Employment Stats 12/23/08
Obama increases jobs goal to 3 million
President-elect Barack Obama has increased his employment goal with the nation's economic outlook worsening, seeking to create or save 3 million jobs in the next two years instead of the 2.5 million he proposed last month. Obama set the more ambitious target earlier this week after meeting with top economic advisers who cautioned that the nation's unemployment rate could exceed 9 percent given the current pace of job losses, Obama transition officials said Saturday. Read more.
President-elect Barack Obama has increased his employment goal with the nation's economic outlook worsening, seeking to create or save 3 million jobs in the next two years instead of the 2.5 million he proposed last month. Obama set the more ambitious target earlier this week after meeting with top economic advisers who cautioned that the nation's unemployment rate could exceed 9 percent given the current pace of job losses, Obama transition officials said Saturday. Read more.
More companies cutting labor costs without layoffs
Even as layoffs are reaching historic levels, some employers have found an alternative to slashing their work force. They're nipping and tucking it instead. A growing number of employers, hoping to avoid or limit layoffs, are introducing four-day workweeks, unpaid vacations and voluntary or enforced furloughs, along with wage freezes, pension cuts and flexible work schedules. These employers are still cutting labor costs, but hanging onto the labor. Read more (Free registration required).
Even as layoffs are reaching historic levels, some employers have found an alternative to slashing their work force. They're nipping and tucking it instead. A growing number of employers, hoping to avoid or limit layoffs, are introducing four-day workweeks, unpaid vacations and voluntary or enforced furloughs, along with wage freezes, pension cuts and flexible work schedules. These employers are still cutting labor costs, but hanging onto the labor. Read more (Free registration required).
Unions pose difficult political test for Obama
How firmly will he stand with his labor allies during the painful restructuring of the auto industry? The worst job market in a generation sets up a difficult test for Barack Obama: how closely to align himself with organized labor at a time when reviving economic growth is the top national priority. It's a question that the incoming president will have to address directly in his first few weeks in office, as debate continues over the details of a bailout for the automotive industry. Read more.
How firmly will he stand with his labor allies during the painful restructuring of the auto industry? The worst job market in a generation sets up a difficult test for Barack Obama: how closely to align himself with organized labor at a time when reviving economic growth is the top national priority. It's a question that the incoming president will have to address directly in his first few weeks in office, as debate continues over the details of a bailout for the automotive industry. Read more.
Secretary of Labor: Hilda Solis
When President-elect Barack Obama tapped California Democrat Hilda Solis to be his administration's Labor Secretary, union leaders across the country rejoiced. The four-term Congresswoman has spent the better part of two decades championing workers' rights, including the Employee Free Choice Act, a new bill that would make it easier for workers to organize. Read more.
When President-elect Barack Obama tapped California Democrat Hilda Solis to be his administration's Labor Secretary, union leaders across the country rejoiced. The four-term Congresswoman has spent the better part of two decades championing workers' rights, including the Employee Free Choice Act, a new bill that would make it easier for workers to organize. Read more.
$17.4 billion auto bailout has strings attached
Ailing U.S. automakers and their workers accepted huge concessions Friday, potentially including a partial nationalization, in return for a $17.4 billion federal rescue package meant to buy them time to survive. President Bush outlined a plan that would hand $13.4 billion this month and next to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. Both companies have said they soon might be unable to pay their bills without federal help. GM would get $9.4 billion and Chrysler $4 billion. Ford Motor Co. has said it does not need immediate help. Read more.
Ailing U.S. automakers and their workers accepted huge concessions Friday, potentially including a partial nationalization, in return for a $17.4 billion federal rescue package meant to buy them time to survive. President Bush outlined a plan that would hand $13.4 billion this month and next to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. Both companies have said they soon might be unable to pay their bills without federal help. GM would get $9.4 billion and Chrysler $4 billion. Ford Motor Co. has said it does not need immediate help. Read more.
What help for automakers means for workers
President Bush's plan includes targets for United Auto Workers' wages to be brought in line with what foreign companies pay their non-unionized workers in their U.S. plants and to have similar, more flexible work rules. Foreign makers can move workers from plant to plant and give them different duties or more responsibilities. Many union plants have thick manuals regulating what a worker can be asked to do. Read more.
President Bush's plan includes targets for United Auto Workers' wages to be brought in line with what foreign companies pay their non-unionized workers in their U.S. plants and to have similar, more flexible work rules. Foreign makers can move workers from plant to plant and give them different duties or more responsibilities. Many union plants have thick manuals regulating what a worker can be asked to do. Read more.
In need of cash, more companies cut 401(k) match
Companies eager to conserve cash are trimming their contributions to their workers' 401(k) retirement plans, putting a new strain on America's tattered safety net at the very moment when many workers are watching their accounts plummet along with the stock market. When the FedEx Corporation slimmed down its pension plan last year, it softened the blow by offering workers enriched 401(k) contributions to make up for the pension benefits some would lose. But last week, with Americans sending fewer parcels and FedEx's revenue growth at a standstill, the company said it would suspend all of its contributions for at least a year. Read more (Free registration required).
Companies eager to conserve cash are trimming their contributions to their workers' 401(k) retirement plans, putting a new strain on America's tattered safety net at the very moment when many workers are watching their accounts plummet along with the stock market. When the FedEx Corporation slimmed down its pension plan last year, it softened the blow by offering workers enriched 401(k) contributions to make up for the pension benefits some would lose. But last week, with Americans sending fewer parcels and FedEx's revenue growth at a standstill, the company said it would suspend all of its contributions for at least a year. Read more (Free registration required).
US is likely to lose another 1m jobs in 2009
The US economy is likely to shed another 1 million jobs in 2009 as employers continue to adjust payrolls in light of weak consumer and corporate spending, according to an estimate released today by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a global outplacement consultancy headquartered in Chicago. In 2008, year-to-date job cut announcements are already in excess of 1 million and are expected to close the year at a five-year high, the firm noted. Read more.
The US economy is likely to shed another 1 million jobs in 2009 as employers continue to adjust payrolls in light of weak consumer and corporate spending, according to an estimate released today by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a global outplacement consultancy headquartered in Chicago. In 2008, year-to-date job cut announcements are already in excess of 1 million and are expected to close the year at a five-year high, the firm noted. Read more.
Can Americans afford Medicare?
It is now generally believed that the federal Medicare program for America'?s elderly is "unsustainable" and must be "restructured." This somber assessment is part of the more general cri de coeur so wondrously phrased some years ago in the title of the Brookings Institution's monograph "Can America Afford to Grow Old?" What if we couldn't? What would we do - push the elderly into the ocean on an ice floe? Of course America can afford to grow old! We can more easily afford it than most other industrialized nations. Read more (Free registration required).
It is now generally believed that the federal Medicare program for America'?s elderly is "unsustainable" and must be "restructured." This somber assessment is part of the more general cri de coeur so wondrously phrased some years ago in the title of the Brookings Institution's monograph "Can America Afford to Grow Old?" What if we couldn't? What would we do - push the elderly into the ocean on an ice floe? Of course America can afford to grow old! We can more easily afford it than most other industrialized nations. Read more (Free registration required).
Despite free-market pledge, many countries adopt restrictive policies
Moving to shield battered domestic manufacturers from foreign imports, Indonesia is slapping restrictions on at least 500 products this month. Russia is hiking tariffs on imported cars, poultry and pork. France is launching a state fund to protect French companies from foreign takeovers. Argentina and Brazil are seeking to raise tariffs on products from imported wine and textiles to leather goods and peaches. The list of countries making access to their markets harder potentially includes the United States, where critics are calling the White House's $17.4 billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry an unfair government subsidy that would put foreign competitors at a disadvantage. Read more.
Moving to shield battered domestic manufacturers from foreign imports, Indonesia is slapping restrictions on at least 500 products this month. Russia is hiking tariffs on imported cars, poultry and pork. France is launching a state fund to protect French companies from foreign takeovers. Argentina and Brazil are seeking to raise tariffs on products from imported wine and textiles to leather goods and peaches. The list of countries making access to their markets harder potentially includes the United States, where critics are calling the White House's $17.4 billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry an unfair government subsidy that would put foreign competitors at a disadvantage. Read more.
Salary freeze for Duke Energy workers
Duke Energy is freezing salaries for about half of its 18,000 workers in an effort to weather the recession, company officials confirmed Friday. The Charlotte company will freeze wages in 2009 for managers, supervisors and salaried workers in finance, information technology, human resources, engineering and other technical positions, according to a memo sent to employees Thursday afternoon. Hourly-paid administrative workers, craft employees who repair, maintain and install electrical and mechanical equipment and the supervisors who oversee those craft employees will not be affected. Read more.
Duke Energy is freezing salaries for about half of its 18,000 workers in an effort to weather the recession, company officials confirmed Friday. The Charlotte company will freeze wages in 2009 for managers, supervisors and salaried workers in finance, information technology, human resources, engineering and other technical positions, according to a memo sent to employees Thursday afternoon. Hourly-paid administrative workers, craft employees who repair, maintain and install electrical and mechanical equipment and the supervisors who oversee those craft employees will not be affected. Read more.
Caterpillar to cut white-collar pay up to 50%, offer buyouts
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT) said Monday that it would cut white-collar pay up to 50% and offer buyouts to some employees as it looks to cut costs during what it characterized as "uncertain times." The news, which sent Caterpillar's stock down 3.6%, came just days after the blue-chip industrial company said it planned to lay off 814 workers at its engine assembly plant in Mossville, Ill. Read more.
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT) said Monday that it would cut white-collar pay up to 50% and offer buyouts to some employees as it looks to cut costs during what it characterized as "uncertain times." The news, which sent Caterpillar's stock down 3.6%, came just days after the blue-chip industrial company said it planned to lay off 814 workers at its engine assembly plant in Mossville, Ill. Read more.
Western Digital to cut 2,500 jobs
The hard-drive maker Western Digital said it planned to cut 2,500 jobs, or about 5 percent of its global work force, and would trim executive pay in response to weakening demand for its products. Western Digital said that demand for the current quarter was "significantly below" what it expected when it offered revenue guidance in October. Read more (Free registrtion required).
The hard-drive maker Western Digital said it planned to cut 2,500 jobs, or about 5 percent of its global work force, and would trim executive pay in response to weakening demand for its products. Western Digital said that demand for the current quarter was "significantly below" what it expected when it offered revenue guidance in October. Read more (Free registrtion required).
Health insurer Aetna to eliminate 1,000 jobs
Managed-care company Aetna Inc. plans to cut 1,000 jobs, or nearly 3 percent of its work force, by the year's end to reduce costs and adjust to the slowing economy. 375 positions will be eliminated in its home state of Connecticut and 165 will be cut in Pennsylvania, mostly in the Philadelphia suburb of Blue Bell. The rest of the cuts will be spread out. Read more.
Managed-care company Aetna Inc. plans to cut 1,000 jobs, or nearly 3 percent of its work force, by the year's end to reduce costs and adjust to the slowing economy. 375 positions will be eliminated in its home state of Connecticut and 165 will be cut in Pennsylvania, mostly in the Philadelphia suburb of Blue Bell. The rest of the cuts will be spread out. Read more.
500 workers at Seattle Times to take week unpaid
The Seattle Times on Friday asked 500 managers and nonunion workers to take a week off without pay in the face of mounting financial troubles at the newspaper. Executive Editor David Boardman broke the news in a meeting with editors Friday morning. Employees may take the week off all at once, one day at a time, or in multiple-day blocks, but it must be taken by the end of February. Read more.
The Seattle Times on Friday asked 500 managers and nonunion workers to take a week off without pay in the face of mounting financial troubles at the newspaper. Executive Editor David Boardman broke the news in a meeting with editors Friday morning. Employees may take the week off all at once, one day at a time, or in multiple-day blocks, but it must be taken by the end of February. Read more.
Carlson Hotels Worldwide appoints new Vice President Of Human Resources
Carlson Hotels announced the appointment of Stephanie Beyer to the position of VP of HR. She has been with Carlson for six and a half years most recently as senior director of human resources, Traveler and Transaction Services, for Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and priior to that, as senior director of Workforce Planning & Recruitment for Carlson, director and then senior director of HR for the Carlson Marketing Group. Before Carlson, she held HR management positions at Accenture, Damark International, and General Mills. Read more.
Carlson Hotels announced the appointment of Stephanie Beyer to the position of VP of HR. She has been with Carlson for six and a half years most recently as senior director of human resources, Traveler and Transaction Services, for Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and priior to that, as senior director of Workforce Planning & Recruitment for Carlson, director and then senior director of HR for the Carlson Marketing Group. Before Carlson, she held HR management positions at Accenture, Damark International, and General Mills. Read more.
Guardian Life names new EVP of HR
The Guardian Life has appointed John McCarthy as new executive vice president of human resources. He joins Guardian from Wachovia Securities where he was senior managing director and HR director. He has also held senior HR rces positions at JPMorgan Chase and Royal Insurance Company. Read more.
The Guardian Life has appointed John McCarthy as new executive vice president of human resources. He joins Guardian from Wachovia Securities where he was senior managing director and HR director. He has also held senior HR rces positions at JPMorgan Chase and Royal Insurance Company. Read more.
Battelle hires Senior Vice President of Human Resources
Battelle announced today that it has hired Thomas D. Snowberger as SVP of HR effective February 2, 2009. He replaces Robert W. Smith, who is retiring after a 30-year Battelle career. Snowberger comes from DHL Holdings, where he was SVP of HR. Before DHL, he served as SVP of HR for the University Hospitals System in Cleveland, Ohio and had been promoted to expatriate assignments at E.ON AG's Academy in Dusseldorf, Germany and its Scandinavian operations in Malmo, Sweden.he has also rger held HR management positions with LG&E Energy Corporation, National Service Industries, and PPG Industries in Pittsburgh. Read more.
Battelle announced today that it has hired Thomas D. Snowberger as SVP of HR effective February 2, 2009. He replaces Robert W. Smith, who is retiring after a 30-year Battelle career. Snowberger comes from DHL Holdings, where he was SVP of HR. Before DHL, he served as SVP of HR for the University Hospitals System in Cleveland, Ohio and had been promoted to expatriate assignments at E.ON AG's Academy in Dusseldorf, Germany and its Scandinavian operations in Malmo, Sweden.he has also rger held HR management positions with LG&E Energy Corporation, National Service Industries, and PPG Industries in Pittsburgh. Read more.