• Canadian companies plan to hire more full-time accounting, finance and information technology professionals than expected in the last three months of this year, according to surveys of chief financial officers at 270 Canadian companies with 20 or more employees. Thirteen per cent of CFOs polled expect to add staff, an 11-per-cent increase over third-quarter projections, according to research by staffing company Robert Half International Inc. The executives planning to hire cited higher-than-anticipated growth and increased workloads. (Globe And Mail)

• Both employee turnover rate and salaries have risen in Guangzhou, capital of southern China's Guangdong Province, at a time when the local human resource (HR) market continues to be highly competitive. This was unveiled yesterday by International HR consulting firm Hewitt Associates after its annual survey on compensation and benefits in the city.  A total of 290 companies, about 90 per cent of which were foreign-invested firms, took part in the survey. Employee turnover rate in the non-manufacturing sector in Guangzhou has risen from 11.4 per cent last year to 14.6 per cent this year, according to Hewitt. The rate in the manufacturing sector has grown to 13.4 per cent from 10.7 per cent. At the same time, the average turnover rate in China has increased from 8.3 per cent in 2001 to 14 per cent this year. (ChinaDaily)
   
• Google (Profile, Products, Articles) is unlikely to have a problem finding staff for a research and development (R&D) center the company plans to set up in China, according to comments made by Kai-Fu Lee, the head of the company's Chinese operations, in an interview with the Chinese press.  Google received more than 1,000 resumes within five hours of posting an online notice for available positions at the R&D center, Lee said, according to a recent interview with the 21st Century Business Herald newspaper. In addition, many more applications were sent to his personal e-mail address, he said. (InfoWorld)

• A new electronic recruitment system is to be launched soon by Abu Dhabi Police, in a major step forward that will allow applicants to submit their documents by emailing them from any location.  "The new e-recruitment system will be based on four phases: announcement about vacancies on the police web site, receiving applications, evaluation of applications and e-appointment", said Colonel Mohammed Al Awadi Al Menhali, Director, Human Resources at Abu Dhabi Police. (DO Channel)

• Employers in communities on Finland's west coast are increasingly suffering from a shortage of labour, with companies searching for recruits around the country. In Pori, which has suffered from a serious unemployment problem, the jobless rate has plunged to its lowest level since 1991. The shortage is especially acute for skilled workers in the metal industry. However, in spite of the increased availability of jobs, the long-term unemployed are not benefiting from them. (HELSINGIN SANOMAT)
   

• Monster Worldwide Inc.'s chief executive Andrew McKelvey said Monday that, "We're not going to grow in 2006 at the way we want by taking business away from our two online competitors, we've got to grow by taking business away from newspapers and getting people online," Reuters reports. McKelvey affirmed the company's third-quarter revenue forecast, which in July was predicted to be in the range of $243 million to $249 million. Monster has decreased national advertising, including dropping Superbowl ads, and boosted local spending. While Careerbuilder.com - a joint venture between Knight Ridder, Tribune Co., and Gannett Co. Inc. - and Hotjobs.com are Monster's main competition, McKelvey says the company's plan is to compete with the $4 billion U.S. newspaper classified industry. (MediaBuyerPlanner)
   
• Microsoft: Khakis and Brainteasers: The dress code isn't formal, but dealing with out-of-the-box questions is one key to a successful interview with the tech giant...  For the past year, Anne Manhart has been an MBA staffing consultant for technology giant Microsoft (MSFT ) in the company's Redmond (Wash.) headquarters. Before taking on this role, she spent a year recruiting for Microsoft's marketing segment. Prior to joining the company in 2003, Manhart worked as a marketing director at Omnicom Group (OMC ), an advertising company in New York, where Microsoft was among her clients. (BusinessWeek)
   
• When Facebook.com founder Mark Zuckerberg took some time off from Harvard back in January 2004, he had no idea what a phenomenon his idea would become. Today, with no plans to go back to school anytime in the near future, he is recruiting Stanford students to follow in his footsteps. "We're making a bunch of money, so we're willing to hire as many smart people as we can find," Zuckerberg said, as he looks to expand beyond his current team of 40 workers. Big bucks may await Stanford engineers who want to work for the Web site full-time, as several Facebook.com employees are making over $100,000 annually. However, students who want to continue to take classes at Stanford can earn $20 an hour, while Facebook.com pays for their tuition. (Stanford Daily)
   
• I had a chance to sit down with Reid Hoffman, an early employee at PayPal and cofounder of LinkedIn, to talk about the future of Web 2.0 and social networking as the basis for the new internet. Reid is a pioneer and active angel investor as well as a leader in the social networking platforms being developed. Reid and I agree on what it takes to be successful in developing and launching new startups. We talked about what it takes for startups to compete and get established in this new Web 2.0 environment. Reid explained how podcasting can ride that same trend of getting established very quickly for millions of people. (AlwaysOn)
   
• IBM today launched a new consulting service designed to help businesses plan for critical changes in their workforces as more of their most highly skilled baby boomer workers retire -- taking their knowledge with them. Using advanced analytical software tools to review a company's workforce, IBM's new services initiative will offer insights to help companies cope with the knowledge drain, according to Edward Vitalos, an associate partner with IBM's Business Consulting Services Human Capital Group. The problem, he said, is that as critical employees of the baby boom generation retire, companies don't usually have other skilled workers who can seamlessly fill the jobs. (Computerworld)
   
• The Asia-Pacific region is facing the crunch of a maturing workforce combined with a flat or falling birthrate. In Australia, this trend is colliding with the relative unwillingness of older workers to stay in the workforce. Just 49 per cent of workers aged 55 to 64 work, compared to 59 per cent in the United States and up to 65 per cent in Scandinavia.  In Japan, with a population of 127 million today, over 33 million people are expected to surpass 65 in a decade. In China, the United Nations predicts 28 per cent will surpass 65 by 2040 - by which time it would have roughly 400 million senior citizens, more than the combined populations of France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK. In contrast, India has - and will continue to possess - a large young workforce. In 25 years, only 12 per cent of a swelling workforce of scientific, technical and professional will be above 60. (Channel News Asia)
   
• IBM's new service, the Maturing Work Force Diagnostic, tracks retirement trends within individual companies out to a maximum of five years. It also looks at the critical labor needs of the businesses to see if those segments hold a large segment of retirement-ready workers. (The Journal News)
  
  Vitalos said IBM consultants will offer a variety of strategies. In some cases, younger employees in mid-career could be redirected to other areas where greater labor needs will develop down the road. Companies also can develop more flexible work arrangements for retirement-age employees, many of whom will want to stay on the job for financial or social reasons.
   
• In the beginning, customers won't see any major changes as a result of Oracle's decision to buy Siebel Systems. Most of the short-term benefits will be reaped by Oracle over the next calendar and fiscal years, as Siebel's software licenses, maintenance contracts and consulting fees fatten Oracles revenue and profit results. But in the long term, corporate executives will have to assess how successful Oracle is with Project Fusion, the company's ambitious new architecture designed to create a common foundation for its applications, including four separate CRM offerings: Oracle's own; PeopleSoft , which Oracle acquired in January; JD Edwards, which PeopleSoft bought while it tried to fight off Oracle's hostile takeover; and now, Siebel. (NewsFactor)
   
• Three positive themes drive Morgan Stanley's view of the Business & Employment services sector: multi-year upswing in permanent placement, immature temp markets, and reasonable valuations. (NewRatings)

• Companies turn to elder hands as workforce shrinks...Not that long ago, it was common for businesses in Japan to jettison employees like cargo from ships becalmed in the horse latitudes.  The objective was the same-to lighten the load during trying times-and the outcome was often successful.  But with some 6.8 million baby boomers set to start retiring en masse in 2007, businesses-whether they like it or not-are having to go to great lengths to keep the workers they have. (asahi.com)
  

•  Software developer i-GRasp has been officially recognised as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the UK - the only recruitment technology company to feature in the listing. (OnRec)
   
• Few mid-sized companies have outsourced their HR functions, according to the latest quarterly research from professional services consultancy KPMG. The survey of 100 companies with a turnover of between £5m and £500m revealed that only 8% had outsourced HR. The most popular functions to be outsourced were training, IT and payroll, all farmed out by 28% of companies, while 40% said that they had not outsourced any of their business functions. Only 2% said they were considering or might consider outsourcing the HR function in the future. (Personnel Today)
   
• The public sector's approach to talent management will be challenged in a major piece of research to be launched next February.The Society of Personnel Officers in Government Services (Socpo), which is behind the research, hopes the findings will equip public sector employers with new ways to recognise potential talent. (Personnel Today)
   
• Under pressure social services bosses have been forced to widen their search for social workers around the world to find enough people to protect Norfolk's vulnerable children. One in four social worker posts are vacant and social services chiefs have had to turn to Europe to plug the gaps, with seven German social workers set to join. Norfolk County Council has a near 25 per cent vacancy rate in its child protection posts and the German workers will join three Canadians set to cross the Atlantic for a new life in Norfolk. (Norwich Evening News)
   
• Candidates who lie about their credentials to boost their chances of getting a job had better beware - firms are hiring 'CV detectives' to weed them out. The Truth Hurts: But it could be better than lying to try to get a job  Around a quarter of jobseekers lie on their CVs to try to impress their future boss, it is claimed.  And women in their early thirties are the ones most likely to be economical with the truth. Nearly 80% of CVs that these women submitted were found to contain lies, from covering up gaps in their careers to claiming to have won first class degrees. (ThisisMoney)

•  Today, America's workforce numbers 149 million people, and more Americans are working than ever before. At the same time, the workplace is changing rapidly — it is much different from even a decade ago. Technology has increased not only the rate but the intensity of change. So the key to success in the 21st century will be to focus on helping workers evolve and successfully adapt to change. Fortunately, this is one of our country's greatest strengths. Americans have always responded to and thrived on change. When America was founded, nearly our entire workforce was employed in agriculture. Today, about 2 percent of Americans work in agriculture, yet we produce enough food for much of the world. (Des Moines Register)
   
• But the recovery is breaking the mold. Jobs came back and the unemployment rate went down, as they should. But the labor force -- the percentage of adult Americans who are working, or at least looking for work -- is still shrinking. "What's perplexing is we haven't seen the typical rebound," said Steve Hine, labor market research director at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. The same phenomenon is happening nationally, according to a new report from the nonprofit Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. (StarTribune)

 

 

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