been lost. The “offset”: 4 million jobs for Americans between 55 and 69. For all those young people … Continue reading
Update – US / An increase of only 28,000 persons saying they have a job: proportion at work declined
The last Employment Report for 2012 is fresh out. Comments will focus on the fact that Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 155,000 and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.8 percent. All that is true but… there is a big bad news. An important indicator coming from the household survey is the Employment-population ratio which , in short, … Continue reading
Stress at Work / The Top 10 Most Stressful and Least Stressful Jobs
The least stressful jobs 1. University Professor Median salary: $62,050 2. Seamstress/Tailor Median salary: $25,850 3. Medical Records Technician Median salary: $32,350 4. Jeweler Median salary: $35,170 5. Medical Laboratory Technician Median salary: $46,680 6. Audiologist Median salary: $66,660 7. Dietitian Median salary: $53,250 8. Hair Stylist Median salary: $22,500 9. Librarian Median salary: $54,500 10. Drill Press Operator Median salary: $31,910 MOST STRESSFUL … Continue reading
Jobs – Offres d’emploi – US & Canada (Eng. & Fr.)
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