Mass Layoffs Summary for November 2011
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 1,331 mass layoffs affecting 129,887 workers in November 2011. A mass layoff is defined as a layoff event involving at least 50 workers from an individual employer. These statistics represent a decrease in mass layoff events over October (-22) and an increase in initial unemployment claims (+11,198). The United States unemployment rate fell from 9.0...
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Impact of Small Business Jobs Act to Federal Contracts
With the creation of small-business focused task force and the signing of the Small Business Jobs Act, President Barack Obama has removed several obstacles facing small businesses when applying for federal contracts. A federal contract can be a vital revenue source for fledgling businesses providing an opportunity for a business to grow, create jobs, and attract other clients. Over the past...
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Unadjusted Unemployment Insurance Claims
Initial unemployment claims under state programs declined by 17,256 to 418,466 claims during the week of December 17. Over-the-year claims also fell, down from 495,548 initial claims from the same period in 2010. The insured unemployment rate rose slightly by 0.1 percent to 2.9 percent from the prior week reflecting an increase in number of persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits; rising...
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Comparisons of International Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that national hourly compensation costs in manufacturing increased to $34.74, up 2 percent from 2009. A rate higher than Asia, South and Central America, the U.K. and 19 eastern and southern European countries such as Italy, Spain, and Poland. However, the national rates were lower than Australia, Canada, and many northern and western European countries...
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Regional and State Unemployment – November 2011
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that November 2011 saw widespread nationwide unemployment decreases across 45 states over the prior 12-month period. Five states plus Washington, DC recorded significant unemployment increases over the same period. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate dropped nearly a percentage point from 9.8 percent in November 2010 to 8.6 percent in November...
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The Dangers of Startups
A bird chirps and I can hear the distant sound of a soft tropical rain. It's night there even though it's day here. One person is beginning their day and the other is exhausted. This is our morning/night meeting and we're on Skype. Later on, it's night on the other side of the world and apparently the mosquitoes are out in droves. And then the bats swoop in with their radar and I can...
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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer's Job Hunt
The day before Christmas, late in the afternoon, an HR company receptionist knocks on the manager's door and tells him that there's a reindeer with a resume in the waiting room. Thinking it's a novel Noel gag, the manager laughs—but, clearly uneasy, she doesn't. Incredulous, he takes a peek, and, sure enough, there's a full-sized heavily-antlered reindeer bedecked with ribbons of...
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A Workforce World View
The typical enterprise of today is a multinational organizational with thousands of employees operating within multiple time zones, geographies, cultures and jurisdictions. Organizations like IBM, Proctor and Gamble and General Electric have truly become globally integrated enterprises. All of these organizations face the challenge of being able to manage the talent of their global workforce...
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Employee Engagement Book Available by Best Selling Business Author
With employee engagement levels at all-time lows, Dr. Chris Bart has written a book to help companies learn how to engage employees at higher levels. The book, "A Tale of Two Employees and the Person Who Wanted to Lead Them", is a fable that gives insight into strategies and skills that management teams can use to create better employee engagement. Organizations are decreasing resources...
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eHire's Business Increases Using Social Media Strategies
eHire heads into 2012 ahead of most recruiting competitors by utilizing a smart social media strategy to enhance relationships with job candidates. eHire is familiar with social media and has already been using it as a tool to increase business, while other companies are just beginning to get their teams familiar with it. The need for Recruiters and Employment Specialists has increased in the...
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Infographic Shows Increase In Women's Contributions to the Economy
The latest infographic by OnlineSchools.com gauges the impact that women make on the economy and how they continue to join high-paying fields despite compensation inequalities. The research, entitled "Women at Work," evaluated the influence and growth of female professionals in the job sectors. In 1960, only 1.7 percent of women over 25 held a graduate degree compared to 10 percent in...
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The Orwellian Lobotomy
—The seepage of Newspeak into hiring and daily life "Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?"—"Symes", a state philologist, in Orwell's 1984 A clean-cut fresh-faced recent graduate abruptly stops gushing about the job you are interviewing him for to reluctantly admit under your questioning that indeed he was...
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