Job Market Monitor
Politics & Policies
Canada / The Trouble With Apprenticeship / Overall completion rate was 4.9% in 2007
Skilled labour shortages are expected in Canada. Apprenticeship is seen by many as one of the best ways to provide for a supply of skills matching industry needs. The German model is praised around the world, exported and copied elsewhere. What about the system in Canada? Statistics Canada has published a study by Christine Laporte … Continue reading
Canada / The Government Training Agenda
Speaking at the Canada 2020 Conference on Skilled Trades in the Energy Sector in Ottawa Feb. 28, Diane Finley, minister of human resources and skills development, noted labour shortages and skills mismatches have become a “dominant policy concern.” A number options are under consideration, including: • Helping Canadians make more informed career choices, including at … Continue reading
Europe / Older workers: Neither the Member States nor the Commission are in a position to establish results
Member States and Commission cannot assess if programmes actually help – say EU Auditors Increasing the employment rate of older workers is part of the EU’s strategic goals. But a new report by the European Court of Auditors has found that neither the Member States nor the Commission are in a position to establish how … Continue reading
US / 5 Myths About the Minimum Wage
Myth #1: Hordes of Minimum-Wage Workers Very few Americans are actually working for the federal minimum wage—it’s just 2.9 percent of all workers in the United States. In other words, 97 percent of American workers make more than minimum wage. Myth #2: The “Working Poor” Getting By on Minimum Wage More than half of minimum-wage … Continue reading
Canada / Liberal leadership candidate Joyce Murray on Seasonal Jobs and EI
Member of Parliament and Liberal leadership candidate Joyce Murray today outlined a new economic policy proposal on seasonal jobs. “As the co-founder of an international reforestation – and largely seasonal – business that has planted more than a billion trees across Canada, I recognize that skilled, experienced seasonal workers are productive, and the lifeblood of … Continue reading
Malta / Jobs are the be all and end all says Prime Minister Gonzi
Insisting that job creation was the bottom line in administering the country, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that if no jobs are created, there would be no capital investment, no education, and no health services. Speaking in Senglea in a PN event, Gonzi said “jobs are the be and end all,” underpinning his government’s achievements … Continue reading
US / Poll: Economists think minimum wage is worth it
The IGM Forum, which is run by the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, polled top economists on the minimum wage. The first question they asked was whether raising the minimum wage could make it harder for some low-wage workers to find jobs. The second question was whether they thought increasing the minimum wage … Continue reading
US / ARRA / Spending that was less linked to state unemployment rates than might be expected finds FRBNY
Fiscal stimulus, in the form of large discretionary increases in federal spending and tax reductions, is often triggered by a strong and persistent rise in the national unemployment rate. The most recent example was the $860 billion (6 percent of GDP) stimulus contained in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), adopted in the … Continue reading
Germany / Toward a Minimum Wage ?
Opposition parties in Germany are preparing to introduce a draft law on a minimum wage to the Bundesrat upper house on March 1, a newspaper reported on Thursday, raising the pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel on the issue. Germany is one of only a few countries in Europe with no mandatory, across-the-board minimum wage and … Continue reading
UK / NHS nursing posts / 12,000 to go says Labour
Thousands of NHS nursing posts could be lost in the next two years, the shadow Health Secretary has warned. Labour’s Andy Burnham said the health service would lose 12,000 nurses while the Coalition was in power if the current rate of loss continued. Mr Burnham said there was new evidence that NHS trusts were meeting … Continue reading
India / A national floor level minimum wage mandatory for all unskilled workers
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ratified a proposal to make the national floor level minimum wage mandatory for all unskilled workers in the country at a meeting of the union cabinet on late Thursday evening. The decision coincided with the conclusion of a two-day national strike called by all central trade unions to protest the government’s … Continue reading
Ireland / Government plans ‘disruptive reforms’ for employment
The Government has promised a series of “disruptive reforms” as part of a new employment promotion scheme launched this morning. The plan contains 333 actions to be implemented in 2013 by 16 Government departments and 46 agencies. Under the Action Plan for Jobs 2013, the State will pay €1 for every €4 it will cost an employer … Continue reading
US / Politics / The Obama ‘recovery’: more dependence
A strange and disturbing new social pattern is unfolding before our eyes in America today: growing dependence on government handouts in the face of declining unemployment rates. Though we are now preparing to enter into the fourth year of recovery from our Great Recession, the roster of Americans seeking and obtaining entitlement benefits from our … Continue reading
UK / Back-to-work scheme, Genesis scheme created less than 800 jobs
Fewer than 800 people found jobs through a failed Welsh government back-to-work scheme, BBC Wales can reveal. It was hoped Genesis Cymru Wales 2 would help 20,000 people find work or get qualifications. But only around half that number took part and just 7% of them found work. Opposition assembly members say lessons need to … Continue reading
Australia / Labor jobs plan with $1 billion cuts in R&D tax incentives
A FEDERAL government plan to cut $1 billion from research and development tax incentives to big business to pay for measures to boost smaller companies has raised concerns it could be counterproductive. Prime Minister Julia Gillard unveiled the government’s plan for Australian jobs in its industry and innovation statement on Sunday. The three-part proposal involves … Continue reading
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