Job Market Monitor
Michel Cournoyer
Saudi women – More job opportunities
The Labor Ministry has issued four directives to increase job opportunities for Saudi women and to regulate women’s work in accordance with Shariah rules. New opportunities are available in sales, accounting, family areas of recreation centers and restaurant kitchens. Deputy Labor Minister Fahd Al-Takheefi said: “The new directives are not mandatory and employers have the … Continue reading
US Unemployment System – A Bad Employment Policy
…Between 2008 and 2011, $174 billion in unemployment taxes was collected while $450 billion was paid out in benefits, a gap of $276 billion. Thirty-four states blew through their unemployment insurance trust funds and borrowed from Washington — and 22 of those still owe the feds a total of more than $30 billion, according to … Continue reading
Layoffs in 2012 – Should go down
If you have a job, good news: A new survey finds that there’s a good likelihood you’re going to keep it. Right Management, a division of staffing firm Manpower Group, finds that 69 percent of U.S. companies plan no layoffs through the end of 2012. Just 1 percent are planning significant layoffs, the survey found, … Continue reading
Illinois – Honeywell layoffs – Plant shut down for up to 15 months
Leaving town to find a job: hundreds of local families face a new reality Thursday after one of the area’s largest employers makes it official. The plant shut down for up to 15 months, the majority of the workforce laid off. Many of those employees were already out of a job after the Metropolis Honeywell … Continue reading
Credit Suisse – Another Round of Layoffs
Credit Suisse Group is laying off another 138 employees in the New York region beginning next month, the third round of layoffs it has made this year. The cuts, mentioned in a filing Wednesday with New York State’s Department of Labor, follows an announcement by Switzerland’s second-biggest bank the same day of a 15.3 billion … Continue reading
Australia – Carbon tax won’t hurt jobs according to OECD’s Report
Australia’s carbon tax is expected to have at most a moderate effect on employment within the country, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), predicts. According to the OECD’s Employment Outlook 2012, “environmental taxes” were predicted to have a “modest overall effect on employment and little impact on the demand for skills”. “Fossil-fuel industries … Continue reading
The Skills Gap Fallacy
We can have a philosophical debate about which came first — the chicken or the egg. But when it comes to job creation there should be no such argument. Organizations and individuals who create new organizations are the chicken — they are the job creators. Employees and skilled workers are the eggs — they are … Continue reading
Is America falling behind in the Talent War ?
The search for skills has been a daunting task for U.S. companies trying to find the right person to fill well paying and highly skilled jobs. Despite high unemployment rates, many employers report they’re struggling in the job matching process, frequently complaining that there’s a mismatch between the available domestic workforce and the skills they … Continue reading
UK – Record sum in vocational education
The coalition is investing a record sum in the kind of educational opportunities that 16 to 18 year-olds need Polly Toynbee writes of the “shocking news … that the number of 16-year-olds staying on in education has fallen for the first time in years”. It is hardly shocking when you consider that the fall in … Continue reading
Europe Weak Job Market – Manpower profit slumps
Global staffing services provider ManpowerGroup (MAN.N) on Friday reported sharply lower quarterly profit that beat Wall Street expectations as Europe’s major economies weakened and a stronger dollar reduced results. Net earnings fell 44 percent to $41 million, or 51 cents per share, from $72.7 million, or 87 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding one-time … Continue reading
Skills Gap Means Longer Hours Hint for Some Jobs
Even in a time of 8% unemployment, some jobs go begging. Surveys reveal a significant share of companies report difficulties filling certain jobs. What’s a company to do when it can’t find workers with needed skills? Work its current employees for longer hours. That’s the conclusion by economists at the Conference Board. The trend suggests … Continue reading
Private sector job recovery stronger than that of early 2000 and at par with that of early 90s
The U.S. economy is working its way back from the Great Recession. One indication has been that unemployment insurance claims have steadily fallen since September and they are now at the same level as in March of 2008. Additionally, layoffs are at the same level as in 2006. We also recently learned that the ratio … Continue reading
US – Unemployment Claims : The good news didn’t last
In the week ending July 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 386,000, an increase of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 352,000. The 4-week moving average was 375,500, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 377,000. (SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA) The advance seasonally adjusted insured … Continue reading
Lost jobs aren’t coming back and new skills are needed
Do we expect the jobs that resulted from the housing boom to once again come to the rescue of low-wage Americans? The run-up in home prices that triggered the jump in construction and local spending was relatively short-lived, and home prices have returned to the levels where one might expect them to be, based on … Continue reading
Canada – Employment Insurance (EI) virtually unchanged and claims down
The number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits totalled 512,600 in May, virtually unchanged from April. This followed three months of consecutive declines. The number of beneficiaries decreased slightly in Alberta, while it edged up in New Brunswick. Chart 1 Employment Insurance beneficiaries unchanged in May Chart 2 Number of claims down in May via The Daily — Employment … Continue reading
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