Springboard Forward, a leader in career development programs for low-wage workers, is forging a groundbreaking partnership with Kenexa, a publicly traded company that provides hiring and retention solutions globally. Kenexa's work includes measuring the relationship between employee engagement and profitability for national retailers. Springboard and Kenexa will collaborate to launch an ambitious demonstration project with a national retailer that will measure the impact of Springboard's programs on employee engagement, as well as on the associated business performance and profitability of the company.

The newest player in the temporary staffing industry, The Labor Depot, is quickly making a permanent mark on this growing business sector, recently opening a second office in Pennsauken, New Jersey, and a third in Roselle Park, New Jersey. This follows the firm's previous announcement of a business partnership in Chennai, India, for U.S.-based recruitment and placement, and a growth plan that targets opening two-dozen additional facilities.

Continuing to innovate new services in the IT Channel, the world's largest technology distributor, IngramMicro Inc. (IM), today announced a lineup of professional staffing and recruiting services called IT Staffing Solutions. Available immediately to all Ingram Micro solution providers in the United States, the new professional services assist solution providers with locating and qualifying trained technical personnel on a temporary, part-time or full-time basis.

In conjunction with the Governor's Job Fair Network of Mississippi, Monster Worldwide is sponsoring and providing volunteer services at the upcoming Mississippi Employment Expo - the largest job fair to date dedicated to finding employment for displaced Hurricane Katrina survivors and rebuild workers.

Kelly Engineering Resources, a highly specialized and rapidly expanding business unit of Kelly Services, has opened its first office in Asia. The Singapore office joins forces with a global network of Kelly Engineering Resources branch locations throughout North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim.

Clarendon Parker Middle East, a leading regional staffing solutions provider, has opened its first Kuwait office in partnership with Action Group Holdings, a Kuwait-based holding company with financial interests in public and private companies.

Centive announced that Waltham, MA-based BrassRing has selected Centive Compel(TM) to automate its sales compensation process. BrassRing chose Compel based on its ability to provide the automation, flexibility and real-time visibility that was lacking in their existing system.

Marriott International, Inc. , recognized as one of the "100 Best Companies To Work For" by FORTUNE magazine, due in part to its workplace initiatives, was awarded a $300,000 diversity research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Marriott is partnering with George Washington University, in Washington, D.C, on a three-year research project to examine the dynamics of employee engagement among diverse work groups and its impact on business performance.

Deck Chairs:
TechSpan India Limited, an IT consulting and technology services company, has named Rohit Varma as the Vice President in charge of People Development....Empagio, a provider of mid-market HRO services, today announced the appointment of Steve Garrett as Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development....WingateWeb announced that Kathy L. Herzog has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Account Services, overseeing account services and consulting for Fortune 500 companies.....

You Should Know
China:
China hiring plans help extend Wal-Mart rally
Shares of Wal-Mart Stores  jumped more than 2 percent on Monday as news that the world's largest retailer plans to hire 150,000 people in China over the next five years helped extend a rally in the stock that began last week.  In an interview with Reuters on Sunday, Joe Hatfield, chief executive of Wal-Mart Asia, said the company planned that hiring as it prepares a major store expansion. The 150,000 people are five times the number Wal-Mart currently employs in China. (Reuters)

China's choice: Baby boom or bust
Fixated on maintaining the country's high-powered economic growth, Chinese policymakers have been soliciting opinions from economists about how to avoid future labor shortages by relaxing and even scrapping the rigid one-child policy. But the effort has generated a debate over a 25-year-old family-planning policy that was once considered sacrosanct. Population experts have clashed with economists about what path China - a nation of 1.3 billion with scarce farmland and water supplies - should take to maintain a healthy economic growth and delay the arrival of a graying society without creating another population explosion. (Asia Times)

Germany:
Germany hoping for baby boom
Political leaders vowed at the weekend to push through new policies to encourage Germans to have more children after alarming new data showed the country is bottom of the world's birth rate rankings. Figures issued by the Federal Statistics Office on Friday estimated that between 680 000 and 690 000 children were born in Germany in 2005, among the lowest birth rates per woman in the 25-nation European Union and the lowest total since the office began measuring births in 1946.  A separate demographic study published last week by the Berlin Institute for Population and Development put Germany last in the global rankings of births per citizen and predicted the trend would accelerate in coming decades. (IOL)


Global:
50M advertising offensive
The newspaper industry has been kicked around for a long time and it's not going to take it anymore. Starting today, the trade group Newspaper Association of America will fight back with an ad campaign valued at $50 million. Retro-looking print ads will run today in 700 daily newspapers and in trade magazines, such as Advertising Age and online. The campaign tagline reads: "Newspaper advertising, a destination, not a distraction." The campaign marks an aggressive effort to promote newspapers to advertisers in the face of declining circulation and shrinking market share. "This ad campaign makes the case for reappraisal of newspaper media in the print and online world," said NAA president John Sturm in a statement.  (Daily News)

Newspapers: From Print to Pixels
Some Old Media outfits, including soon-to-be-sold Knight Ridder, have embraced the Web. In the Digital Age, their grasp of its potential must be a lot firmer  Over the last decade, the Internet has disrupted one industry after another. Travel, music, retail, and telecommunications are just a few of the sectors that have been forced to adapt to the new reality of the Web. Now, the newspaper business is starting to feel the full force of fundamental technological change. (BusinessWeek)

Job reviews are helpful but ongoing feedback is best
If there is a guaranteed way of raising the blood pressure of workers, it's a simple mention of the performance review. "I can see why people react that way to performance reviews," says Kim Hans, Carlsbad-based director of operations for Adecco Staffing in the southwestern United States. "For most people, reviews tend to appear subjective and intimidating." A survey of 2,000 workers by the staffing company found worse. It revealed that less than half – 49 percent – believe their supervisors take the review process seriously and only 44 percent think their reviews include constructive feedback. "When I heard that, my initial reaction was, 'I believe it,'" Hans says. "Reviews seem to be very stressful for most people."  (UNION-TRIBUNE)



Most companies ignore blogs, which some believe is a mistake
Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard has some strong views on Portland General Electric Co. Leonard has posted three commentaries on the company on progressive blog BlueOregon.com in the last three months, accusing PGE, among other things, of charging ratepayers for taxes and then adding the revenue to the bottom line. (MSNBC)

Dell to double Indian staffing levels
An increased customer service unit and international manufacturing centre boost Dell's presence to 20,000 staff in the rapidly growing marker. Dell plans to double its headcount in India over three years, its founder said on Monday, but there was no word on the location of a planned manufacturing unit in the country. Dell said its staff numbers in India would rise to 20,000 over the next three years from about 10,000 now. Dell has set up huge BPO units to tap India's vast pool of low-cost English-speaking workers. (ZDNet)

Diversity is good business
THE E-MAIL began circulating among minority journalists the moment the announcement was made: "New York Times Company to establish diversity officer."  My reaction, like others, I suspect, consisted of two phases -- the initial, "Good for them," followed by the more cynical, "But isn't this 2006?"  The move, reported first by Richard Prince for the Maynard Institute, was a result of a report to management made by the Times' in-house diversity council, which warned: "The Times is a newspaper at-risk. If it fails to diversify its workforce and to make attendant changes in its corporate culture, the Times will inevitably lose stature."  (SFGate)

Barbetta departure leaves BI void at Oracle
Larry Barbetta, the man who helped CRM software maker Siebel Systems Inc to become a business intelligence and analytics powerhouse has reportedly left the company after failing to hammer out a new contract following the acquisition by Oracle Corp.  According to Jeff Nolan, a former and well-respected venture capitalist at SAP Ventures in Silicon Valley, Barbetta left the company late last month, but his departure is being kept low-key by Oracle. Nolan made the claim on his well-known "Venture Chronicles" blog. (Computer Business Review Online)

Softscape Suite Sweetens Human Capital Management  Package includes advances in managing talent and HR processes.
Managing the full potential of the workforce is a critical strategic step for finance and operations management. Softscape, a longstanding provider of human resources management systems (HRMSs), has released Apex 2006, which offers major enhancements for enterprises. This suite of workforce and human capital management (HCM) delivers broad capabilities ranging from tactical HR to strategic talent management. Ventana Research believes the time has come for organizations to reassess their workforce processes and supporting applications; in considering their choice of strategic provider of applications going forward, they should consider Softscape. (Intelligent Enterprise)

Oman:
ORDC introduces Certified Recruitment Analyst course
Oman Resources Development Consultants in association with Middleearth Consultants will be holding a two-day course on Certified Recruitment Analyst (CRA). The course certificate will be issued by Carlton Advanced Management Institute of US and is currently a sought out course by HR personnel, recruitment professionals, line managers, senior managers and trainers. (Times of Oman)






South Africa:
Mining sector 'unattractive'
The portion of black representation on the boards of mining houses has increased from zero in 2001 to 37% at present, according to a report released by executive research company Landelahni Business on Monday. Landelahni group chief executive Sandra Burmeister said: "This is represents a significant shift since the mining charter was formulated in October 2002. "However, at other levels, representation in the mining industry trails the average across all industries." The research, covering 80% of the mining sector, was undertaken by Landelahni to provide insight into the progress made in employment equity at operational and corporate level in the mining industry and to provide guidelines to companies in developing employment equity strategies in line with the requirements of the mining charter. (Fin24)

UK:
Whites could be in minority in Leicester
The continued inflow of families from the Indian sub-continent, particularly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, is poised to reduce white community into a minority in cities like Leicester, Birmingham, and Bradford and Oldham in north England. It was earlier predicted that this would take about a decade but the rate of birth in some Asian communities could make Leicester the first city to have ethnic majority by 2011 and others crossing the threshold by 2016. There are now seven boroughs in London in which whites are in a minority, up from three in 2001. Brent in north-west London has the highest proportion of non-whites, 69 per cent. The race relations watchdog has warned that such a demographic change poses a critical challenge to social stability. Tough decisions will have to be made said Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) as these cities become "plural cities" where no one race holds clear demographic majority. (Hindustan Times)

Employers plan to recruit despite skills shortage
Despite the fact that two fifths of businesses are finding it hard to find skilled workers, one fifth is planning to recruit in the next three months, according to research from recruitment agency Manpower. "The uplift in hiring intentions we saw at the start of the year is continuing across all business sectors and almost all regions in the UK," said Manpower's managing director, Mark Cahill. "Success in the financial markets is breeding success in recruitment, as companies seek to maximise potential new business opportunities. It has never been more important for employers to pay close attention to the salary, benefits and career opportunities they offer their staff." (bCentral)



Retention Initiatives Rise As Physician Turnover Concerns Increase
Findings of a physician retention study issued today revealed turnover is a growing concern at medical groups nationwide, while targeted initiatives to retain doctors are on the rise. The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) and Cejka Search, a nationally recognized physician and healthcare executive search organization, released the findings of the Cejka Search and AMGA 2005 Physician Retention Survey. For the second consecutive year, the survey examines recruitment and retention trends at AMGA-affiliated medical groups. The survey revealed a significant increase in the number of medical groups that reported they are tracking turnover. Overall, 90% of the respondents said they monitor turnover, which is a 23% increase over last year. When segmented by practice size, all medical groups with more than 500 physicians said they track turnover, as do 80% of the smallest groups - those with fewer than 50 physicians. (Medical News Today)

A pincer movement on the papers
ANALYSIS: A perfect online storm is gathering against newspapers, and the editor of The Guardian knows it.
Alan Rusbridger spoke to the Royal Society of Arts in London yesterday on the subject "Newspapers in the age of blogs." The Guardian's editor is almost certainly unique amongst British newspaper editors as having regularly supped with start-ups and Web 2.0 companies in Silicon Valley. He is trying to figure out, understandably, how his newspaper should deal with the pincer movement of the terminal decline in newspaper readership and the loss of display and classified advertising revenue - all thanks to the Internet. In a wide ranging speech, delivered without notes but with hand-drawn slides, he told the assembled audience "Some people wonder if newspaper have or deserve to have future? Why does it matter?" The picture certainly looks grim. Revenue is walking out of newspapers, into Internet portals and niches titles. (NetImperative)

UK online net spending soars As overall ad spending slows
The amount of cash spent on internet advertising in the UK soared last year, according to figures compiled by the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC) on behalf of the Advertising Association (AA). The trade group says spending on online advertising in the UK rose 73 per cent during 2005, taking ad revenues to £1.13bn - way past other media such as consumer and business mags, radio, outdoor and cinema. According to the figures, online classified advertising rose 78 per cent last year to £748m, while online display advertising rose 64 per cent to £383m. At the same time, ad spending in national and regional newspapers, radio and direct all fell, although TV ad spend rose 3.6 per cent to £4.1bn. (The Register)

USA:
Diversity still an elusive goal in IT, other tech fields
Former Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers created a firestorm last year when he suggested that female under-representation in math and science fields might be the result of intrinsic aptitude differences between men and women. While that comment may be only part of the reason Summers is the former president of Harvard, it focused the spotlight on the need for more diversity in science and technology. In Wisconsin, diversity in top IT positions has a way to go, but is gaining a foothold. The Fusion2006 CEO-CIO Symposium's CIO panel featured three Wisconsin women and two minority men who have been entrusted with technology management. The panel signified an effort to embrace diversity, an effort that will be necessary to address a shortage of workers in science and technology and maintain the nation's technological edge. (Wisconsin Technology Network)

Report: Lots of jobs for this year`s grads
U.S. college grads in 2006 are expected to find plenty of work opportunities awaiting them, a consultancy said Monday. The 416,000 jobs added in January and February is the strongest evidence that this year`s 1.4 million college graduates will probably enjoy the best entry-level job market since the dot.com collapse in 2001, said Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a global outplacement consultancy. Even non-graduates will benefit as they seek summer jobs and internships. 'We are approaching full employment and some employers are already dreaming up perks to attract the best talent. Those graduating with degrees in business, engineering, computer science, education and healthcare should find a relatively welcoming job market,' said a Challenger spokesman. (Monsters and Critics)



Help wanted: Truckers, dock workers in short supply
Blue-collar workers are getting harder to find.  Just ask Paul Kelly, chairman of the Maryland Motor Truck Association's Intermodal Council. "We're all looking for drivers," Kelly said. (MSNBC)

Bush budget for 2007 would impact one-stop career-services centers |
When Alex Hurtado was laid off four months ago, his job-search followed a familiar script. He returned to Hempstead Works, a federally funded career-services center in Hempstead Village that offers free career counseling, fax and copier services and access to the Internet. Hurtado had last used the one-stop service's airy fourth-floor office in 2004 to find a job in the insurance industry. He searched listings on the Web and posted his resume and, in three months, found work. But almost two years later, he was laid off from the support staff -- just before Thanksgiving. And Hurtado, 36, a resident of Hempstead, headed back to the center. (TMC)






Survey Sez:
Marketing Staffing Survey Results Find That 57% of Fortune 500 Corporate Marketing Departments Plan on Hiring Additional Marketers in 2006

Internet Marketing is the Number One Area Corporate Marketing Departments' are Planning to Spend More Money On

Aquent Marketing Staffing, the world's largest staffing firm specializing in the placement of marketing professionals, today announced the recent findings of its "2006 Spending & Staffing Trends for Corporate Marketing Departments" study. Aquent surveyed over 1,700 marketing professionals at Fortune 500 companies across the country and Canada to gain insight into what areas of marketing Fortune 500 companies were planning to increase spending on in 2006 along with their staffing needs.

Compared to Aquent's 2005 findings, hiring has increased by 5 percent this year. "With more companies hiring, Aquent has seen a significant rise in its temp-to-perm solution, Talent Bridge," said Sean Bisceglia, president of Aquent Marketing Staffing. "Talent Bridge allows companies to work with a marketer on a "try before you buy" basis without adding head count for the first three months. That way hiring managers can evaluate performance, productivity, and cultural fit before making a permanent and costly commitment."

Aquent places over 1,000 experienced marketing professionals per year within leading Fortune 500 companies on an interim basis. Today, more than 20 percent of Aquent's interim marketers are going from temp-to-perm, and the number keeps growing.

Additionally, the survey found that there will be an increased focus on Internet marketing in 2006, with more than 50 percent of companies planning to increase spending in this area. Spending in branding and advertising follow closely behind, while brand mangers and project managers are the top two positions corporate marketing departments are looking to fill.

Aquent's survey also found that with the economy and job market picking up, along with the talk of Baby Boomers and the impending labor shortage, 59 percent of companies are concerned about employee retention and 78 percent believe employee turnover will be a challenge over the next five years.

To receive a copy of the "2006 Spending & Staffing Trends for Corporate Marketing Departments" study, please contact Kelly Shumaker by email kshumaker@aquent.com, 312-334-6980, or visit auqent.com.

About Aquent Marketing Staffing

Aquent Marketing Staffing provides world-class corporations with on-demand and temp-to-perm staffing solutions to meet marketing needs that range from tactical to strategic. With access to the world's largest pool of talented and experienced marketing professionals, we provide marketing staff that specialize in data analysis, product/brand management, research, merchandising, event planning, marketing communications, channel strategies, advertising, marketing strategy and web development.

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Coming Soon

Recruiting 2006 Conference and Expo Recruiting for Competitive Advantage Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada May 10-11, 2006 Register or call 800-531-0007 ext. 631.	NACE National Meeting & Expo Anaheim Marriott/ Anaheim Convention Center May 30 - June 2, 2006 More Info Register
2006 Top Employer Summit March 27-28, 2006 Four Seasons Hotel Toronto Register	37th Annual Employment Management Conference March 30-April 1, 2006 Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, California $1,205 Register
Society of Professional Journalists Region 11 Conference March 31-April 1, 2006 Hilton Pasadena 168 S. Los Robles Ave. Pasadena, CA Register $135	Human Capital Summit Conference April 5-7, 2006, Chicago Marriott Downtown Hotel Register $1,195
Lucas Group and The Wall Street Journal: Executive Diversity Career Fair April 19, 2006 Chicago , IL - Embassy Suites, Chicago Downtown For details:awasson@lucasgroup.com	HRIM: HRM Strategies 2006 April 9-12, 2006 Washington, DC $1,265 More Info Register
NYHR Week 06 New York Hilton April 25 - 28< 2006 $1,695 Register	Kennedy Information's Recruiting 2006 Conference and Expo May 10 - 11 Las Vegas $1,195 Register
HR Shared Services Summit Optimizing HR Shared Services to Achieve Excellence in Your Organization $1,999 May 22 - 24, 2006 · Sonesta Hotel - Coconut Grove, FL	Hunt Scanlon Advisors present Generating Higher ROI on Human Capital June 7, 2006 Chicago
OnRec Online Recruitment Conference Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre June 20 Westminster, London contact: Chris@OnRec.com More Info	2006 EREC 21-22 June 2006 ExCel London, UK Register
SHRM's 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition June 25-28 Washington, D.C. $1,350 Read more Register	OnRec Expo 2006 12-13 September 2006 Donald E. Stephens Convention Center Chicago Register
2006 Strategic HR Conference October 4-6, 2006 Westin Kierland Resort Phoenix, Arizona	Human Resource Executive's 9th Annual HR Technology® Conference Oct. 4-6, 2006 Navy Pier in Chicago, IL $!095 Register
2006 SHRM Workplace Diversity Conference October 16-18, 2006 Century Plaza Hotel and Spa Los Angeles, California	Hunt Scanlon Advisors present "Defining Leaders" New York city October 18 - 20, 2006 New York Palace
HR.com's Employers of Excellence 2006 October 25 - 27, 2006 Red Rock Resort Las Vegas, Nevada Register

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

   

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