Friday, December 29, 2006

2007 Job Outlook Starts Strong


Each month a host of employment data arrives rife with conflicts, conundrums and confusion that defy analysis, clarifying the employment scene with certitude akin to reading animal entrails. The new years dangles the bauble of clarify with surprisingly unified employment predictions.

Growth in manufacturing and service jobs is coming in January according to a study from alliance of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations. Rather than concerns about flagging employment, brows furrow about the search for qualified applicants as illustrated by the concocted index of recruiting difficulty included in the study that pegs the manufacturing ranking at 19.5 and service at 22.5.

Meanwhile, CareerBuilder.com released its own survey with more heartening concrete numbers, including:

"Nearly one in 10 employers will hire more than of 500 new employees in 2007."

The fine print reveals that 36 percent of employers surveyed plan to add 1-10 employees in 2007, 29 percent expect to hire 50 plus warm bodies and 20 percent plan to push their hiring past the three-figure mark. Health care leads the recruiting rate race with a 24 percent increase, but IT is among the leaders with an expected 13 percent rise.

Earlier in the month, another report warmed the hearts of the tech community, predicting a 14 percent IT hiring increase in the first quarter of 2007. According to the report from Robert Half Technology, that increase ranks as the highest rate since the fourth quarter of 2001. The report surveyed CIOs, who believed that overall business growth and increased demand for user support would drive hiring.

There's more rosy news in the microclimate of Silicon Valley. According to data from the California Employment Development Department, 13,900 new jobs arrived in Santa Clara and San Benito Counties in 2006 bringing total employment to 894,800. The 1.6 percent year-on-year increase in hiring marks the high water mark for the past 5 ? years for Silicon Valley and outstripped the statewide employment growth rate of 1.1 percent.

Moving beyond pure employment data, the outlook for startups also looks rosy with the release of a National Venture Capital Association survey predicting $28 billion in VC investment for 2007, including a 70 percent increased in Internet investment and 69 percent increase in new media investment.



Posted by Benjamin Tomkins on December 28, 2006

7 Major Hiring Trends for 2007


I want to start by saying thaht you should disregard the comments about the "jobless recovery". They are factually wrong.


Jeff


December 28, 2006

7 Major Hiring Trends for 2007

By David R. Butcher

About 40 percent of some 2,600 hiring managers recently said they plan to increase their number of full-time, permanent employees in 2007, according to results in this week's CareerBuilder.com's “2007 Job Forecast.” Another 40 percent expect no change in their head counts, and 8 percent are expecting job eliminations, said the online job site. So keep an eye out for the following hiring trends in the new year.

Going into 2007, the U.S. workforce is likely to see employers become more competitive in recruitment and retention efforts, according to results this week of a survey of some 2,600 hiring managers by online job site CareerBuilder.com. This is evident in higher salaries, better training and career advancement opportunities, and more flexible work cultures.

1) Bigger paychecks
Eighty-one percent of employers report their companies will increase salaries for existing employees, and nearly half of employers (49 percent) expect to increase salaries on initial offers to new employees.

2) Diversity recruitment
Nine percent plan to step up diversity recruiting for African American job candidates, while 8 percent will target female job candidates. Half of employers recruiting bilingual employees say English/Spanish-speaking candidates are most in demand in their organizations.

3) More flexible work arrangements
Work/life balance being a major buzzword among U.S. employers, 19 percent of employers say they are very or extremely willing to provide more flexible work arrangements for employees such as job sharing and alternate schedules. Thirty-one percent are "fairly willing."

4) Rehiring retirees
As some employers express concern over the loss of intellectual capital due to a large number of so-called Baby Boomers approaching retirement, one in five employers plan to rehire retirees from other companies or provide incentives for workers approaching retirement age to stay on with the company longer.

5) More promotions
As the perceived lack of upper mobility within an organization is a major driver for employee turnover, 35 percent of employers plan to provide more promotions and career advancement opportunities to their existing staff in 2007.

6) Hiring overseas
Companies continue to drive growth by entering or strengthening their presence in global markets. Thirteen percent of employers report they will expand operations and hire employees in other countries in 2007.

7) Better training
In light of a seeming shortage of skilled workers within their own industries, employers are looking for transferable skills from other industries. Seventy-eight percent report they are willing to recruit workers who don't have experience in their particular industry or field and provide training/certifications needed.

About 40 percent of some 2,600 hiring managers that CareerBuilder.com surveyed said they plan to increase their number of full-time, permanent employees in the coming year. Another 40 percent expect no change in their head counts, and 8 percent are expecting job eliminations, according to CareerBuilder.com's “2007 Job Forecast.”

Of the jobs for which employers will be recruiting, about 9 percent will be in engineering and 13 percent in information technology.

"Of the tech recruiters surveyed, 48 percent said they would be adding positions in 2007, 10 percent said they would be decreasing posts, and the remaining said they were unsure or expected no change," said CareerBuilder spokeswoman Jennifer Sullivan.

However, while a modest recovery might be starting, proposes CNET, "when it comes to the technology sector, have claims of a rebound been exaggerated?

“The tech sector, most notably, is suffering from the longest jobless recovery since World War II, having lost more than 400,000 jobs since the start of the March 2001 recession," Marcus Courtney, president of the WashTech/CWA union of high-tech workers, wrote in a July CNET News.com column, adding that the recession officially ended in November of that year. But, Courtney wrote, "according to a recent study prepared by the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Urban Economic Development, only 76,300 new IT jobs were created nationwide during the last three years. That's less than one quarter of the number of tech jobs lost earlier in the decade.”

More recruiting is expected in the areas of health care (24 percent), administration and clerical work (19 percent), sales (17 percent), and accounting and finance (17 percent).

Moreover, recent U.S. Department of Labor reports support a sense in the market that the economy is slowing at a gradual, reasonable pace and inflation has steadied,” said CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson said in a statement. “This bodes well for job creation as economists and employers alike predict a moderated, yet stable, hiring environment to carry over into the New Year.”

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Job market in the East Bay remains rosy, hitting record


Alameda and Contra Costa counties added 5,600 workers, the highest November total since state began keeping track

By Janis Mara
MEDIANEWS STAFF

The East Bay job market continues to roll along, hitting a record high for the month of November, according to numbers released Friday.

The East Bay's_ Alameda and Contra Costa counties _ added 5,600 jobs, the highest November total on record. This also marks the fifth-consecutive month with record jobs compared with the same month in the prior peak of 2000 or 2001, according to data from the state Employment Development Department.

Bucking the trend of slower job growth nationally and statewide, the East Bay added 20,100 jobs, or 1.9 percent, between last month and November 2005.

"The East Bay is leading the state in terms of how its economy is chugging along," said Sean Snaith, a consultant for the University of the Pacific's Business Forecasting Center. "Of the Bay Area economies, the East Bay is probably the strongest."

Compared with the prior 16 years, the East Bay posted a slightly larger-than-usual job gain between October and November, said Ruth Kavanagh, labor market consultant for the Employment Development Department.

"But the big news is that this is the highest November total since we began keeping track in 1990," she said.

The unemployment rate in the Oakland-Fremont-Hayward area was 4.2 percent in November 2006, up from 3.9 percent in October 2006, but below the year-ago rate of 4.7 percent.

Snaith shrugged off the month-to-month hop in unemployment.

"It's hard to extrapolate a trend from a month-to-month movement," the consultant said, adding that he didn't see the change as significant.

Overall, he said, "When a lot of the state was booming in housing, the Bay Area was not adding jobs at the same pace. Things have started to catch up and nonresidential construction has been pretty strong in the Bay Area, making up for the dip in residential construction," Snaith said. "We're a little late to the party, and not ready to leave yet."

California's unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent in November, up from 4.5 percent in October, but down from 5.1 percent in November 2005. The October rate was the state's lowest level since the current employment data series was established in 1976.

The state added 156,600 jobs, up 1.1 percent, compared with November last year. California started the year in January with 2 percent year-over-year job growth. It slipped to 1.6 percent in June and has continued to slide.

Nine of the 11 major industry categories experienced job gains in November. The information industry, led by film production and sound recording, showed the largest gains on a month-over-month basis. That category added 3,600 jobs.

Reach Janis Mara of the Oakland Tribune at 510-208-6468 or jmara@angnewspapers.com.

Friday, December 22, 2006

(Indiana) sees mass layoffs balloon



Seasonal stops contribute to higher number

By Kimberly Peterson
The Journal Gazette

Indiana had 44 instances of mass layoffs during November, more than double the number reported in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. Some of those layoffs are seasonal and happen every year, economic development experts said.

Mass layoffs occur when 50 or more workers from the same company make an initial claim for unemployment within a given month, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics press release.

While mass layoffs are increasing, Indiana has seen a steady decrease in the unemployment rate. The rate went from 5.5 percent in July to 4.6 percent in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. November’s statewide unemployment rate has not been released.

Nationally, the manufacturing sector accounted for 35 percent of all mass layoffs in November.

Gary Zehr, economic development director for LaGrange County, said that because Indiana is reliant on manufacturing, the state tends to see some companies downsizing in November and December.

Zehr said that in LaGrange County, for example, many of the RV manufacturers give their employees two to four weeks of vacation around the holidays, and those employees might collect unemployment insurance during that time.

Zehr, however, said employment levels are solid in his area.

“I think in LaGrange County the overall outlook is fairly strong,” Zehr said.

Wells County, southeast of LaGrange County, suffered one of the region’s biggest job losses this year when Johnson Controls shut down its plant in Ossian on Nov. 3, putting more than 200 workers out of a job.

And more mass layoffs could be on the way. Hendrickson Suspension in Kendallville will lay off as many as 80 employees by the end of January, and in September, the Dana plant in Syracuse is slated to close, putting 60 employees out of work.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development tracks permanent layoffs and plant closures statewide through Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notices.

Companies are required to issue those notices when a plant is closing or if they lay off 50 or more employees, who make up more than one third of the employer’s workforce. Based on WARN notices taking effect in November, 577 employees were told they would be out of jobs.

But statewide, 7,285 workers filed unemployment claims in November.

The disparity in the numbers can be partly explained by the fact that many companies offer severance packages, so workers might not collect unemployment insurance until weeks or months after they are laid off, said Pat Carey, an economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So layoffs that took place in September and October may show up on November’s mass layoff data.

Department of Workforce Development spokesman Joe DiLaura said that the mass layoff report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is different because it also includes workers laid off temporarily.

kpeterson@jg.net


Mass layoff events

StateNovember 2005October 2006November 2006
Indiana291944
Michigan624382
Ohio523548
Nationwide1,254964 1,315

A mass layoff event is when 50 or more people from the same company file an initial claim for unemployment in a given month.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Saturn Plant To Layoff Workers



It's a rude awakening days before the holidays, hundreds of temporary Saturn workers are losing their jobs.
A union official says General Motors will eliminate the overnight shift at the Spring Hill Plant.
Some of the 500-temporary employees who build Saturn Vues will be unemployed beginning Friday.
The job cuts will be phased out over the next month.
Spring Hill will stop making the Vue in March and move the assembly line to Mexico.

7.2% of Americans Work for Nonprofit Groups, Study Finds


By Suzanne Perry

Charities employ 7.2 percent of the nation's work force and have added paid jobs at a much higher rate than employers as a whole in recent years, according to a study released today that analyzed previously unavailable employment data.

The total wages paid by nonprofit groups also outstrip those of several other major industries, including utilities, construction, and wholesale trade, the study found.

"What these and related findings make clear is that America's nonprofit organizations not only contribute to the social and political life of the nation, but to its economic life as well," says a report on the study, which was conducted by the Center for Civil Society Studies at the Johns Hopkins University.

The study's researchers, Lester M. Salamon and S. Wojciech Sokolowski, analyzed data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which is conducted by state labor offices in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This survey has not historically differentiated between for-profit and nonprofit employers, but the researchers worked with the federal bureau and selected state offices to find ways to extract data on charities.

Mr. Salamon said in an interview that this data is more precise than that used in previous studies of nonprofit work force.

The researchers also drew information from a monthly volunteering survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau so they could assess the impact of paid and volunteer charity workers combined. Analyzing data from the second quarter of 2004, the study found that:

  • Charities employed 9.4 million paid workers and engaged the equivalent of 4.7 million fulltime volunteers (calculated by dividing the number of hours volunteered by the hours in a typical work year). Together, those workers represented 10.5 percent of the total American work force. The paid employees outnumbered those working for the utilities (800,000),wholesale trade (5.6 million), or construction (7.1 million) industries.

  • From 2002 to 2004, the number of paid nonprofit workers grew 5.1 percent — while the work force as a whole fell 0.2 percent. This pattern occurred in almost every part of the country, even in regions where overall employment fell because of the economic recession then under way.

  • "This suggests that nonprofit employment functions as a countercyclical mechanism, continuing to expand to meet needs even as overall employment slumps," the report on the study says.

    The Pacific region (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington) gained the biggest share of new nonprofit jobs (10 percent), while the West South Central region (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas) added the smallest (less than 1 percent).

  • Even in states with relatively small numbers of nonprofit workers, charities often employ more people than other significant industries. For example, 43,365 people hold paid and volunteer nonprofit jobs in Delaware, compared with 2,143 who work for utilities, 14,845 in wholesale trade, and 27,256 in construction.

  • Nonprofit employees nationwide earned $321.6-billion in wages — more than the wages paid by the utilities ($50.1-billion), construction ($276-billion), or wholesale trade ($283.7-billion) industries. They earned almost as much as employees in the finance and insurance industry ($355.8-billion).

  • However, nonprofit workers earned less on average each week than their for-profit counterparts — $627 compared with $669 — mainly because charities are clustered in low-wage fields. Within those fields, however, nonprofit jobs paid more; for example, employees of nonprofit hospitals earned an average 7 percent more than those working for-profit hospitals.

  • More than half (52 percent) of paid and volunteer nonprofit workers are located in three regions — the Middle Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania), South Atlantic (along the Atlantic coast from Delaware to Florida), and East North Central (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin). Four states — California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas — account for 30 percent of the total workf orce.

  • The bulk of nonprofit employees work in the human-services field. More than one-third of them have jobs with hospitals, and another 21 percent with other health providers such as clinics and nursing homes.

Mr. Salamon said the strength of the charity work force reflects the country's overall shift away from manufacturing industries to service industries. "Those industries we know are the really robust growth areas in our economy." It also reflects demographic changes such as the aging population, which has led to increased demand for health care and nursing homes, he said.

The report, "Employment in America's Charities: A Profile," including a state-by-state breakdown of nonprofit employment, is available on the Johns Hopkins University Web site.

HP has hired, fired by the thousands


EMPLOYEE ``CHURN'' AS COMPETITIVENESS TOOL

By Nicole C. Wong
Mercury News

What's 150,000 minus 45,000? In Hewlett-Packard's world, the answer is still roughly 150,000.

Since 2002, HP has laid off 30 percent of its employees worldwide to cut costs and improve operations. But sending all those employees away with pink slips or early retirement packages hasn't caused a plunge in HP's global head count -- because the company continuously hired new workers while it escorted others out the door.

Hiring people while laying off others is called churn. And HP isn't the only aging Silicon Valley vanguard that's using churn to survive the onslaught from technological innovation and global competition. But the legendary computer company's use of churn to help fuel its financial turnaround illustrates how the strategy has shattered the implicit employment contract that once bound America's companies with their workers.

The technology industry titan that was started by two Stanford University graduates in a Palo Alto garage in 1939 had averted layoffs for nearly 60 years. When times were lean, HP coped by spreading the financial hardships among all employees and by training workers so they would possess the new skills that the evolving market demanded.

HP's decision to embrace workforce churn puts it on the same path that many global companies have walked in recent years. On Wall Street, HP's strategy is seen as a smart way to adapt to the changing market demands.

``It's a natural thing to do,'' said Brent Bracelin, a financial research analyst at Pacific Crest Securities.

Steven Cochrane, a senior economist who follows Silicon Valley's labor market for Economy.com, said, ``This is what you would expect in a dynamic industry or a dynamic economy. Understanding the churn is important to understand whether the industry is truly shrinking or whether it's trying to change shape so it's more competitive in the future.''

Churn is used commonly to mean all kinds of departures from companies, including voluntary resignations and those fired as well as those laid off. Looking at the intentional churn created solely by layoffs gives insight into how much companies are controlling how their workforce changes.

To some management experts, HP's intentional churn represents a dramatic cultural change for one of Silicon Valley's signature companies, whose workplace practices were once regarded as a model worldwide.

``HP was one of the holdouts of an older-style commitment firm,'' said Diane Burton, an associate professor at MIT Sloan School of Management who has taught a popular Harvard Business School case study on HP's pre-churn workforce practices. ``Now they're treating their people as disposable workers.''

Chief Executive Mark Hurd has explained the latest layoff plan as an ambitious agenda to cut back on jobs that have been putting HP at a competitive disadvantage. The company has been loaded down with too many workers in information technology, human resources and finance positions -- and not enough in revenue-generating jobs, such as sales.

``We are trying to get our cost structure right,'' Hurd told HP business partners in September 2005. ``And the places that the cost is coming out of are not the places where we're adding cost.''

That's true not only for the types of jobs, but also for where they're located.

The global layoffs recently helped HP chisel away at an expensive workforce in the United States and Western Europe, and funnel work to lower-paid employees in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, according to several HP executives in Europe.

``Some jobs are disappearing on-shore because the skills and the quality exist elsewhere at a much cheaper cost,'' said Eric Grall, HP Services' vice president of global delivery for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

A spokesman from HP's headquarters in Palo Alto declined to comment on this. But chief financial officer Bob Wayman told Wall Street in March that of the 15,300 employees being laid off through Jan. 31, 2007, ``some of those employees will be replaced by other employees, in many cases in different, lower-cost geographies... We're moving back-office functions to India, Costa Rica, Eastern Europe, etc.''

U.S. companies are rarely required to disclose how many employees they have -- or have laid off -- in a particular geographic location, and HP has declined to do so. However, HP did reveal in July 2005, when it announced the most recent layoff plan, that its 151,000 employees worldwide included 58,000 in the United States and 9,000 in the Bay Area.

The global head count and regional breakdowns fluctuate throughout the year depending on whether hiring is outpacing layoffs at the time.

Hurd said HP would reduce its worldwide head count of 151,000 employees at that time by 10 percent over the next six quarters, ending Jan. 31, 2007. And that should save HP $2.1 billion annually beginning this fiscal year, which started Nov. 1.

By April, HP had already laid off 8,100 of the slated 15,300 employees. But due to non-stop hiring, the worldwide head count had dipped only 0.6 percent -- to 150,000.

HP later said eliminating positions doesn't mean the company stops hiring.

HP spokesman Ryan Donovan declined to comment on whether the company is cutting costs by hiring cheaper workers.

However, Donovan said the company has been hiring ``nearly continuously'' throughout the years of layoffs as it worked ``diligently'' to match its workforce's abilities with the market's changing needs.

``This means deploying people in roles that will help the business grow in areas of promise while shifting them away from areas offering less potential or where functions may have become redundant,'' Donovan said. ``This is why we are hiring aggressively in certain areas while working to eliminate positions in others.''

Paul Oyer, an associate professor of economics at the Stanford's Graduate School of Business, said IBM adopted this churn strategy in the 1980s. ``They were downsizing the company dramatically, but they were always hiring into new types of businesses,'' Oyer said. ``They closed manufacturing units but at the same time were increasing their software and consulting businesses.''

Experts say that over the past six years, more high-tech companies have churned their workforces as they bowed to market pressures to produce bigger profits amid intensifying global competition and accelerating technological innovation. But hiring continuously amid layoffs hasn't been limited to the fast-paced tech sector.

Although workforce churn isn't new, its prevalence has not been widely known.

Clair Brown, co-author of a book published in October called ``Economic Turbulence: The Impact on Workers and Businesses,'' examined workforce churn in the semiconductor, software, financial services, retail food and trucking sectors from 1992 to 2003. She said the amount of hiring amid layoffs was ``staggering.''

``We saw no matter what, companies had constant employment,'' said Brown, an economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley. ``I saw a real sea-change in these companies' willingness to take care of their workers in the '80s and '90s.''

HP was one of the last notable companies to cast aside what had amounted to a lifetime-employment legacy. It has implemented eight layoff plans since 2002, when its mega-merger with Compaq Computer made HP's workforce of approximately 86,200 employees swell overnight to nearly 150,000.

Under layoff plans announced that year and the next, the combined company sent 26,000 workers away with severance packages to reduce redundant operations and realign activities with the cooling business climate. In 2005, HP initiated layoff plans three times -- getting rid of 1,450 employees, then 3,000 more, and finally another 15,300.

HP said it would not provide details about how the churning has changed its workforce because of competitive and confidentiality concerns.

But HP has said about half of the 15,300 latest job cuts are whittling down back-office support. And Hurd, who started his career 26 years ago as a field salesman at Ohio-based NCR, has repeatedly mentioned during speeches and press conferences over the past 15 months that he wants HP to beef up the size of its sales staff.

These kinds of workforce shifts have helped HP boost its revenue this year by 6 percent. Its stock price shot up more than 60 percent by mid-December since the last major job cut was announced July 19, 2005. The revenue growth has given HP the title of the world's largest technology company, a claim that IBM held until November.

While HP's future looks brighter, some employees are still dismayed about the company's departure from its past workplace practices.

But Wally Russell, HP's director of employee relations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said moving work to lower cost areas will benefit the remaining employees in the long run.

``If we're not competitive,'' Russell said, ``we will lose more jobs than we are losing.''


Contact Nicole C. Wong at nwong@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5730.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Unfilled factory jobs spark hunt for high-tech workers


Unfilled factory jobs spark hunt for high-tech workers

Area demand strong for skilled manufacturing labor

By Mike Hoeft
mhoeft@greenbaypressgazette.com

A recent glimpse at an online Wisconsin job site shows scores of high-paying job openings at local factories. Many go unfilled.

  • Process piping designer, $48,000 to $78,000 a year, requiring experience as mechanical engineering technician.

  • Plant design specialist, $54,000 to $64,000 a year, associate degree with certification as engineering technician.

  • Truss designer, $25,000 to $50,000 a year, engineering training helpful.

    "There's a huge demand for skilled manufacturing labor in this area," said Jim Golembeski, executive director of the Bay Area Workforce Development Board in Green Bay.

    While layoffs at Wisconsin factories have garnered headlines the past few years, advanced manufacturers are hiring like crazy, Golembeski said.

    At least they're trying to.

    Bellevue-based furniture maker KI is expanding its product offerings and creating 75 new assembly positions at its Bonduel plant over the next three years. The 228,000-square-foot Bonduel plant currently employs 115. The venture will add high-pressure laminates and table tops to the company's product line.

    Workers in particular need include CNC — computer numerical control — technicians. CNC technicians program machines to fabricate pieces. CNC automation has made it easier to manufacture complex shapes with fewer errors, better quality and less time to change the machine to produce different components.

    CNC programmers are in high demand and often hard to find, said Kristy Brockman, human resources manager for KI Bonduel.

    "The position has been posted for two months and we've received zero applicants," she said. She declined to state a pay range for the job, but said it was the highest-compensated technician position at the Bonduel plant.

    "It's a new position that we hadn't had a need for here in the past," Brockman said. KI plans to fill one position by transferring a CNC technician to Bonduel from another KI facility.

    "We'll also look at internal training and grow our own work force," she said. "It's a great opportunity for our current employees."

    Vocational training

    In a survey of 800 manufacturers last year by the National Association of Manufacturers, more than 80 percent said they were experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. The shortage is partly due to older, experienced workers retiring. And as more repetitive, less-skilled manufacturing moves abroad, U.S. manufacturers are requiring more high-tech skills.

    The shortage of skilled manufacturing workers is so critical that New North Inc., a regional economic development agency, recently ran ads in the Detroit Free Press seeking welders and engineers for job openings here. The ads, touting "new work, new life, New North," were aimed at displaced factory workers with key skills, said Kathi Seifert of New North.

    Technical colleges are trying to fill the need.

    KI partners with state vocational colleges on training its work force, particularly in tool and die processes.

    Sandy Duckett, vice president of college advancement at NWTC, said the college has been proactive in providing training certification in skilled manufacturing, such as machine tooling and welding.

    "More manufacturing employers are seeking workers with credentials that make them more highly skilled," she said.

    Duckett said employers have posted about 200 job orders on the NWTC Web site. Studies say 70 percent of the jobs in the future will require some technical expertise.

    "About 40 percent of employers we know of use our student services office to post positions," she said.

    Stuart Kolb, general manager of Bellevue's KI plant, said KI also works with NWTC on training workers in lean manufacturing techniques that minimize waste, handling, transportation and assembly costs.

    "It's imperative for manufacturing to keep competitive," Kolb said. KI also faces skilled-worker shortages in hand welding and robotic-welding operations.

    Golembeski said the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance aims to connect skilled employees with employers. Job-seekers and employers can post notices at its Web site.

    Future needs

    "We're certainly seeing more help-wanted ads," said Michael Klonsinski, executive director of the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership. A study in 2005 determined that availability of skilled workers was among four top issues facing Wisconsin manufacturers.

    "Many manufacturers are being hurt because we don't have available talent," Klonsinski said. The short-term issue is meeting demand for trained workers. A long-term issue is manufacturing's image, he said.

    To attract the best and brightest, people have to see it as an opportunity, he said. Besides assembly, manufacturing also involves logistics and marketing. Schools must promote engineering and math skills, he said.

    In related news, the partnership this week released a survey in which a third of the manufacturers surveyed gave themselves high marks for growing sales and profitable growth. But more than half indicated room for improvement.

    "Clearly the survey underscores the need for services to help Wisconsin's small and mid-size manufacturers adopt innovative growth strategies," Klonsinski said. Wisconsin's $46 billion industrial sector is well-positioned for future growth as long as manufacturers adopt business practices that emphasize speed, agility and make the transition from "commodity" to "value-added" products, he said. The partnership is a nonprofit consulting organization that helps small and mid-size manufacturers become more competitive.

  • Friday, December 15, 2006

    Stanley Furniture to layoff nearly half of employees at Robbinsville, North Carolina, facility


    Stanley Furniture to layoff nearly half of employees at Robbinsville, North Carolina, facility
    By Dee Dee Yelverton- - - - -

    [12-14-2006]
    Stanley Furniture will layoff nearly half — 200 out of 450 — employees at its Robbinsville, North Carolina, facility, including management and hourly workers, beginning in February. Jeffrey R. Scheffer, chairman, president and chief executive officer, cites changing business conditions as the reason. "The industry wide slowdown that has led to slower sales requires us to balance production and staffing levels throughout our four facilities," he says in a statement. "We sincerely regret the impact on some of our Robbinsville associates. However, this difficult decision is necessary to better align our staffing levels and work schedules with current business conditions."

    The layoffs will be staggered, beginning February 12, according to company spokesperson, Robin Campbell. Company officials say that they will they will work closely with the North Carolina Employment Security Commission to provide career counseling, training and job search assistance, including referrals, for affected employees.

    Thursday, December 14, 2006

    450 AOL STAFFERS TRIMMED


    By JANET WHITMAN

    PrintEmailDigg ItStory Bottom

    December 14, 2006 -- AOL handed out pink slips to more than 450 staffers yesterday as part of the Internet portal's strategy shift to offer most of its services for free.

    The bulk of yesterday's cuts were at AOL's Dulles, Va., headquarters and bringing the company close to its goal, announced in August, of cutting its workforce by 5,000.

    After watching millions of its dial-up subscribers defect to faster and cheaper Internet service providers over the past few years, AOL, a unit of media conglomerate Time Warner, decided earlier this year to take the radical step of offering most of its services, including e-mail, for free.

    The company is hoping the strategy will attract more users and, in effect, boost its advertising revenue.

    AOL is no longer marketing its dial-up service, which was long the company's core business. As a result, AOL has shuttered call centers across the U.S.

    The strategy appears to be paying off.

    AOL has signed up more than 5 million free accounts since August, Time Warner's operating chief Jeff Bewkes told investors at a recent conference.

    That could allow AOL to end the year with as many users as it started with for the first time in four years, Bewkes added.

    With its job cuts now largely complete, AOL has a worldwide workforce of about 14,000, including about 4,000 employees in northern Virginia.

    Still, more changes could lie ahead under new boss Randy Falco.

    AOL wooed Falco, the No. 2 executive at NBC television group, a few weeks ago to take the helm from chief Jonathan Miller, who has since left the company.

    janet.whitman@nypost.com

    Boeing cuts fewer than anticipated in 2006


    Company officials aren't ruling out the possibility of more reductions.

    BY MOLLY MCMILLIN
    The Wichita Eagle

    The proposed 900 job cuts expected at Boeing Wichita this year have not all come to pass.

    So far this year, the company has let go 367 people. Another 28 workers have been issued 60-day layoff notices.

    "Customer requirements made us keep a few more people on board than we anticipated," said Boeing Wichita spokesman Jarrod Bartlett. "Things are always changing."

    However, "we do think there is the possibility of some future reductions," he said. "But we don't know when or how many."

    In April, Boeing announced it would cut about 900 jobs -- about one in four people -- in three rounds of layoffs in Wichita.

    Boeing had initially planned to issue layoff notices to 360 employees in April, 240 the end of June and 300 more in mid-November.

    At the time, Boeing officials said the layoffs were due to a review of the current defense budget and future budgets plus a reassessment of the site's future business plan. Officials said Boeing's defense customers had informed them of significant shifts in their budgets and programs.

    Since then, customers' requirements have changed, Bartlett said.

    Besides layoffs, some of the job reductions were through normal attrition, he said. About 30 people were able to transfer into other jobs at Boeing.


    Reach Molly McMillin at 316-269-6708 or mmcmillin@wichitaeagle.com.

    Fru-Con to layoff workforce


    - The company working on the new I-280 bridge will lay off almost half its workforce. The Veterans' Glass City Skyway is set to open to traffic next spring, but will it? And what about worker safety on the project?

    Safety will be one of the issues discussed when ODOT meets with Fru-Con. The two sides need to talk after news that workers at the bridge site are being laid off. The I-280 bridge is really taking shape. As a matter of fact, ODOT says it's 90-percent done. This morning Fru-Con, the construction company building the Maumee crossing, announced it is cutting back its workforce.

    "We were a little surprised by the layoffs."

    Andrea Voogd, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Transportation says Fru-Con told ODOT this morning the company was laying off 86 workers, 33 of them carpenters, leaving 107 on the job through the winter.

    ODOT says that the company, Fru-Con, assured them they were going to work aggressively through the winter months. Right now, ODOT isn't sure how these layoffs are going to affect the end of the project. And there's still some work to be done.

    Concrete barriers along the roadway need to be built, trussles have to be dismantled, the stay cables need stressing, the road itself needs painting and the site needs clean-up.

    Fru-Con sent 13 abc an email saying "Construction activities are being tailored for winter work" and also stated "the site will be shut down for the holidays." Since 90-percent of the project is complete, ODOT understands cutbacks.

    "The layoffs are logical in that there will be a reduction in the workforce for that."

    However, ODOT wants the bridge open by March or April and plans to meet with Fru-Con to make sure that completion goal is not jeopardized by today's layoffs

    "We want to finish this in the most safe, aggressive manner possible."

    Fru-Con says it will have the project completed safely by March 2. If it doesn't the company will be fined $20,000 for every day it takes to finish.

    The Veteran's Glass City Skyway costs more than $200 million making it the most expensive project in ODOT history. It should be done and dedicated in April.

    Officials plan a memorial structure as a tribute to four ironworkers killed in a crane accident in 2004. The memorial will be at Ravine Park and will have four pillars. The sculpture will cost $130,000 so organizers want to raise money with a dinner gala. The "some enlightened evening" gala is on May 24, 2007. For more information call 419-206-0398.

    K-C moves ahead with layoff plans


    NEENAH — Kimberly-Clark Corp. is moving forward with plans to lay off up to 350 people in human resources, information technology and sourcing and supply chain management.

    David Dickson company spokesman said that none of the affected workers were let go Tuesday. This round of layoffs was announced by the company on Sept. 20, but officials said at that time it could take several months to cut those positions.

    Dickson confirmed that company officials began meeting with the affected workers this week, though he would not say how many people.

    This latest wave of job cuts is part of K-C's three-year plan to improve profitability, which calls for reducing its work force of 57,000 by 6,000 positions.

    — Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

    All Icos workers losing their jobs


    All Icos workers losing their jobs

    Seattle Times business reporter


    Eli Lilly is laying off all 700 employees at Icos, including all 550 in Washington, as part of its pending purchase of the state's largest locally based biotech company.

    The cuts will become effective over the next year if Icos shareholders ratify the proposed $2.1 billion sale at a shareholders vote at its Bothell headquarters next Tuesday.

    Icos said in mid-November that most employees had gotten layoff notices but hadn't confirmed until now that all workers are being dismissed.

    George Rathmann, a biotech legend who co-founded Icos after guiding Amgen to the top of the industry, said in an interview he was "surprised" and "disappointed" to learn of the comprehensive layoff. "That is very strange," he said.

    Rathmann, 78, co-founded the company in 1990, took it public a year later and in 1998 struck the original 50-50 partnership under which Icos and Lilly jointly market the impotence drug Cialis.

    He handed over the CEO job to former Abbott Laboratories executive Paul Clark in 1999.

    In the past, Rathmann said, he'd hoped to build Icos into an industry powerhouse. When asked if he had hoped Icos would someday be as big as Amgen, he said, "Why would I stop there? You don't have to limit your hopes to that. It was always a wonderful company."

    Rathmann still holds 800,000 Icos shares. He said he hasn't decided yet which way to vote on the sale.

    "I liked the way the company was going a few years ago, but then it veered off course," he said.

    In October, the Icos board agreed to sell the company to Lilly for $32 a share.

    Employees are expected to leave in waves. Many have received 60-day layoff notices, and some have been asked to stay through longer transition periods.

    The last remaining workers will be in contract manufacturing, where they make small batches of biotech drugs for other companies. Those employees will stay through 2007 to fulfill contract obligations, said Icos spokeswoman Lacy Fitzpatrick.

    Eli Lilly Chief Executive Sidney Taurel promised in October there would be "significant" job cuts at Icos. He has said the acquisition will fatten profits in 2008.

    The deal has stirred controversy. A leading proxy advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services of Rockville, Md., has recommended shareholders defeat it because the price is too low. It also questioned the timing of the deal, which was struck two days before positive news broke that profits at the Cialis joint venture had quadrupled.

    Last week, The Seattle Times reported that Icos advanced another drug, IC 776, into clinical trials for psoriasis without telling investors.

    Icos has about 325,000 square feet of lab and office space spread among eight buildings in Bothell, and smaller facilities in Bellevue and Redmond.

    In its last annual report, Icos said it also owned 300,000 square feet of land at its Bothell campus that was being saved for future expansion. Its main leases expire between 2007 and 2012.

    Fitzpatrick said Icos hasn't begun looking to sublease space, because it is still operating until the takeover is finalized.

    MANPOWER EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK SURVEYS by COUNTRY


    IWS Documented News Service
    _______________________________
    Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
    School of Industrial & Labor Relations
    -------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
    Cornell University
    16 East 34th Street, 4th floor
    ---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
    New York, NY 10016
    -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
    ________________________________________________________________________

    See in particular-
    MANPOWER EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK SURVEYS by COUNTRY [with CHARTS & Press Releases]
    http://www.manpower.com/mpcom/VisualLibraryMEOS.jsp?quarterID=63&articleid=373


    Global Manpower Employment Outlook Survey Reveals Stronger Hiring Activity Ahead for Most of Europe and Asia Compared to One Year Ago; Steady Job Outlook to Continue in United States
    http://investor.manpower.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=221725&Reltype =

    MILWAUKEE, Dec 12, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Employers are optimistic about adding to their workforces in the first quarter of 2007, with those in 20 countries and territories reporting more robust hiring plans than one year ago, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey of global hiring trends released today by Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN). In contrast to the first quarter of 2006, European employers in 11 of 12 countries say they will boost year-over-year hiring activity, with employers in Germany reporting a second consecutive quarter of positive job prospects. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is the most extensive, forward-looking employment survey in the world, gathering data from nearly 50,000 employers across 27 countries and territories each quarter.

    "The! global labor market looks set for a positive start to 2007 with employers in most of Europe and Asia planning to increase hiring compared to the first quarter of 2006, and the U.S. job market continuing to plug along at a steady pace," said Jeffrey Joerres, Chairman & CEO of Manpower Inc. "The German labor market appears to be gaining momentum with a second consecutive quarter of healthier job prospects ahead, while employers in Singapore and India are set to accelerate hiring considerably from 12 months ago."

    The first quarter of the year is historically a slow period for hiring in many countries, as holiday workers finish their assignments and the colder winter months inhibit work in the northern hemisphere in industries such as agriculture, construction and tourism.

    The Manpower survey showed the most optimistic hiring expectations for the first quarter are in Peru, Singapore, India, Argentina, South Africa, Costa Rica, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. ! Employers in Belgium, Costa Rica, Peru, Ireland, Japan, Spain, Switzer land and South Africa are reporting their most optimistic hiring plans since the survey began in these countries. In addition, the survey was expanded to Argentina this quarter, where employer hiring expectations are among the strongest in the survey.

    Of the six countries surveyed in the Americas, Peruvian employers are the most optimistic about adding to their workforces, while employers in the remaining countries expect continued positive hiring activity. The hiring pace is expected to be similar from one year ago in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

    "Although the overall hiring outlook remains healthy in the U.S., we are seeing a little more caution by employers, especially in the Construction, Manufacturing-Durables and Finance/Insurance/Real Estate sectors, where hiring is expected to slow from both the fourth quarter and one year ago," said Joerres. "On the upside, U.S. employers in the Services sector, as well as those in Mexico and Canada, say th! ey will continue their strong pace of hiring. Notably, the Mexican labor market continues a strong steady growth trend that began in third quarter of 2004."

    Across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, job prospects are strongest in South Africa, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Belgium, while Italian employers report the weakest regional hiring expectations. Employers in Norway are the only ones in the region indicating that they will slow hiring from one year ago. This quarter's result from Norwegian employers is the weakest in two years.

    "Our data from the EMEA region shows notable strength in the Transport & Communication and Finance/Insurance/Real Estate sectors where there should be ample opportunities for job seekers throughout the region," said Joerres.

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, in Asia Pacific, hiring prospects remain strong but are slightly weaker than three months ago. Compared to first quarter of ! 2006, hiring is expected to improve in seven of eight countries and te rritories surveyed. Hiring expectations are strongest in Singapore and India, and weakest in Taiwan. Regional data was added for the first time this quarter in China, where employers are the most optimistic about adding staff in Beijing and least optimistic in Wuhan.

    "The Finance/Insurance/Real Estate sector is the driving force in this quarter's significantly improved employment outlook for Singapore, however, employers across all industry sectors expect to accelerate hiring from 12 months ago in a very tight market for talent," said Joerres. "The strong outlook in the Japanese market is being fueled, in part, by the Wholesale/Retail Trade sector and in India there is notable improvement reported in the Mining & Construction sector, where employers expect to more than double the pace of hiring from one year ago."

    The next Manpower Employment Outlook Survey will be released on the 13th of March 2007 to report hiring expectations for the second quarter. The ! Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is available free of charge to the public through their local Manpower representative in participating countries. To receive e-mail notification when the survey is available each quarter, interested individuals are invited to complete an online subscription form at < http://investor.manpower.com/distlist.cfm> .

    Note to Editors

    All comments are based on seasonally adjusted data where available. The region reported in the past as "Europe" has been changed to "Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)" to include results from South Africa, which joined the survey program in the 4th quarter of 2006.

    Full survey results for each of the 27 countries and territories included in this quarter's survey, plus regional and global comparisons, can be found in the Manpower Press Room at < http://www.manpower.com/meos>. In addition, all tables and graphs from the full report are available to be downloaded for use in publication or broadcast from the Manpower Web site at < http://www.manpower.com/library> .

    About the Survey

    The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers' intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforce during the next quarter. It is the most extensive forward-looking survey of its kind, unparalleled in its size, scope, longevity and area of focus. The Survey has been running for more than 40 years and is one of the most trusted surveys of employment activity in the world. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is based on interviews with nearly 50,000 public and private employers worldwide and is considered a highly respected economic indicator.

    The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is currently available for 27 countries and territories: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Ca! nada, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The program began in the United States and Canada in 1962, and the United Kingdom was added in 1966. Mexico and Ireland launched the survey in 2002, and 13 additional countries were added to the program in 2003. New Zealand joined the program in 2004, China, India, Switzerland and Taiwan were added in 2005, and Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica and South Africa joined in 2006. For more information, visit the Manpower Inc. Web site at < http://www.manpower.com> and enter the Research Center.

    About Manpower Inc.

    Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) is a world leader in the employment services industry; creating and delivering services that enable its clients to win in the changing world of work.! The $16 billion company offers employers a range of services for the entire employment and business cycle including permanent, temporary and contract recruitment; employee assessment and selection; training; outplacement; outsourcing and consulting. Manpower's worldwide network of 4,400 offices in 73 countries and territories enables the company to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, including small and medium size enterprises in all industry sectors, as well as the world's largest multinational corporations. The focus of Manpower's work is on raising productivity through improved quality, efficiency and cost-reduction across their total workforce, enabling clients to concentrate on their core business activities. Manpower Inc. operates under five brands: Manpower, Manpower Professional, Elan, Jefferson Wells and Right Management. More information on Manpower Inc. is available at < http://www.manpower.com> .

    SOURCE Manpower Inc.

    Britt Zarling of Manpower Inc.!
    , +1-414-906-7272, britt.zarling@manpower.com
    ______________________________
    This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

    Report Shows Illinios Employment Growth Highest in Ten Years


    rom the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, Dec 11, 2006
    To access the full report, please visit
    http://www.ctbaonline.org/New_Folder/Workforce%20Dev/SWIL%202006%20FINAL_embargoed%20until%20121106.pdf

    (CHICAGO)—Illinois employment growth is at its highest rate in 10 years, according to new State of Working Illinois 2006 report released today. From 2005 to 2006, the state’s total employment increased by more than two percent, exceeding national and Midwestern rates. The number of employed grew by more than 135,000, the largest job expansion recorded in the state since 1994.

    As a result of this growth, the number of unemployed in Illinois dropped by more than 68,000—continuing a decline that began in 2003. And the state’s unemployment rate fell by 1.1 percent between 2005 and 2006, the second-largest drop in the nation. The report also notes that after a sharp decline in early years of the decade, 2005 median household income showed a modest gain of $775, outpacing national growth. However, the current income level ($48,398) lags just more than 10 percent below Illinois’ peak in 1999.

    Despite these employment gains and the slight increase in median income in the last year, Illinois continues to see an overall loss in higher-paying jobs, according to the report. The study finds that from 2005 to 2006 the state lost a total of 10,900 jobs from its highest paying sectors: manufacturing and information. While these higher-earning jobs have been disappearing, jobs in the service sector have been created to replace them. In the past year, the state added another 64,400 service sector jobs, which represented a 2.2 percent rate of growth. This growth rate exceeded the national (1.9 percent) and Midwestern (1.8 percent) rates. Out of the 64,400 new service sector jobs, the top two industries of growth were in professional and business services and leisure and hospitality.

    Overall, more than 55 percent of the new service-sector jobs earn high-wages. However, the report notes that the job shift greatly impacts Illinois’ pocketbooks as the four fastest growing service industries in 2006 had a weighted weekly average wage of $524.18—20 percent lower than the average manufacturing wage ($659.66).
    more -

    “Illinois continues to see ups and downs in its employment health. While the service sector growth is having a definite impact on job development, the decline of job quality, pay and benefits from the exodus of the state’s traditional industries has begun to take a toll on Illinois working families,” says Paul Kleppner, one of the main researchers from the Office for Social Policy Research at Northern Illinois University. “Illinois needs to prepare for the long-term effects of this job shift as it will impact everything from worker development and training to the state’s fiscal health and demand for public services.”

    The State of Working Illinois 2006 also reviews for the first time how Illinois compares with the nation and Midwest in key employment areas:

    ? Women represent a smaller share of their labor force in Illinois, than they do in neighboring Midwest states. The proportion of women in the Illinois workforce declined from a high of 47 percent in 2002 to 46.2 percent in 2005.

    ? Illinois minority workers sharply outnumber their counterparts throughout the region. In 2005, the 28 percent of minorities in the state’s workforce was 10.3 percentage points higher than the Midwest average and only slightly below the national level. The main driver of greater workforce diversity in Illinois has been the growing Hispanic population, whose share of the workforce has more than tripled since 1980.

    ? Illinois’ workforce has also gained higher education over time. By 2005, most Illinois workers had some post-secondary education (62 percent) and nearly 33 percent have a college degree. By both of these measures Illinois’ workforce had considerably better education than its regional and national counterparts.

    ? Illinois poverty rate lowest since 2001. The state’s 2005 poverty rate of 11.5 percent is lower than the national rate and below that of every state in the region except Wisconsin.

    ? Union membership boots women’s wages significantly. For women nationally, union membership produces a weekly wage boost of about 33 percent, nearly 36 percent in the Midwest, and nearly 28 percent in Illinois.

    “Illinois leads the nation and region in significant employment areas such as diversity and education, but as job quality and benefits continue to decline, qualified workers will not be seeing adequate compensation for their work,” says Ralph Martire, Executive Director, Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. “In order to stay with and ahead of our regional and national counterparts, the state must adapt to this job transition and develop new measures towards maintaining a stable and sustainable
    economy.”

    The report’s Midwest comparisons consists of the five states that the Census designates as the “East North Central” region—Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The data for the Midwest includes the data for the state of Illinois. Data for individual Midwestern states are available online at www.stateofworkingillinois.niu.edu.

    The study is a follow up to the 2005 State of Working Illinois report which was developed by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, and the Office of Social Policy Research and the Regional Development Institute of Northern Illinois University and funded by The Joyce Foundation. The Illinois Department of Employment Security also provided data for the report. The 2007 edition of the report will provide an update on employment trends in each of the state’s ten regions identified by Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

    Tuesday, December 12, 2006

    December, 2006


    December, 2006

    Well, another year is about to enter the books and this one has been extremely good to job hunters.

    This was my January, 2006 column;

    There is nothing like two weeks with a lighter than usual schedule to put the bloom back in a search professionals cheeks and the smile back into his or her face again. A few years ago, we all came back from the Christmas-New Year’s holidays looking at one another and wondering what to do.

    Today, I came back (I now live in Milford, PA and I work from home when it snows as it did yesterday) and my office was energetic and so was I. We all have work to do. Clients we haven’t spoken with in years are asking for help. It is a good time to be in my line of work.

    And look at the news. CIO magazine in it’s January 1, 2006 survey reports that 55% of CIO’s expect to increase staff size by an average of 11%. Only 9% plan on cutting personnel. This is a radical departure from a few years ago.

    And the Wall Street Journal points out that India is developing a talent shortage. Yes, many of the Indian companies are starting to go to China for staff but that will, again, prove an inadequate solution.

    Where is the growth projected? Although many point to that old favorite, the midlevel professional, as the area of growth, frankly there are not enough midlevel people to meet demand.

    Another area of growth is with project managers, continuing the pattern we forecast beginning in 2004 with the end of the tech recession.

    Wages should continue to grow but, for a while they will be at the same snail’s pace as we have seen for several years. By the third quarter or end of year, I expect wages to start to sail based upon continuous need meeting continuous shortage. The problem is not unique to one part of the country or one sector. A large professional services firm expects to hire 50 program managers and 50 enterprise architects. Another wants 45 Websphere portal professionals, 30 in Siebel, 80 with SAP skills and on and on.

    A friend of mine, Hal Klegman from Roy Talman & Associates in Chicago, told me a story today of speaking to a group of studentsand correcting the guidance counselor present. The guidance counselor (and the media) have been telling a persistent story of the tech sector being dead. Hal corrected them saying that it is very much alive. I’ll go a step further.

    In the stock and commodity markets, when everyone tells you it’s time to buy, I have learned that it is time to sell. The reverse is also true. When everyone is telling you that an entire industry like tech is dead, you wait for a while and ride the comeback trail with it.

    Because the last recession was the first to affect tech, the naysayers and doom and gloomers spoke loud and hard. Kids watched their parents out of work for long periods of time. The number of Computer Science grads at US universities (take out the foreign born students on F-1 visas here) is down dramatically. This should tell you it’s time to get your children interested in business and technology . . . again.

    So where are we going? Barring an act of terrorism or war, I continue to see a lot of opportunity and not enough people for them.

    Pretty accurate?

    Yesterday, I read a column in Crain’s New York with a headline to the tune of “All I want for Christmas is a programmer or two.” Yes, technology has begun what will be a fantastic ride—barring terrorism.

    Managers in technology always find it a bit more difficult, because they tend to be wed to one way of doing things that may not translate to other organizations well. If you can avoid that trap, if you can be mobile, of you can demonstrate experience that transfers to other industries, you’ll do well.

    Experience in accounting and auditing remains strong, with hedge fund experience being a glamour area. I recently moved someone from public to a position in industry. She was a senior auditor with hedge experience making $80000 plus a modest bonus. She received $115000 plus a larger bonus, 4 weeks vacation plus a VP title. She had one other offer at that level but at an Assistant Director level plus another from a bank at around that point but as an Assistant Manager.

    Continuous need is meeting continuous shortage and firms are starting to get nervous. I did an interview with The Wall Street Journal and relayed a story to them about one of my clients that was looking for J2EE developers and three years before could get the pick they wanted. Now, they weren’t meeting anyone. Google has started to stgreamline their hiring process, learning that, although they are the current employer of choice, the “it” company, that others were moving faster on the people they were interested in and Google was not attracting enough good people to meet demand.

    And, to me, this is the pivot point for the economy in general.

    The economy has been inflated for several years—the post 9/11 era under President Bush has consisted of guns and butter—heavy spending on the war and on defense; heavy spending on programs. With a Democratic Congress, 2008 being the end of the Bush Presidency (the Dow has never finished up in the last year of a two term American Presidency), labor shortages and associated salary increases will start to inflate costs, reduce profits, and keep companies from meeting goals,

    In other words, it is not the problems in the housing sector that keep me worried, but those in the labor market that keep me up at night.

    Manufacturing is continuing to go abroad and cost jobs here (If you read my blog with any regularity, you’ll know that already). Pharma is doing well; banks and investment firm profits are extraordinary and bonuses this year will be terrific. There is even a dotcom sector again!

    Yet, without people, businesses will start to implode and seek merger partners that will cause them to consolidate their ambitions and bring the boom to an end.

    Unless s Democratic Congress gets a case of “religion” and listens to business leaders and agree to increase the H1b program and permit foreign nationals to come to the US in greater numbers, unless companies take up the cause of training their own employees for new roles, the economy will start to slow down and bring the good times to an end.

    In the mean time, do the things that will help you emain marketable.

    Jeff Altman

    The Big Game Hunter
    Concepts in Staffing
    jeffaltman@cisny.com

    © 2006 all rights reserved.

    Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

    To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free meta job lead tool, Job Search Universe that searches more than 1600 employment sites worldwide, or to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to, http://www.jeffaltman.com. To subscribe to Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, Natural Selection Ezine, subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com For information about personal search services, go to www.VIPPersonalSearch.com.

    If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

    Greensboro-based denim maker to layoff 250 workers


    Dec 9, 2006 : 2:19 pm ET

    GREENSBORO, N.C. -- About 250 people will lose their jobs next month when Cone Denim dismisses a quarter of its work force, company officials said.

    The company, competing in a market dominated by foreign-made jeans, will move from a seven-day to a five-day work week at its White Oak denim plant, said Delores Sides, a spokeswoman for Greensboro-based International Textile Group, Cone Denim's parent company.

    "We announced to the employees last week that the plant would be moving to a different work schedule," Sides said.

    International Textile believes the plant's survival will rest on high-end denim brands, such as Levi's, 7 For All Mankind and True Religion, Sides said. The plant is 1.6 million square feet and was built in 1905.

    In March, the company plans to close a department that produces yarn for cheaper denim that is more coarse than denim used in luxury brands. The White Oak plant's history of producing high-end jeans will be an advantage over companies in other countries that tend to make lower-quality denim, Sides said.

    In April, Cone Denim announced plans to open a 750-employee plant in Nicaragua. The company also has a production facility in Mexico, a hand in ventures in India and Turkey, and is building a plant in China.

    Aramark unit in Orlando says it plans to lay off 208 workers


    Aramark unit in Orlando says it plans to lay off 208 workers

    Sara K. Clarke | Sentinel Staff Writer
    Posted December 9, 2006

    Aramark Facility Services is laying off 208 people at two facilities in Orlando, effective Jan. 6.

    The operation is part of Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., which provides food services, facilities management, uniforms and work apparel to health-care institutions, sports venues, businesses and schools.

    The company filed a layoff notice with the state this week, saying that Aramark Services Limited Partnership had been informed in early November that it "would not be retained to provide transportation services at AVL-Orlando and Hertz-Orlando."

    The company's Web site said that, as part of its transportation services, it provides other companies with support in such areas as logistics, equipment upkeep, shuttle systems and facility maintenance.

    The employees affected by the layoffs were not represented by a union and do not have the opportunity to bump less-senior workers in other areas of the company, Aramark said in its notice to the state.

    Company officials were not available for comment Friday.

    Thursday, December 07, 2006

    Low Layoff Rate Lifts IT Confidence


    By Deborah Rothberg

    A record low number of layoffs led to a surge in IT worker confidence in November, according an index released by Hudson, a New York-based staffing and outsourcing company.

    The increase in tech worker confidence—up 6.2 Index points to 115.8—is attributed to improved sentiments regarding personal finance as well as decreased concern about job security. IT worker confidence is up 14.8 points from November 2005, and a total 12.7 points since August 2006.

    Hiring expectations remained almost steady from October, dropping 1 point from 38 to 37 percent in November. Yet, at 14 percent, the number of workers reporting that their company would be laying off staff reached an all-time low in November, falling nearly 5 percent from the month prior.

    Confidence in personal finances boomed in November, rising 3 points from 48 to 51 percent since October. Fewer IT workers felt their financial situation was worsening in November, down 3 percent to 27 percent.

    Down 4 percent from October, only 21 percent of IT workers were worried about losing their jobs in November.

    Hudson's national Index, based on responses from workers nationwide across all industries, also increased substantially in November, jumping nearly 4 points to 105.3.

    Improved hiring expectations as well as greater optimism toward personal finances led to the strongest national reading since April 2006.

    Andersen to lay off 440 workers


    Window maker Andersen Corp. is laying off 440 workers, the company said today.

    The layoffs will be effective Jan. 2, 2007. About 400 workers at the company's Bayport facility will be laid off along with 40 workers at its Menominoie, Wis., assembly assembly. The company doesn't have any expectation of further reductions, said Maureen McDonough, a spokeswoman in a conference call with reporters.

    Most of the jobs lost were in production but a few were managers and supervisors. The cuts affected employees with the least amount of senority and they are likely going to be permanant, she said.

    "We have told employees that there will be a two-year call back period if business conditions improve. We would love that to happen, but we don't really expect that it will."

    Andersen anticipated that 2006 would bring less volume than 2005, which was the peak of housing starts, McDonough said. "What we didn't anticipate was the real dramatic decline that happened in about April of this year."

    Andersen, a private company that expects about $2.5 billion in 2006 sales, is the largest maker of windows and doors in the world.

    Andersen employs about 15,000 people worldwide and 2,600 production workers in Bayport and about 340 in Menomonie.

    cwyant@bizjournals.com | (612) 288-2108

    Sunday, December 03, 2006

    Ohio unemployment claims fall, Kentucky's rise


    So far this year, Ohio has seen the biggest drop in the number of initial unemployment claims filed due to mass layoffs compared with other states' 2005 totals, but it still ranks fifth nationally for the most claims filed since January.

    Federal labor statistics show Ohio recorded 35 large-scale layoff events of at least 50 workers each last month, resulting in 2,890 initial claims for unemployment insurance. Kentucky employers accounted for 24 mass layoff actions in October, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month.


    In September, Ohio had 39 layoffs resulting in 5,276 claims, and in October 2005 it had 33 events resulting in 4,820 claims, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. State figures are not seasonally adjusted.

    The mass layoff actions Kentucky recorded this October are up from 10 in October 2005, the bureau said, accounting for a total of 9,645 claims that were made for unemployment insurance, up 72 percent from 2,710 in October 2005.

    For this year, Ohio has seen the number of total claims fall to 57,515, compared with 59,445 for the same period in 2005. The state, however, ranks near the top nationally for the highest number of claims filed. California leads the nation with 255,626 unemployment claims filed since January, Michigan is second with 94,486 claims, Pennsylvania ranks third with 66,594 and New York is fourth with 61,989.

    Kentucky had the highest year-over-year increase in the number of initial claims (an increase of 6,935), largely due to layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing, the bureau said.

    The labor department said most of the layoffs occurred in the manufacturing sector, particularly transportation equipment and machinery manufacturing.

    Nationally, there were 1,171 mass-layoff events, which is a slight increase from the 1,132 recorded in September and 1,114 in October 2005.

    The bureau releases mass layoff statistics on a monthly and quarterly basis.

    Saturday, December 02, 2006

    Arizona Leads in Job Growth in October


    TEMPE, Ariz. (November 30, 2006) - Arizona knocked Nevada out of the top spot in total nonagricultural job growth for October 2006 over October 2005, with a 4.7 percent increase representing 121,200 jobs, according to the current issue of the Blue Chip Job Growth Update. Michigan again reported the lowest growth rate, with a 0.6 percent decrease (27,200 jobs).

    Among metropolitan markets with a workforce of over 1,000,000, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona metropolitan area retained the top position in nonagricultural employment for October 2006 over October 2005, with a 5.2 percent gain, which represented 94,500 jobs. The New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana metropolitan area bounced back from the post-Katrina doldrums to rank first among metropolitan markets with under 1,000,000 workers, posting a 12.6 percent gain (49,700 jobs).

    Overall, the U.S. economy grew by 1,921,000 nonagricultural jobs in October 2006 over October 2005, a 1.4 percent increase.

    The Blue Chip Job Growth Update has been the first-to-user source of complete federal employment data since its inception in 1992. It presents data compiled from the U.S. Bureau of Labor in an easy-to-read format, permitting state-to-state comparisons within 24 hours of the release of the data. The National Consensus Forecast of Labor Employment, Compensation and Productivity, which appears quarterly in the Job Growth Update, contains information from a panel of leading economists around the country.

    The Blue Chip Job Growth Update is available online to subscribers. A sample issue and subscription information are available online at http://wpcarey.asu.edu/jgu.

    W. P. CAREY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

    The L. William Seidman Research Institute in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is an affiliation of six research centers that serves as a link between the local, state, national and international business communities and the creative and intellectual resources of the nationally ranked W. P. Carey School of Business. For more information please visit www.wpcarey.asu.edu.

    Dawn McLaren, economist
    (480) 965-7265
    Dawn.McLaren@asu.edu
    Erin Concors, media relations
    (480) 965-9271
    Erin.Concors@asu.edu

    Friday, December 01, 2006

    Peterbilt sends layoff notice to half of Tenn. plant workers


    NASHVILLE, Tenn. Truck maker Peterbilt Motors Company has sent out layoff notices to more than half of its 12 hundred hourly workers at its suburban Nashville plant.

    A spokesman for Peterbilt's parent company said the layoffs are due to an expected downturn in demand for trucks because of new environmental regulations.The layoffs are scheduled to begin on January 29th. Notices were sent to 667 workers at the plant in Madison.Peterbilt laid off about 600 workers in 2002 following the launch of the new U-S Environmental Protection Agency emission rules.The workers were hired back a year later amid stronger demand.