Michel Cournoyer

India | Coming soon,  UGC degree in vocational education – Hindustan Times

A bachelor’s degree in vocational education is likely to be introduced in the University Grants Commission affiliated institutions in 2012.   The standing committee of UGC  which met here two days ago has  formally approved a proposal to introduce a bachelors degree in vocational education. This is to get a final nod from the commission. … Continue reading →

The complexities of 21st century brain ‘exchange’ – University World News

The emerging economies of the BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India and China – will, it is assumed, lure back home both students who go abroad to study and some graduates who have settled in the West, because of their dramatic economic growth and expanding higher education systems. The problem is that data seem to show … Continue reading →

Young, Underemployed and Optimistic – Pew Research Center

A plurality of the American public believe that young adults are having the toughest time of any age group in today’s economy — and a lopsided majority says it’s more difficult for today’s young adults than it was for their parents’ generation to pay for college, find a job, buy a home or save for … Continue reading →

Obama striking out on ‘green jobs’ program | islandpacket.com

General Motors stock acquired by the federal government in exchange for debt repayment is trading for about half the value used in the conversion calculation, while the stock market is significantly up for the year. If that stock were sold today, the taxpayers would lose $14 billion. Then there is Solyndra. Enough said. One year … Continue reading →

BBC News – Are Greeks the hardest workers in Europe?

The eurozone crisis has sown divisions in the European family, and Greece in particular has often been singled out for criticism. Has Greece been living beyond its means? Are Greeks lazy? On this second point, the statistics tell a surprising story. Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the average … Continue reading →

McDonald’s spends £10m of taxpayer’s cash from employment scheme without creating a single job – Mirror Online

McDonald’s has ­pocketed £10million of public money for an ­apprenticeship scheme …but has not created a single new job with it. Instead, the multi-national fast-food giant has spent the whole sum on ­“career progression” for 18,000 existing staff. A Sunday Mirror investigation has found that among nine other major firms which take the most money … Continue reading →

Networking the Nation’s Workforce System

While the One-Stop system has performed as best as it could during the recession and recovery, the system and its clients faced several challenges. The appropriate deployment of technology can address many of these challenges. Continue reading →

A Million Jobs – NYTimes.com

The American economy was terrifyingly close to the brink in 2008 and 2009, and the impending collapse of General Motors and Chrysler threatened to be the final push. When the companies begged the federal government to save them from financial catastrophe, President George W. Bush and later President Obama ignored strong Republican objections, saving a … Continue reading →

Veteran unemployment is falling as employers realize what a soldier can do

In recent weeks, area manufacturers have peppered veteran affairs offices and job training centers with requests for veteran job candidates, preferably people fresh from the fight in Iraq or Afghanistan. Cuyahoga County recently welcomed a veteran job specialist — becoming the first county in Ohio to do so — and some major employers are instructing … Continue reading →

The end of the American labour market model?

Originally posted on Inequalities:
In a guest post from Declan Gaffney – shortened from a recent post at his blog L’Art Social – he shows that US employment rates are increasingly unimpressive in international context, despite the claims often made in the UK. Comments from both sides of the Atlantic are welcomed! Only a few years…

As the year 2011 draws to a close, uncertainty seems to pervade the employment outlook for the coming year. Many people seem glad to see this year come to a close and enter 2012 with hope for economic improvement. Too many variables prevent a clear picture of how the job market will be but  some…

Originally posted on Macroeconomics in the News:
The slow recovery of the U.S. economy, specifically, the slow decline in the U.S. unemployment rate, raises the following question. Is it possible to design labor market policies that might actually cause unemployed workers to find jobs more quickly, thereby reducing the unemployment rate? Economists Jun Nie and Ethan…

Originally posted on InfoMetrics:
By InfoMetrics Recently, the U.S. unemployment figures have come under question by many respected economists and analysts, as well as many interested observers. While the state of the economy is fairly stagnant with most major indicators flat or negative, surprisingly, the unemployment numbers are inexplicably trending downward. The questioning  of the…