Jobless claims up

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More people signed up for unemployment benefits last week, suggesting that the job market is softening as the economy loses speed.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for jobless benefits rose by a seasonally adjusted 12,000 to 346,000. It was a larger increase than economists were expecting. They were forecasting claims to rise to 335,000 last week.
The four-week moving average of new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4,250 to 343,000 last week, the highest level in two years.
Economic growth in the October-to-December quarter is expected to slow to a near crawl - a pace of just 1.5 percent or less, according to economists' projections. The nation's unemployment rate, now at 4.7 percent, is expected to climb to 5 percent by early next year.

SHRM/Rutgers Report Paints Gloomy Picture of U.S. Services, Manufacturing

SHRM/Rutgers Report Paints Gloomy Picture of U.S. Services, ManufacturingWeaker employment growth is forecast in both sectors, potentially affecting hiring and pay.

By Garry Kranz

Bleak Business: Things are about to get worse for already gloomy U.S. manufacturing and services sectors. According to a report by the Society for Human Resource Management and Rutgers University, manufacturing and services companies will hire fewer new employees in December. Moreover, those fortunate to land jobs can expect to be offered lower pay than people hired at the same time last year. The index of manufacturing employment is forecast to drop to 27.6 percent in December, compared with 31.5 percent in December 2006. Salaried employees are expected to feel the brunt of the decline, which means they could see pay cuts, wage freezes or the elimination of their positions altogether.

Source: http://www.workforce.com/section/quick_takes/52570_3.html

Hiring Outlook Dims Slightly

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Fewer than a quarter of employers expect to add positions in the first quarter of the new year, almost the same as a year ago, according to a survey of 14,000 companies being released Tuesday.
Twelve percent of companies said they expect to reduce employment in the three-month period starting in January, while 22 percent said they'll add jobs, according to the survey by Milwaukee-based global staffing firm Manpower Inc.
The numbers show a slight drop from hiring intentions during the same quarter last year, when 23 percent of employers said they'd increase hiring and 11 percent expected a decrease.
They also show more pessimism than last quarter, when 27 percent of employers planned to increase hiring and only 9 percent planned a decline.
But overall, they don't represent big changes, said Melanie Holmes, vice president of world of work solutions for Manpower.
"Employers anticipate only marginal changes compared to the previous quarter so I don't think we're going to be seeing anything dramatic," she said.
The majority of employers in the latest report - 60 percent - expected no change in hiring between January and March, while 6 percent of companies were unsure of their plans.
The survey continues a 16-quarter stretch of fairly strong hiring intentions, in which more than 20 percent of companies surveyed said they planned to add to their staffs.
Still, the quarterly survey conducted since 1962 shows employers in most of the 10 job categories it tracks expect to trim hiring from the same quarter last year, including manufacturing, education and services and public administration.
Construction companies expect one of the larger drops, with 23 percent of employers saying they expect to curtail hiring, compared with 16 percent in the same quarter last year. Seventeen percent of employers in this sector say they expect to increase hiring, down slightly from 18 percent last year.
Wholesale and retail saw a slight drop, with 21 percent of companies saying they planned to increase hiring, down from 23 percent last year. Eighteen percent plan a decrease, up from 17 percent last year.
In the finances and real estate sector, plans to increase hiring remained steady at 21 percent. But the number of companies in the sector that planned to hire less than last year grew from 7 percent to 9 percent.
Holmes said the survey doesn't ask why employers choose to increase, decrease or maintain their staffing levels. Attention to the mortgage crisis or possibility of a recession could be reasons, but the survey can't say for sure, she said.
"Nobody of course has a crystal ball and knows whether or not those things are going to happen, so it's not real surprising that some employers are going to be cutting back," she said.
Job growth by region was relatively stable, though the Midwest reported a drop from last quarter.
Nineteen percent of companies in the Midwest reported they would increase hiring in the first quarter, down from 26 percent during the previous one. Thirteen percent of companies were planning a decline, up from 9 percent last quarter.
The West continues to have the best outlook, with 29 percent of employers saying they planned to increase hiring, down from 33 percent last quarter. Eleven percent of employers said they planned to decrease hiring, up from 10 percent last quarter.
The South dipped slightly with 23 percent of employers expecting to increase hiring next quarter, down from 26 percent last quarter. Eleven percent expected to decrease hiring, up from 8 percent last quarter.
The Northeast also saw a dip, with 21 percent of companies saying they planned to increase staff, down from 25 percent last quarter. Thirteen percent of employers in that region said they planned a decrease, up from 10 percent last quarter.

Job Growth Higher Than Expected

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Employers added fewer workers to U.S. payrolls in November, according to a closely-watched government reading on labor market strength released Friday that still came in a bit stronger than Wall Street expectations.
The net gain in payrolls came in at 94,000 in November, after a revised 170,000 gain in October. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 70,000 in workers in the latest reading. The September reading was revised lower.
The unemployment rate stayed at 4.7 percent reported for October. Economists had been forecasting a rise to 4.8 percent.
The jobs report is being particularly closely watched this month, as there have been mixed signs about whether the U.S. economy is at risk of falling into recession next year. Concerns about recession have raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates for the third straight time at its meeting Tuesday.

Jolly About Jobs Report

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks pointed to a higher open Friday after a key reading on the labor market came in better than expected, easing concerns that the economy is headed for a recession.
At 8:40 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures climbed after the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 94,000 jobs during the month of November.
The rate of unemployment held steady at 4.7 percent, the government said.
The numbers were roughly in line with expectations as economists were expecting employers to add 70,000 jobs last month, down from 166,000 in October. The unemployment rate was expected to rise to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent in October.
Treasury prices retreated on the news as the yield on the benchmark 10-year note rose to 4.06 percent from 4 percent late Thursday.
Wall Street had been expecting a strong reading following a report from payroll processing firm ADP on Wednesday that showed a bigger surge in private-sector hiring than originally estimated.
The reading could further ease concerns about a recession in the U.S. and give stocks another boost, although those gains could be tempered because it would dash the hopes of some investors for the Federal Reserve to cut rates by a half-percentage point, also referred to as 50 basis points.
Stocks have rallied for the past two sessions on positive economic readings and bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates at its policy meeting Tuesday.
Even with Friday's report Wachovia Chief Economist John Silvia said he could see the Fed cutting by a quarter percentage point due to continued problems in financial markets from this summer's meltdown in mortgage-backed securities.
In corporate news, smartphone maker Palm (Charts) saw shares plunge 21 percent in after-hours trading after it cut its second-quarter outlook and warned it will swing to a wider-than-expected loss due to a sales shortfall from the delay of a product launch.
Leading U.S. cell phone maker Motorola (Charts, Fortune 500) reaffirmed its earlier earnings guidance, but shares slipped narrowly in after-hours trading after initially gaining on the report.
Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae (Charts) on Thursday set a $25-a-share price for its previously announced plans for a $7 billion secondary stock offering next week, as it seeks to shore-up finances following losses on mortgage-backed securities. Shares of mortgage finance firm edged up 0.7 percent in after-hours trading.
Shares of insurer UnitedHealth Group (Charts, Fortune 500) slipped slightly in after-hours trading after former chairman and CEO William McGuire agreed to surrender more than $400 million to settle allegations related to a stock-options backdating scandal, the company and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced after the close Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal reported that General Motors (Charts, Fortune 500), Ford Motor (Charts, Fortune 500) and Chrysler all plan to cut back production in January of their full-size pickups, one of their most profitable products, as problems in the economy, especially home building, and new competition from Toyota Motor (Charts) cut into sales. The segment saw November sales down 8.3 percent when it released sales totals on Monday, worse than the 3.5 percent year-to-date decline.
Media conglomerate News Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500) announced that James Murdoch is the company's new chairman and CEO for Europe and Asia, suggesting that the 34-year old would most likely succeed his father, News Corp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, 76. James Murdoch, 34, had been CEO of British Sky Broadcasting Group, of which News Corp. owns 38 percent.
In global trade, Asia markets ended the session mixed while European stocks were mostly higher.
Oil prices, which crept back above $90 a barrel mark in trading Thursday, edged slightly lower in morning trading, with a barrel of light sweet crude falling 17 cents to $90.06.

Jobless Claims Reach Another High

A moving average for initial jobless claims reached its highest level since late October 2005, the government reported. The seasonally adjusted four-week moving average for initial jobless claims increased 4,750 to 340,250, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims fell 15,000 to 338,000 in the week ended Dec. 1.

Source: CBS MarketWatch

The Global Fight For Top Talent

(Fortune Magazine) -- Three scenes from the new battle for global economic supremacy:
1. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the country that sits on 25% of the planet's oil, knows that oil is not his country's future. That's why he's spending $12.5 billion to found a graduate research university, which he'll endow with $10 billion - as big an endowment on day one as MIT has built in 142 years. The point of this project, on a grand scale even by Saudi standards: to attract the best researchers in science and technology.
2. The European Union has proposed new rules to attract the world's most highly skilled workers. If they can show that they're well educated and hold an offer of a lucrative job in Europe, they can get a two-year renewable permit to live there. The problem Europe is trying to solve: 85% of emigrating unskilled workers from developing countries go to Europe, but only 5% of skilled workers do so.
3. HCL Technologies, an Indian infotech services firm, has noticed a major change in its best young employees. Until two or three years ago, few of them would work for it unless they were promised an overseas assignment. Now it's just the opposite: They see India as the most compelling source of excitement and opportunity, and they don't want to be sent away.
We've known for a long time that this day was coming, and now it's here: Countries are finally realizing that their future prosperity depends not on natural resources or even on financial capital, but on human capital. Companies have been battling for years to attract and keep the best people. Now countries are engaging in the same fight.
The contenders
It wasn't much of a scrap until recently. Only the United States, Western Europe, and Japan - for a while - were even contenders. They didn't beat up on one another too badly vying for the best talent because there was enough to go around. Their economies weren't sufficiently info-based to make talent as critical an advantage as it has become, and the economy wasn't sufficiently global for human-capital supremacy to be crucial. Now all those factors have changed; many countries are in the hunt, and they're all after the same thing.
Since this is a fundamentally new fight, no one is sure what will win it. But we can already identify some fairly deep and difficult questions the fight raises. How countries answer them will help determine national wealth and power.
How long will any country tolerate Info Age protectionism? Notice that Europe's new proposal to attract highly skilled workers is pretty pathetic. It doesn't really offer any attractions; it just scales back rules that keep those workers out.
We have similar rules in the United States, such as our skinflint distribution of H-1B visas and immigration rules that favor family connections over skills. Why do such rules exist at all? In the Industrial Age we protected manufacturing workers with tariffs and quotas, but we can't put duties on bits and bytes, so in the Info Age we protect knowledge workers by restricting immigration.
No country can have world-class workers if it continually protects them from world-class competition. Cisco CEO John Chambers, who is passionate on this subject, says, "Anyone with a college degree should be welcome to come to our country, with appropriate security checks."
The U.S. may be rich, but we hardly have the best education system
Why isn't the United States more serious about the key competitive advantage of the Info Age, education? How to make human capital more valuable is no mystery, yet the world's richest country still has nowhere near the world's best education system. That means trouble that will only get worse.
Stephen Roach, former chief economist of Morgan Stanley and now head of the firm's Asian operations, says, "In the U.S. we've squandered our advantage by not investing in educational reform."
What, ultimately, is a national economy? Is it good for a country if its companies prosper by offshoring high-value intellectual work? What if a nation's high-value employees are working in that nation for other nations' companies? Or if highly skilled immigrants perform high-value work and send their earnings home? The answers aren't obvious, but they are important.
This international fight for talent will get much more serious. With luck, it will lead to something new: a free market in brainpower. That may not come to pass- but wise nations will prepare for it.

White House Predicts Slower Growth

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House on Thursday lowered its forecast for economic growth for next year and said unemployment would rise as the housing slump and tight credit weigh on national economic activity.
Under the administration's new forecast, gross domestic product, or GDP, will grow by 2.7 percent next year. Its old projection called for a stronger, 3.1 percent increase. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, is projected to move up to 4.9 percent. That's up from a previous forecast of a 4.7 percent jobless rate. Inflation, however, should improve. The White House expects consumer prices to increase by 2.1 percent next year, a moderation from a previous forecast of a 2.5 percent rise.
"While the difficulties in housing and credit markets and the effects of high energy prices will extract a penalty from growth, the U.S. economy has many strengths, and I expect the expansion to continue," said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Economy best in four years
The odds of a recession have grown this year. But the Bush administration, Federal Reserve officials and others remain hopeful that one can be avoided.
The big worry for economists is that consumers and businesses will cut back on spending and investing, sending the economic growth into a tailspin. Spending by consumers and businesses is the lifeblood of the country's economic activity.
The White House's economic forecasts are issued twice a year. The projections were developed mainly by a team from the Council of Economic Advisers, the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget. The administration's projections are in line with those offered by private analysts.

Manufacturing Stays Steady

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The pace of manufacturing growth was little changed in November, according to a closely watched survey of executives in the sector released Monday that showed a pick-up in production even as manufacturers trimmed hiring plans.
The Institute For Supply Management's manufacturing index came in at 50.8, down from the 50.9 reading for October. Any reading above 50 indicates growth in the sector, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 50.5 reading for November.
The concern that problems in the the real estate and credit markets would put a break on U.S. economic growth did not get a lot of support from this reading.
"While other segments of the economy are struggling, manufacturing continues to grow due to continuing strength in new orders, and a recovery in production from last month," said a statement from Norbert Ore, chair of ISM's committee that compiles the report.
Manufacturers were apparently being helped by a weak dollar making their goods more competitive, as they saw an increase in export orders. And they believe that their customers' inventories have fallen to levels that are too low to sustain business, which could suggest a pickup in new orders ahead.
The report showed 23 percent of those surveyed had a better rate of production, up from 18 percent in the October reading. But the percent who expected to have more employees dropped to 14 percent from 17 percent, while those looking to trim staffs rose.
While the reading just above 50 does indicate growth in manufacturing, the report is a bit below what is considered "average" growth in the sector, which would typically bring a reading closer to 53, said economist Robert Brusca. He said the employment reading and a drop in manufacturers' backlog of orders in this report indicates weakness in the sector.
"The U.S. economy is not an export-led economy," he said. "The exports we have don't take very much labor. It's not the thing to stop the economy from going into recession."
The ISM is closely watched as one of the first readings on the state of an important sector of the economy in the just completed month. This month is particularly important, given increasing signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy and speculation about what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates at its Dec. 11 meeting.
There are growing expectations among some investors and economists that the central bank could cut rates by as much as a half percentage point in an effort to keep the economy from falling into a recession. Hopes for a half-point cut are not helped by this report.
But there is still widespread belief that the Fed will cut rates by at least a quarter point, which would mark the third straight meeting at which it reduced rates.
The report showed a jump in prices paid by manufacturers for their raw materials, with 42 percent saying they were paying more, up from 33 percent a month ago. John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia, said the report's prices paid component was a concern about building inflation pressures, even if it's not enough to stop the Fed from cutting rates on Dec. 11.
"For decision-makers, prices paid [is] a negative," he said. "Higher input prices put a squeeze on profits. Moreover, inflation concerns for the Fed will limit future easings. Rising chemical prices and energy prices are a particular concern."

Boost Win-rates Through Better Deal Management

The deal in your pipeline was huge and considerable time and resources were devoted to bring it to close – yet it fizzled out and fell through in the end. To make matters worse, this seems to be a trend, and everyone from the sales rep to the executive suite wants to know why.
Large deals create high-impact revenue as well as long-term relationships that can generate additional sales down the road. Understanding how to improve win-rates on large deals is an investment that pays off through more deals closed, additional sales down the road, and fewer wasted resources on deals with low potential.

According to our research, 51 percent of top-performing sales organizations continually utilize a disciplined process to evaluate all large deals, compared to all others at only 39 percent. The difference between the two groups demonstrates the value of taking a structured approach to deal management to impact win-rates.

The Big Picture
When you're working hard to close a large deal, it's easy to get bogged down in the details and miss seeing the forest for the trees. The value of applying a disciplined process to deal management is its ability to give you a better, more objective view of the bigger picture.
Through disciplined deal management, you use a consistent process based on specific criteria to gauge when an opportunity is on-track to close, rather than basing your estimation on gut-feel and chance. Using a consistent process also allows you to more easily discuss the necessary activities for closing a sale with team members.

Consistent use of a disciplined process allows you to:

• Evaluate the depth and quality of the information you've gathered
• Determine the true position of the opportunity within the sales cycle
• Plan the most effective use of time and resources to ensure closing
• Build a solid case for securing additional resources as needed
• Know if the opportunity is worth a continued investment of time and corporate resources

Knowing when to stop investing in a deal can be difficult without having a pre-determined set of criteria. As each month passes making calls, arranging meetings, and coordinating elements of a solution, calling it quits becomes a more difficult decision to make.
According to our research, we've found that top-performing sales organizations are 97 percent more likely to have an established procedure to know when to stop investing in large deals. Effective deal management gives you the perspective needed to know when to make that call.

The key to impacting win-rates within your sales organization lies in understanding the essential activities that keep the sales cycle moving toward close. Through the use of a consistent, disciplined process for planning, evaluating, and managing your opportunities, you gain insight into the activities that have the greatest impact on your win-rates and the knowledge to make improvements to increase your success in the future.

Jobless Claims Spike

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of new people signing up for jobless benefits last week jumped sharply, suggesting that the labor market is softening as national economic activity slows.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for unemployment insurance rose by a seasonally adjusted 23,000 to 352,000. It was the highest level since Feb. 10.
The report surprised economists. They were forecasting claims to hold steady around 330,000.
The economy, which grew at a brisk 4.9 percent pace in the summer, is expected to slow to a pace of just 1.5 percent or less in the current October-to-December period as housing and credit troubles take their toll on consumers and businesses alike

Citi's Cost-Cutting Could Claim Jobs

NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup Inc., bracing for big credit-related losses in the fourth quarter, is looking to lower costs -- which could mean another round of job cuts at the nation's largest bank.
"We are engaged in a planning process in anticipation of our new CEO, and our business heads are planning ways in which we can be more efficient and cost-effective to position our businesses in line with economic realities," said Citi spokeswoman Shannon Bell.
She was responding to a report on CNBC that "massive" layoffs were planned.
"Any reports on specific numbers are not factual," she said.
Citigroup (Charts, Fortune 500), which has about 320,000 employees, earlier this year reduced its workforce by 17,000 before the credit crisis.
Its shares fell 69 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $31.01 in late morning trading Monday.
The bank is still looking for a new CEO, after Charles Prince stepped down as chairman and chief executive Nov. 4, the same evening the bank announced that it will likely write down the value of its portfolio by another $8 billion to $11 billion in the fourth quarter.
In the third quarter, Citi's subprime mortgages and its exposure to financial instruments tied to those mortgages led to a loss of about $6.5 billion.
Prince was replaced as chairman by former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and as interim CEO by Sir Win Bischoff, chairman of Citi Europe who has said he doesn't want the job permanently.
Prince hasn't been the only Citigroup executive to leave the bank since it warned of big losses in early October.
Tom Maheras, co-CEO of investment banking, and Randy Barker, head of fixed income trading, left in mid-October when Vikram Pandit was promoted to lead a unit that combined the markets and banking segment with alternative investments. Pandit had been put in charge of alternative investments in the spring when Citigroup bought the hedge fund he co-founded.
And nearly two weeks after Prince's resignation, chief risk officer Dave Bushnell announced his retirement. Bushnell was a 22-year Citi veteran whom Prince promoted to chief administrative officer in September, saying he would only be senior risk officer for a "transitional period of time." Jorge A. Bermudez, who has been with Citi for 30 years, took Bushnell's place.

Avoid Year-end Panic with Deal Reviews

The fiscal year-end can be one of the most trying times of the year for sales professionals as they evaluate their ability to hit their numbers in the remaining months. If you're scrambling to make those forecasted numbers, take a deep breath - meeting those goals does not have to put you in a panic.

There are several factors to consider when looking at the remaining months and planning where to spend your time. The first is to keep the bigger picture in mind. Customers need you to fix a problem, avoid a crisis, or accomplish a larger goal. Staying focused on their issues, rather than your need to close the deal, enables you to examine your deals closely and uncover areas you can potentially work with. This gives you the ability to identify deals with the best potential and then prioritize based on which are most likely to close soonest.

Prioritizing those deals is best done based on your knowledge of what customers need and when they need it. It does no good to pressure them to close if your solution doesn't answer a need they feel is urgent. This type of knowledge is part of identifying opportunities that meet the criteria for your ideal customer. Knowing how closely your deals match your criteria gives you a better idea of the likelihood that they will welcome your solution and see you as a valuable partner in achieving their goals.

The next step is to review the list and evaluate the potential of closing those deals by year end. Focus on where they are today and what it will take to advance them. Use this information to develop an action plan to meet your end-of-year goals.

Consider the following aspects of each opportunity:

• The customer's needs and the specific business issues s/he wants to address
• Your ability to provide business solutions and value rather than pushing an individual product
• The customer's timetable
• Who is involved in the decision-making process, their roles, and who makes the final call
  

Keeping these aspects in mind during your review provides a guideline for evaluating a deal's true potential for close. Focusing on your customers, understanding their issues, and knowing their sense of urgency will allow you to pinpoint the best opportunities in your funnel for year-end focus, and allow you to craft a plan to move those opportunities forward based on the customer's expectations rather than your own.

The Death of E-Mail

Teenagers are abandoning their Yahoo! and Hotmail accounts. Do the rest of us have to?By Chad LorenzPosted Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007, at 12:32 PM ET

By 2002, everyone in my family had become an Internet convert. For the technophobic older generation, signing up for an e-mail account was a concession to us youngsters—if the kids don't call home, they thought, we'll just reach them through the computer. Everyone was especially eager to send messages to my niece, a kid who wasn't all that chatty on the phone but was almost always glued to her PC. But while the rest of us happily exchanged forwards and life updates, she almost never piped up. Eventually, I sussed out the truth: She was too busy sending IMs and text messages to bother with e-mail. That's when I realized that my agility with e-mail no longer marked me as a tech-savvy young adult. It made me a lame old fogey.

Full article here: http://www.slate.com/id/2177969/

Jobless Claims Make A Surprising Jump

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose by a larger-than-expected amount last week, partly reflecting the impact of the California wildfires and a writers' strike.
The Labor Department said that the number of applications for jobless benefits jumped by 20,000 to 339,000, the highest total in a month.
The increase was double what economists had been expecting.
Labor Department analysts said that the California wildfires boosted the number of jobless claims by about 2,000 layoffs and the writer's strike, which has shut down production on many television programs, was also having an impact.
Over the past three weeks, the wildfires have increased jobless claims by between 5,000 and 6,000, primarily reflecting businesses that have had to close or lay off workers because of disruptions caused by the fires.
The increase in claims occurred after three consecutive weekly declines. Because of that improvement, the four-week average for claims remained unchanged last week at 330,000.

Brand building to attract and retain the best talent

Brand building to attract and retain the best talent
- Punita Jasrotia / New Delhi

The IT industry being people-oriented, what differentiates the best from the rest is the “quality of human capital” in every organisation. While there is plenty of talent available, the difficulty comes in finding the talent with the “best fit” to the organisation. Potential employees would like to associate themselves with companies which have a “brand” of success, leadership, people development initiatives and also instill a deep sense of pride and commitment.Not much effort has been made by organisations to improve their corporate image internally. However, with increasing global competition and a more mature work environment, Indian IT companies have also started looking at this facet of branding.

What is employer branding?

Employer branding is all about the company’s value in the market, a timeless process that in today’s scenario has gained even more significance. It is essentially a combination of the reputation of the organisation, the career offer and the corporate culture existing in the company.Typically, there are two types of employer branding exercises. One is for prospective employees and the other for the current set of employees. In case of the former, the employer branding initiatives are targeted at building mindshare in potential recruits about the company as a preferred place to work. This can be in the form of communication through advertisements, third-party endorsements through the media or going to campuses. “Internal employees might not know about all the product or solution offerings of the company and it becomes necessary to inform and educate them,” says Mita Brahma, the head of Nucleus Software’s corporate HR department.

Growing importance

Employer branding has become more critical in today’s times, as most professionals are looking at a stable career and establishing a long-term relationship with the company. D K Srivastava, the vice president of HR at HCL Comnet says, “It is said that an unsatisfied customer tells ten people about his experience while an unsatisfied employee tells a hundred. Employer branding reflects the work culture in an organisation. Therefore, it is of much significance. Through right branding, the company can recruit the best talent and reinforce its positioning amongst its employees.”

A survey conducted by Hewitt Associates reveals that more companies are now focusing on employer branding to “attract employees” and keep them engaged. There is a direct correlation between an effective employer brand and achieving business success. It helps in retaining current employees, increasing employee satisfaction, attracting job candidates, and motivating employees in their work, which leads to excellent business gains. The purpose is to use the internal brand as the seedbed for aligning their people programmes to deliver significantly improved business results.

This is evident from some of the recent initiatives taken by organisations to make the workplace more employer-friendly and implement development concepts like “spiritual quotient” and “value-building”. Some companies have gone even further and appointed “internal branding consultants”, targeted to have a better relationship with their employees. For example, Texas Instruments, whose brand mantra is “conscious” and “consistent”, which gets reflected in all their activities, be it company journals, awards or regular meetings. HCL Comnet, whose brand value signifies “exuberance”, has developed a “Force of One” campaign that signifies innovative attitude and the ability to individually make a difference. Or Cognizant, whose employer brand is “Celebrating Work”, which gets reflected in its participative, empowering and transparent work environment.

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young on the other hand, likes to lay emphasis on both internal and external customers. “Paying attention to what matters to employees, and then delivering on that promise, keeps CGE&Y at the top of the list for the most talented employees,” says Atul Srivastava, who heads people relationship management at the company. “The greatest goal of Cap Gemini Ernst and Young is to be the ‘Employer of Choice’, a company that can deliver a wide range of career opportunities, a company known everywhere for its ability to develop top professional talent delivering work of top professional quality. We have used Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the basis for categorising retention programmes and selecting a broad range of programmes which can best address employee motivation and satisfaction issues,” says Atul Srivastava, the head of people relationship management at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young.

Commenting on the changing scenario, Arun Tadanki, the chief executive officer of Monsterindia.com, says that it also gets reflected in the kind of advertisements taken out by the companies. “Till recently, employment ads were just showing the job description of the vacancy. The focus in the last two-three years has shifted and is largely driven by the IT & ITES employers, to create a powerful image for the organisation as a “dream place to work”. In the ITES industry, the job of a customer service agent is more or less the same irrespective of the company he is working in. What differentiates one ITES company from another is largely its employer brand image. This depends on a whole host of factors like how successful the company is perceived to be; what is the vision and mission; what kind of work culture they have; what kind of career growth opportunities they offer, etc,” he says. On the contrary, Srivastava of HCL Comnet has a different viewpoint: “We expect to see more innovation within organisations to improve our corporate image. Training programmes, motivational classes, employee career plans have become a common phenomenon now days. These things are employee deliverables. What organisations would be aiming towards is not employee satisfaction but employee delight!”

Roadblocks

Pramode Sadarjoshi, the director of Human Resources, Cognizant Technology Solutions, points out that employer branding is not an easy task as it is a long-term process. “It takes tremendous effort and a strategic blend of logic and intuition in the brand-building exercise. The company has to have superior leadership, operational excellence and customer focus, and most importantly people-orientation in a genuine way, for the branding exercise to be successful,” he adds.

Companies have been focussing on more advertising than taking concentrated efforts in building relationships. According to “Riding the Wave” survey (conducted by the Career Innovations Research Group), the future might be in danger for those companies who may otherwise invest too much in mass media and little in personal contact programmes. As per the survey, the most believable forms of communication are not the advertisements, literature and websites, but the behaviour of employees and accounts of their own work experience. Srivastava of HCL Comnet states, “I believe that the most credible forms of communication are not the ads, literature and websites, but the behaviour of one’s own employees and accounts of their own work experience.”Employer branding is a part of overall branding strategy of a company. For this to happen, the HR department should ensure that there is a constant flow of communication within the organisation and there is no conflict with respect to internal and external image. Both these factors are very significant. “Every single employee should buy into the vision, commitment and ethics of the company and should be a walking advertisement for the company. Doing a major employer branding exercise would be nothing if the company’s own employees do not believe what is being said,” says Sadarjoshi. Agrees R Shekar, the senior vice president and head HR, corporate strategy and business excellence of Polaris Software: “An organisation must adopt a concerted and focused approach to building and maintaining its reputation as a ‘Best Workplace’ and constantly work towards reinforcing this branding through continuous exercises.”

A typical branding exercise would involve identifying the USP (unique selling proposition) of the company and articulating the DNA of the company, highlighting the competitive advantages of this DNA and creating a consistent brand language across the organisation in all forums to all the constituencies. Says DK Srivastava, the vice president of HR at HCL Comnet, “The most significant aspect of any organisation is to realise its inherent values and the image that it would like to project to its audiences. The next step is to evolve the right messages and reinforce those values again and again. And the most important part is to act on what you say. Plain words can’t get a brand. A brand has to be built on action.”Employer branding is however limited to bigger companies, with very few initiatives taken by smaller players.

Future course

As companies come up with innovative branding exercises this trend is expected to be very popular in the future. It would however entail a lot of effort from the top management. “What we have seen so far is just the beginning. Every company, no matter how small or new, would want to come out with a ‘niche’ image, brand, product or service. So there will be intense competition amongst all the players to get branded for something unique,” says Sadarjoshi.Experts point out that the next couple of months will witness companies engaged in innovative methods to stay ahead in the race. These may include hiring image building experts to enhance the brand value, providing competitive compensation, enabling foreign postings with dollar salaries and stock options, or offering challenging work environment in cutting-edge technology areas.

Employer brandingEmployer branding is a derivative of the following factors:

• Demonstrated investment in growth by way of future products, R&D spend, articulation of the roadmap ahead, and viable strategies.
• The organisation should clearly be perceived as a place where every employee could learn and develop skills in the latest technologies, concepts and knowledge areas.
• Aggressive, competitive compensation and benefits package.
• Transparent and merit-oriented performance management system, wherein the polarisation between various levels of performance is both visible and fair.
• Very high score on the leadership, business conduct and customer satisfaction, or any other parameter evaluated by an independent third party.
• Impressive and consistent track record in business leadership.

Jobless Claims Fall

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New applications for jobless aid fell unexpectedly last week, dropping by 13,000, but the more reliable average of these claims rose to the highest level in six months, government data on Thursday showed.
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell for the third straight week, dropping to a seasonally adjusted 317,000 in the week ended November 3 from a revised 330,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said.
Wall Street economists were expecting a slight increase in claims to 330,000 from the originally reported 327,000 claims for the week ended October 27.
Of the total number of new claims in the latest reporting week, slightly less than 3,000 were related to the California wildfires, a Labor Department spokesman said.
The four-week moving average of new claims, considered a better gauge of labor market trends because it irons out weekly gyrations edged up to 329,750 from 327,750. That was the highest level hit since April 21.

Worker Productivity Increases

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Worker productivity surged in the summer at the fastest pace in four years while wage pressures eased.
The Labor Department reported that productivity - the amount of output per hour of work - jumped at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the July-September quarter. That was double the 2.2 percent rise in the second quarter and represented the fastest surge in worker efficiency since 2003.
At the same time, wage pressures eased, with unit labor costs dropping at an annual rate of 0.2 percent, the best showing in more than a year.
Both outcomes were far better than had been expected and should relieve some of the concerns that a remarkable surge in productivity that began in the mid-1990s was in danger of being reversed.
The slight drop in wage pressures was especially welcome after hefty increases over the past four quarters. Rising wages are good for workers but if they are not accompanied by strong productivity gains, they raise concerns among Fed policymakers about inflation.
The 0.2 percent decline in unit labor costs in the third quarter followed a 2.2 percent increase in labor costs in the second quarter and even bigger jumps of 5.2 percent in the first quarter and 10.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
Productivity is the key ingredient for rising living standards. It allows employers to pay workers higher wages which are financed by the increased output. That means employers don't have to resort to raising the price of their products which can lead to higher inflation.
The Federal Reserve last week cut a key interest rate for the second time in two months while at the same time expressing concerns that inflation remained a problem, especially in light of rising oil prices. Crude oil prices have soared in recent weeks over concerns about rising tensions in the Middle East, hitting a record $96.70 per barrel on Tuesday.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to testify on the economic outlook on Thursday before Congress' Joint Economic Committee. That testimony will be closely scrutinized for any signs that the Fed may cut rates again should the economy should more signs of faltering.
Economists say that the next six months represent the point of maximum danger that the economy could slip into a recession brought on by the steepest slump in housing in more than two decades, a severe credit crunch and surging oil prices.

Survey Says: HR Still Doesn’t Get It

from www.workforce.com

If I were an HR professional, I’d get awfully tired of feeling like a punching bag.

Year after year, almost without exception, research and surveys come forth that show the shortcomings of the human resources profession. It’s getting to be an old story, but the elements are all the same (all within the past 18 months): HR needs to be more “strategic”; HR is too focused on administrative minutiae; HR needs to be more aligned with the company’s business goals; HR must be more adept at change management; HR wants a “seat at the table” but HR people generally don’t have the business savvy to get there; etc.

So it’s not surprising that today there is yet another study showing how HR is out of whack with what needs to be done to really be trusted, strategic and a business partner. It’s from Vertitude, a Boston-based company that provides a broad variety of services including consulting, staffing and recruitment process outsourcing. The headline on the survey should tell you all you need to know: “Working Together, Working Apart: When It Comes to Workforce Planning, HR and Business Leaders Agree Their Working Relationship Needs Work.”

The highlights of the study are both familiar and depressing:

• Strategy—“Both business and HR leaders agree that talent acquisition and recruitment top the list of strategic business issues, but one in five business leaders see HR as only involved in “implementing” strategy, not participating in plan development. What’s more, a common perception is that HR is lacking adequate financial aptitude and therefore is not asked to contribute to strategy development because they do not speak the language of business.”

• A “Seat at the Table”—“Many business leaders indicate they do not have an established relationship with HR or it world not occur to them to include HR in implementing workforce plans. In general HR leaders agree that business leaders minimize the role that HR plays in workforce planning and don’t consider the full scope of HR’s ability and expertise.”

• Driving Change—“Business leaders perceive HR as ‘resource constrained’ and, as such, unable to effectively implement workforce plans. In turn, HR believes business leaders set unrealistic timeframes, lack an understanding of workforce issues, and are inconsistent in implementing initiatives.”
In reading the summary of the research study, it’s clear to me that Veritude has gone out of its way to try to be as positive as possible in presenting these results, but it is equally clear that the message is still the same: Despite all the talk and anger over “Why We Hate HR,” nothing has really changed.

We’ve written here (on numerous occasions) about the change management skills HR people need to be effective in today’s fluid and frenetic business world. I can only wonder when the HR profession finally will find the means—and moxie—to fight back, rather than absorbing a new pummeling every few weeks.

80% Of Adults Now Online

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Do you find yourself going online more and more? You're not alone.
Four out of five U.S. adults go online now, according to a new Harris Poll.
The survey, which polled 2,062 adults in July and October, found that 79 percent of adults -- about 178 million -- go online, spending an average 11 hours a week on the Internet.
"We're up to almost 80 of adults who now are online, or are somehow gaining access to the Internet. That's a pretty impressive figure," said Regina Corso, director of the Harris Poll.
The results reflect a steady rise since 2000, when 57 percent of adults polled said they went online. In 2006, the number was 77 percent.
When Harris Interactive, a market research firm, first began tracking online use among adults in 1995, the group found that only nine percent of the population -- or 17.5 million -- said they went online.
The poll also found that adults are spending more time online at home and at work, up two percent each at 72 percent and 37 percent respectively, from 2006. More dramatically, 31 percent of those surveyed said they went online elsewhere, up from 22 percent in 2006.
"They are finding however possible to get online...A third of the people who are online, that's how they're getting there - some alternate way," said Corso.
Demographically, the poll showed the online population aligning more with the general population.
For example, the poll showed that 25 percent of adults who went online were between 18 and 29 years old -- the same age group makes up 22 percent of the U.S. adult population.
Hispanics make up 13 percent of the adult population, and also made up 13 percent of the online population surveyed.
The poll also found that while online access is still dominated by younger adults, nine percent of those that go online are 65 years old and older, compared to the 16 percent of adults who are 65 and over.
"We're getting closer. Every year it's getting more and more like the general population picture," said Corso.
"Baby boomers are online. As they become more and more part of that population, we're going to see larger swings there."
As the online population gets closer to 100 percent, Corso said the next step was to see how people are getting online.
"It's not just a laptop or a desktop anymore. How many of these people are using some kind of hand held device for all of their online activity?"
(Reporting by Solarina Ho)

Service Sector Stronger Than Expected

NEW YORK (AP) -- Strength in new orders helped propel the U.S. services sector to a faster-than-expected growth rate in October, but economists warned the data didn't foretell that economic growth would pick up soon.
The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its index gauging the health of non-manufacturing industries registered 55.8, up from 54.8 in September. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below 50 shows contraction.
The result was stronger than the 54 reading analysts had expected.
The services sector, such as airlines, hair salons, accountants, doctors, dentists and plumbers, has been helping to prop up the economy even as manufacturing has slowed. "Non-manufacturing business activity increased for the 55th consecutive month in October," said Anthony Nieves, chairman of ISM.
The report's components showed growth in orders and slower expansion rates in employment and prices. Nine non-manufacturing industries, including mining, retail trade, construction, real estate, rental and leasing, professional, scientific and technical services, reported increased activity in October.
Bernard Baumohl, managing director of the Economic Outlook Group, said the strength of the survey was a surprise but cautioned that the state of the services sector is not always the best harbinger of an economic turning point.
"To determine a turning point in the economy you have to look at the goods producing sector," he said.
"People tend to still go to the dentist and the doctor even when things turn down," he said. "But you can put off a purchase of goods."
According to Baumohl, if consumer spending slows in coming quarters, it will eventually apply the brakes on the services sector, which he estimates at 85 percent of the U.S. economy.
Another economist said the survey lags at least one month behind retail shopping tallies in giving a reading on the economy. "It tells us nothing at all about the strength of activity today, still less the future," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
Last week ISM reported that U.S. manufacturing activity in October expanded for a ninth consecutive month, but the rate of growth slowed. The organization's index of factory activity dropped to 50.9 last month from 52.0 in September.

The 10 worst jobs in America

The 10 worst jobs in America

Low pay, no benefits put these workers in a tough spot

By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch

Last Update: 6:59 PM ET Nov 1, 2007

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Models are paid millions to twirl in the latest bra and panty set. Right? Nope -- not unless they are one of an extremely small (and beautiful) handful of young women.

Last year, models made a median hourly wage of $11.22, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a bit less than twice the minimum wage of $5.85. Not so glamorous.

"Most models take other jobs. They're waiters. It gives them the flexibility to go to model calls and auditions," said Ean Williams, executive director of DC Fashion Week, a designer showcase held twice a year in the nation's capital. "There are a lot of people that are very beautiful, very talented, that don't make it in the business."

The young and beautiful aren't the only ones working like dogs and earning peanuts. In fact, models, demonstrators and product promoters rank No. 8 on a new list of the 10 worst jobs in America.

Who gets the shortest end of the stick? Coffee shop hosts and cafeteria counter attendants, according to a report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts.

Eighty-seven percent of restaurant-host and counter-attendant jobs were categorized as "bad," meaning they paid less than the median wage in 1979, adjusted for inflation, and had neither employer-sponsored health insurance nor a retirement plan. That translates to a wage today of $16.50 an hour or $34,320 per year for a full-time, full-year worker, according to the report.

About 79% of jobs in the models, demonstrators, and product promoters category are bad, according to the report, which covers 2003 through 2005 using Census Bureau data.

John Schmitt, a senior economist with CEPR, said the categories heavily composed of bad jobs haven't improved in recent years.

"The composition is basically the same. It's not like suddenly it's a different world for people," he said.

In 2005, almost one-third of American workers had a job that met all three bad criteria, about the same share as in 1979, according to the report.

"Even worse, despite substantial economic growth since the end of the 1970s, the share of bad jobs in the U.S. economy has remained essentially unchanged for over a quarter century," according to the report.

Quite a few of the bad job categories are those that might typically be considered summer jobs for teenagers or students trying to save for a car or help pay for school. Many are in the service industry, with categories such as tour guides, ticket takers and dishwashers making it into the top 10 bad occupational categories. Jobs typically found in food service took four of the 10 spots.

Getting dished on

Joseph, a 22-year-old host at a restaurant popular for lunch near the White House who asked that his last name not be used, said his job, which pays his rent, also makes it easier to take classes as night. However, mornings at the restaurant can be rough, he said.

"I find myself waking up in the morning with melancholy -- the malaise of doing the same job over and over," he said, adding that dealing with people at their "worst," i.e. making rude demands, can lead to anger and depression.

Joseph receives an hourly wage but no benefits, and there's no tips pool of which he can take a cut. The host added that the waiters, who have to deal with the kitchen staff, diners and the boss, have it even worse.

Darrell Luzzo, president of National Career Development Association, said even people in jobs that pay well and provide benefits can have extreme dissatisfaction. A good career is one that matches your interests on top of providing adequate financial compensation, he said.

"There is a very weak link between the amount of earnings and benefits and true job satisfaction," Luzzo said.

He added that people with jobs that don't provide enough to meet a basic level of need should try to move on. Federal job-training programs can help workers gain skills to find better employment.

"If [a job] is not providing shelter, food or health, you can't exactly find purpose in work," Luzzo said.

The stresses of working at restaurants, especially, affect a substantial chunk of America: With 12.8 million estimated employees, the restaurant industry is the largest employer outside of the government, according to the National Restaurant Association. By 2017, the industry is expected to add 2 million jobs, according to NRA.

"The restaurant industry has been a jobs juggernaut in the economic expansion," said B. Hudson Riehle, NRA's senior vice president for research and information services. "The industry has become a national training ground."

'Bad' is in the eye of the beholder

James Sherk, a fellow in labor policy at the Heritage Foundation, said jobs such as waiting tables can be a good opportunity.

"A lot of people are working part-time and in school. The job gives the flexibility they need," he said. "Somebody who just graduated from high school isn't trying to support a family of four."

Sherk should know -- he worked as a lifeguard as a teenager.

"It was fun, it was good work to do. At the same time it doesn't shock me that I wasn't earning the equivalent of $30 an hour," he said.

Randy Miller, founder and chief executive of career counseling firm ReadyMinds, said bad jobs can be good training, especially if a worker wants to advance in a particular field.

"I wouldn't see anything wrong with being a host or hostess. You may work at a smaller restaurant, get the experience you need, and then go to a larger restaurant or hotel chain," he said. "It might be a very good starting point for someone young who has very high aspirations in that field."

Not just young workers that are hurting

Yet for each top bad occupation, most of the workers are above 20 years of age. For example, among wait staff, almost 17% are 16- to 19-years-old, 33% are between 20 and 24, and 50% are between 25 and 64, according to CEPR's Schmitt.

Lifeguards and other protective-service workers comprise the occupation category with the highest proportion of teenagers, reaching almost 48%.

"Teenagers are an important part of some of the occupations, but in no case are they the majority of workers in the occupation," Schmitt said. "In most cases, teenagers are only a fairly small share of total employment."

Women who have their first baby before 25, as well as parents and other workers between 20 and 25 years of age, could use employer-sponsored health insurance, he said. Yet few are receiving it.

"A substantial number of people in that age range have family responsibilities. So having health insurance is a big deal," Schmitt said.

He added that it's also important for young people to have a defined benefit or contribution plan: "We're constantly being reminded that people should start [retirement saving] when they start working."

Occupations with the highest concentrations of bad jobs

1. Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop -- 87.0% bad jobs
2. Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop -- 87.0%
3. Ushers, lobby attendants, and ticket takers -- 85.4%
4. Fabric and apparel patternmakers -- 82.2%
5. Lifeguards and other protective-service workers -- 81.6%
6. Waiters and waitresses -- 80.4%
7. Tour and travel guides -- 79.4%
8. Models, demonstrators, and product promoters -- 79.2%
9. Dishwashers -- 78.8%
10. Motion picture projectionists -- 78.1%

Ruth Mantell is a MarketWatch reporter based in Washington.

WANTED: Oil Workers

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Quit cutting chemistry class.
That's the advice experts give people wanting to capitalize on the current shortage of highly trained oil industry workers - a shortage that's also expected to delay new oil projects and could drive crude prices even higher over the next few years.
In the next three or four years, there's expected to be a 30 to 40 percent shortage of technical and professional oil workers in the Untied States, according to Damon Beyer of Katzenbach Partners, a Houston-based management consultancy that specializes in the energy sector.
Over a quarter of the industry's highly skilled employees - petroleum engineers, process engineers, geologists, geophysicists and the like - are eligible for retirement in two years, said Beyer.
"It's a real issue," said Beyer. "Success in attracting new people into the work force is limited."
Worldwide, the industry's "people deficit" is expected to reach up to 15 percent by 2010, according to Pritesh Patel, an associate director at Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
Part of this is due to baby boomers leaving the work force, and part is due to the global economic boom that has strained the heavy industry labor market in general.
But oil has its own problems.
During the 1980s, low crude prices forced layoffs throughout the industry. Around the same time, students formerly drawn to basic sciences such as mathematics, chemistry and engineering were enticed into a new, sexier field: Information technology.
"[Oil] wasn't considered the most forefront of fields to be in," said Patel.
So now, projects to find and bring new oil to market are delayed as oil firms compete with one another for workers with the competence to bring new, often challenging fields into production. It also means new, less experienced people are designing projects, and errors can be made in the design process that take time to correct before the facility can become operational.
"This could cause some delay in supply reaching markets," he said.
And as anyone who's followed oil markets over the last four years knows, supply concerns factor first and foremost in the minds of traders, who have bid prices to record highs of over $96 a barrel in recent weeks.
The industry is trying to fix the problem.
For starters, salaries are fairly high. Patel said a petroleum engineer typically earns $70,000 to $90,000 a year, right out of school.
Second, there are stronger academic programs in emerging countries such as India and China, home of many of the new graduates entering the field. Those graduate are closer to most of the new supplies of oil, in places such as Russia, Central Asia and Indonesia.
Beyer sees that as a good thing. "This is a global problem, and it needs to be solved globally."
But even in the United States, he said enrollment at schools specializing in petroleum sciences - such as Texas A&M and Colorado School of Mines - is increasing.
That's also a good thing, as it's fairly difficult to break into these high-skilled, high-paying jobs without studying engineering and then petroleum engineering at the graduate level.
The few exceptions, said Patel, are chemical engineers and process engineers who work at places such as pharmaceutical companies, but he added that demand for engineers is up across all industries.
"Some have switched over, but we're seeing a boom in other areas of the economy as well," he said.
For those not mathematically inclined, he said there is a similar boom going on in demand for skilled trade workers - welders, pipe fitters and such.
And unlike a half decade long stint in graduate school, those programs can typically be completed at your local trade college in six months or a year, with little more than a high school diploma.

CAUTION: Sluggish Job Growth Ahead

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Economists aren't worried about job losses any longer, but sluggish growth looks like it's here to stay.
This week has seen some signs of economic strength, from a much stronger than expected report on economic growth in the third quarter to a rebound in construction spending. The Federal Reserve even seemed to give the economy a passing grade while cutting its key interest rate Wednesday, as it described economic growth as "solid."
But when the Labor Department is due to report on October job growth at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday, economists are looking for another month of sluggish job growth. Those surveyed by Briefing.com forecast employers added only 80,000 jobs in October, and they are looking for the unemployment rate to stay at the 4.7 percent level hit in September.
And many economists say they're not expecting particularly strong job readings the rest of this year and going forward into early next year. Economists generally believe that employers need to add between 125,000 and 150,000 jobs a month just to keep up with the growth in the labor force, so prolonged job growth at the levels forecast for October are seen as leading to higher unemployment in the coming months.
"We're looking at job growth below 100,000 on an average going forward, and we're looking for unemployment to get up to 5.2 percent by the third quarter of next year," said Jay Bryson, global economist with Wachovia.
All these forecasts are better than the initial Labor Department reading for August, which was that the number of Americans with jobs had fallen by 4,000, the first decline in four years. That decline helped open the way for the Fed to cut rates by a half-percentage point at its September meeting due to concerns about a slowing economy.
But a month ago, the Labor Department reported not only a 110,000 gain in U.S. payrolls in September, but it revised away a 4,000 job loss originally reported in August, raising that estimate to a gain of 89,000. And when the Fed again cut rates Wednesday, this time by a more modest quarter-percentage point, its statement suggested that the further rate cuts are not necessary, unless there's a worsening of the current economic conditions.
So another weak jobs number Friday could depress stock indexes, rather than lifting investors' hopes for another rate cut. And a much weaker-than-expected payroll number will likely prompt a stock sell-off on worries about how weaker labor markets will depress consumer spending. In the past, bad news was good news - and stocks sometimes rose on signs of sluggish job growth because those readings raised hopes of rate cuts.
"I think bad news is bad news going forward," said Bryson.
Still Bryson and other economist say they don't see the bottom falling out of labor markets, even with more sluggish economic growth ahead.
Job losses are likely to stay limited to construction and the financial sector, as well as sectors of manufacturing, which have been seeing long-term declines due to import competition, such as automakers and textile. For example, Chrysler announced plans Thursday to cut up to 12,000 jobs as it cuts production plans to bring its capacity more in line with lower demand for its products.
But other sectors of manufacturing are not fairing as badly, due partly to a pickup in exports, helped by a decline in the value of the dollar that makes U.S. goods more competitive overseas and imports more expensive here. The Institute of Supply Management survey of manufacturing executives released Thursday showed a slight pickup in hiring plans in the overall sector, coupled with a solid gain in export orders.
The monthly employment report from payroll servicing firm ADP released Wednesday estimated that private-sector employers overall added 106,000 jobs in October, which is more than twice the average gain of 43,000 jobs over the firm's three previous monthly reports. That gain came even with manufacturers cutting 14,000 jobs and construction reducing employment by 16,000.
"Employment at small and medium-size firms is very robust," said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, which compiles the ADP report. "It's the large firms in construction, manufacturing and finance that have been shedding jobs. But two months after the August financial seizure, there's no evidence that weakness is spilling out of the housing sector."
Still job growth could slow further going forward if commodity prices, particularly oil, remain high.
"The higher oil prices are going to affect consumption, they're going to affect business investment. That means they're not going to hire more people, even if they're not laying off," said Jeoff Hall, the chief U.S. economist for Thomson Financial.
Hall said that while the direct impact of $95 a barrel oil on hiring is difficult to estimate, he has no doubt it's a negative for the labor market.
"I think we'll see employment growth in the 50,000-a-month range in the first half of '08 if we have oil at $95," he said.

Jobs Pick Up But Red Flags Remain

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Employers added more than twice as many workers in October as economists had expected, according to a closely-watched government report Friday.
The bullish outlook of a 166,000-job gain comes two months after the same employment measure shook economists and markets by reporting the first job loss in four years.
The strong jobs report helped calm recent fears that the U.S. economy was falling into a recession because of a sharp downturn in home building and housing values, weak demand for autos and spreading problems in credit markets.
But some economists questioned the validity of the gains in the latest report, which is subject to further revision.
"People got too excited about the job loss in August and they're getting too excited about this gain," said John Silvia, chief economist with Wachovia.
Even economists who have a bullish view of the economy said they believe downward revisions in the reading are likely. But they argued that the report showed a fundamental strength in the U.S. economy that has been overlooked by those fixated on housing and credit problems.
"Maybe everything isn't coming up roses, but it's coming up carnations," said Rich Yamarone, director of economic research at Argus Research. "It's not coming up weeds like everyone else seems to be suggesting."
The Labor Department report showed a net gain of 166,000 jobs in the month, up from a revised 96,000 increase in September. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast an 80,000 increase last month.
The unemployment rate stayed at 4.7 percent. That matched both economists' forecasts as well as the rate posted in September.
Construction lost only 5,000 workers in the October report, because much of the 21,500 decline in residential construction jobs was made up in other sectors of the building industry. Lenders trimmed nearly 5,000 jobs, but the financial sector posted a 2,000 job gain overall.
The service sector was the major driver of job growth, even as retailers showed a 22,000 job decline in the seasonally-adjusted reading. About half of the loss among retailers came in two battered sectors - auto dealerships and building supply stores. But segments considered more typical of retail performance, such as department stores, clothing and electronics retailers, also saw declines.
"Retailers won't hire the seasonal person because they're not certain of the holiday shopping period," said Silvia.
The strong gains came from employers in the government, leisure and hospitality and business and professional services sectors. But Silvia, chief economist with Wachovia, questioned some of the gains being reported there.
For example, the latest report showed about a 35,000 increase in public school employment in October, which Silvia said is probably the result of the report catching up with the normal seasonal gains at the start of the school year. It also showed temporary workers in business services bouncing back to a 20,200 gain, after a drop of almost that same amount in the latest September reading.
He said he expects much of this stronger-than-expected reading will soon be revised away, the same way that the 4,000 job loss originally reported in August has since been revised up twice to a 93,000 gain, which is close to the original estimate for that period.
"It's dealing with the month-to-month volatility in the sampling process," said Silvia. "Clearly the 166,000 overstates growth. When the final numbers finally come in, it will probably be closer to the 80,000 gain everyone was expecting."
And he sees many signs of weakness sprinkled throughout the report. Only about a third of the job losses in manufacturing are due to the downturn in the auto sector, as the weakness employment declines are widespread through most of the goods-producing sectors tracked in the report.
"The economy is producing jobs, but it's doing so at a below trend pace," he said. "I would emphasize that the job creation is skewed. It is entirely in the service sector."
The report didn't show much in the way of inflation pressure from the improved labor market outlook. The average hourly wage was up only 0.2 percent, less than the 0.3 percent forecast. And the September wage gain was also revised lower.
Stocks, which had sold-off sharply on Thursday on fears over problems in the nation's financial firms, opened higher on the jobs news but then turned lower

UAW workers angry that only after signing a new contract, Chrysler announces elimination of 12,000 jobs. Because private equity firms lose all sorts of sleep over guys with cushy union gigs.

Chrysler Cuts: Shock, Anger in Sterling Hts

Last Update: 12:44 am

Chrysler workers in Sterling Heights who just approved the new UAW contract tell WXYZ they were blindsided by the job cuts announced Thursday.

DETROIT (AP) - The ink barely dry on a new four-year labor contract, Chrysler LLC says it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs and remove four models from its lineup. The move stunned workers and suggests the now-private Chrysler won't hesitate to cut production and jettison vehicles that aren't selling well.

Chrysler said Thursday it will cut 8,500 to 10,000 hourly jobs and 2,100 salaried jobs through 2008, or about 15 percent of its work force. The cuts come on top of 13,000 Chrysler layoffs that were announced in February.

Chrysler also will eliminate shifts at five North American assembly plants and cut four models, including the slow-selling PT Cruiser convertible and Dodge Magnum wagon.

Chrysler officials said falling demand for vehicles in the U.S. market made the cuts necessary. Chrysler's sales fell 3 percent in the first nine months of this year, according to Autodata Corp., and the company said it expects sluggish sales in 2008.

"We have to move now to adjust the way our company looks and acts to reflect a smaller market," Chrysler Vice Chairman and President Tom LaSorda, who led the company through the recent contract talks, said in a statement. "That means a cost base that is right-sized and an appropriate level of plant utilization."

Most workers will be offered buyout or early retirement packages. The details of those packages weren't released Thursday. Workers also could be offered jobs at other plants. About 1,100 of the salaried workers affected are temporary workers, who don't get severance packages.

"Our union will make sure our members receive all of the benefits and protections to which they are entitled under the contract," UAW spokeswoman Christine Moroski said.

Industry analysts said the cuts were long overdue to avoid overproduction, which leads to high inventories, angry dealers and costly incentives to move cars off dealers' lots. Chrysler, which became a private company in August, is now better equipped to make those changes, since it doesn't report earnings and can afford to take a short-term hit paying for buyouts. The private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management became the majority owner of Chrysler after buying an 80.1 percent stake from Chrysler's former partner, German automaker Daimler AG.

"One of the things that private equity does is give them the discipline and the financial patience to be able to do things like this," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. "It's about time. We're starting to see the kind of discipline that will build these companies into a sustainably profitable future."

Aaron Bragman, an industry analyst for the consulting firm Global Insight, said Chrysler can now make decisions in a matter of hours instead of slogging through months of trans-Atlantic debate. Bragman said Chrysler also knew it would have to wait until the contract was ratified to make cuts or else workers would have voted down the contract.

"They now have the ability to adjust production to demand, which is what the Japanese have been doing for years," he said.

As part of the new plan, shifts will be cut at vehicle assembly plants in Belvidere, Ill.; Toledo, Ohio; Brampton, Ontario; and Jefferson North and Sterling Heights in the Detroit area. Also, jobs will be cut at the company's Mack Avenue engine plant.

The announcement comes less than a week after Chrysler workers represented by the United Auto Workers union ratified a four-year contract with the automaker. The agreement passed by a slim margin after a six-hour strike. Belvidere and Jefferson North were among the plants that voted against the agreement, while the Sterling Heights plant voted for it. All of the plants except the Toledo plant are covered by the contract, which promised $15 billion in investment at U.S. plants through 2011.

Several local union presidents and workers said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and chief UAW-Chrysler negotiator General Holiefield should have been more forthcoming about the impending cuts before members ratified the contract.

"I think we just got sold out by our leadership," said Edward Mendrysa, 56, of Southgate, who for the past 13 years has worked on the door line at the Jefferson North plant.

Several workers at Toledo's Jeep plant said company officials denied layoffs were coming and union leaders were kept in the dark even after the decision was made. Union leaders had just assured workers on Tuesday that the third shift wouldn't be eliminated.

"The next day this happens," said Skip Nearhood, a team leader on the production line.

The decision left Nearhood wondering whether Cerberus will be good for Chrysler's future.

"I thought it would be, now I'm not sure," said Nearhood, who's been at the plant 30 years and won't be losing his job.

The union said information on upcoming production changes was shared with plants. Volume-related production decisions aren't prohibited by national contracts, so the cuts likely weren't a major issue at the bargaining table.

Debbie Raper, a 52-year-old assembly line worker in Belvidere for 30 years, said she was saddened by the news and what it means for her co-workers who are nowhere near retirement age. Raper said workers have expected the cuts since the sale to Cerberus was completed.

"We all think they're here to dice and chop and sell us off," she said. "We all want to be competitive. There isn't anybody that's not conscientious about their job. But the government has to step in here at some point and help us out."

The company also said it will eliminate four products through 2008: the Dodge Magnum wagon, the convertible version of the Chrysler PT Cruiser, the Chrysler Pacifica crossover and the Chrysler Crossfire sports car.

In the same time frame, Chrysler plans to add two new products: the Dodge Journey crossover and Dodge Challenger sports car, along with two new hybrid models, the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango.

"These actions reflect our new customer-driven philosophy and allow us to focus our resources on new, more profitable and appealing products," Jim Press, Chrysler's new vice chairman and president, said in a statement. "These product actions are all in response to dealer requests."

Pacifica sales were down 30 percent in the first nine months of this year as the crossover faced stiff competition from other automakers with newer models. Erich Merkle, vice president of auto industry forecasting for the consulting firm IRN Inc., said Chrysler should have refreshed the Pacifica, because it now has a big hole in its lineup in a crucial segment.

But Merkle said the cuts were necessary to get off an endless cycle of overproduction.

"They're producing more than the country is demanding," he said. "This allows them to produce with much less volatility."

More millionaires living like middle class. More middle class living like they think they're millionaires

More U.S. millionaires are middle-class

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Sitting on a million but still middle-class? New research has found that more and more Americans worth at least $1 million want luxury goods such as yachts but otherwise lead family-focused, work-oriented lives.

Private wealth specialists Lewis Schiff and Russ Alan Prince found the number of Americans with $1 million to $10 million had risen to 8.4 million households -- or 7.6 percent of U.S. households -- and was growing at 15 percent a year.

But instead of entering the echelons of the elite, these new millionaires adhere to middle-class values, earning their money rather than inheriting it, working 70 hours a week, and choosing neighborhoods based on the quality of schools.

"These are middle class people who are in the community and don't insulate themselves but they are different because they have managed to accumulate wealth," said Schiff, the president of private wealth consultant Advanced Planning Group.

"They spend their money on all the things that tie back to family values -- on the health and welfare of their family, career development, and as you move up the ladder they spend on leisure and luxury activities."

Schiff and Prince surveyed about 3,600 people -- 600 millionaires and 3,000 middle-class people -- to research their book "The Middle Class Millionaire: The Rise of the New Rich and How they are Changing America" due out next February.

They found that 89 percent of middle-class millionaires believed anyone could attain wealth through hard work.

YACHTS, SCHOOLS, AND CARS

Middle-class millionaires are almost three times as likely as the average middle-class person to choose a career based on its likely earnings, three times as likely to belong to a networking group, and five times more likely to say they are always available for work by phone or email.

Nearly eight out of 10 -- or 77 percent -- choose their neighborhood based on the quality of the school system.

"They are much more outgoing and involved in the community than the very affluent who tend to be more insular and react with fewer people," Schiff said.

He said the four main characteristics of a millionaire were that they were hard working, networked, persistent even in the face of failure, and put themselves in the flow of money.

"You could be a hard-working, dedicated chemistry teacher but you will never create wealth in that way," he added.

The authors argue this new group has a strong influence on spending, shaping the habits of their middle class counterparts and impacting certain product sectors ranging from yachting to jewellery to handbags.

Grant Skeens, president and CEO of marine lender KeyBank Luxury Yacht Lending (LYL) said this was reflected in the demand for boats of 80 feet and above, costing about $1 million, which is growing at 15 percent a year.

"The new buyers really value leisure time as they have so little time," he told Reuters.

But with this new group of wealth buying up what were once seen as the trappings of wealth, this is also changing the spending of the super-rich.

"When you're very wealthy you look for exclusive expressions of affluence and when these are more available to a larger number of people they lose their exclusivity so they want something new and innovative," said Schiff.

"This means the top one percent has to find a new way to express their affluence and we are seeing this most commonly through technology."

Man steals $2000 worth of office supplies from Staples by telling clerk he already paid for them.
That was easy.

BY J.D. GALLOP
FLORIDA TODAY

PALM BAY — A 42-year-old man who police said walked out of a local business with nearly $2,000 in office supplies after convincing a store clerk the items were his, will head to court next month.

Anthony J. Figueroa of 1359 Carr Circle was charged with grand theft after Palm Bay police were called to the Staples store at 1595 Palm Bay Rd. to investigate reports of stolen supplies, reports show.

Figueroa is expected to go to court next month on the charge, records show.

Palm Bay police said that Figueroa went to the Staples and set aside a number of items in the business supply store.

He later returned and convinced a store clerk that he had already paid for the supplies and then removed them, reports show.

Figueroa was arrested Oct. 25 after store managers contacted police, reports show. He was booked into the Brevard County Detention Center, where he later bonded out, records show.

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?

To find out, businessman and academic Richard Goossen rounded up a group of experts

by Stacy Perman

Richard Goossen wears many hats. Over the past 20 years, Goossen, a lawyer, businessman, and academic, has founded startups, acted as strategic adviser to high-growth companies, written three books, and spoken extensively on the subject of entrepreneurship. Now the CEO of M&A Capital Corp. and a professor of entrepreneurship at Trinity Western University in Vancouver, B.C., Goossen recently decided to tackle the question:Can entrepreneurship be taught? (Businessweek.com, 10/30/06)

"If I go into any social setting, people always wonder how can you teach entrepreneurship," says Goossen. So he decided to explore the topic further. He rounded up a group of entrepreneurship experts ranging from Peter Drucker (Businessweek.com, 11/28/05) to Rita Gunther McGrath to Karl Vesper. He culled their insights, broke them down, and published the results in his most recent book, Entrepreneurial Excellence: Profit From the Best Ideas of the Experts (Career Press; 2007). "My motivation was to talk to the top researchers and instructors in the world who teach something that a lot of people think can't be taught," he says.

Goossen came to the conclusion that while there are several elements that can be taught to enhance the knowledge and success of entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship is something one can learn only by doing. "With law or accounting,you can teach a set of principles that a student can master to become a competent practitioner," he says. "But teaching entrepreneurship is tough. In a class it's hard to predict who will do well and who will not."

As a result of his research, Goossen has come up with three entrepreneurial elements that can be taught. The first is general business knowledge—what he calls "the nuts and bolts of management principles and strategic thinking." Next, there are general entrepreneurial principles. "You can lean from what other people have done and where they made mistakes," he says. Finally, he says one can learn to be alert to opportunities in certain fields in a general sense.

What can't be taught, on the other hand, is what Goossen calls "venture specific opportunity principles." By that he means the ability to understand and see specific niches in a market and recognize whether it will be successful or not. "You can't teach someone how to know what will work and what won't," says Goossen. "You can't even duplicate the set of dynamics of a past success."

For a primer on ideas that can be learned from Goossen's roster of experts, flip through this slide show.