Reveille and Hyperbole:
The McClatchy Co. agreed to sell part of its ownership in
three online businesses to partners Gannett Co. Inc. and Tribune Co.
Sacramento-based McClatchy will earn $310 million for reducing its stake in
CareerBuilder.com, ShopLocal.com and
Topix.net.
JustGoodCars.com
is one of the largest car related networks with over 1000 model specific
websites aimed at giving traders and private sellers free classified advertising
for their vehicles worldwide.There are many used cars for sale in the market
place that never make it to a classified site as listing prices are too high for
the lower end of the market for the high exposure websites, A free classified
service helps these customers as they do not see the sense in paying the
equivalent in some cases of 10% of their car price every few weeks to sell their
car. Just Good Cars makes it increasingly more affordable for businesses to
advertise their full inventory of cars to the general public and spend their
precious advertising money on brand awareness rather than car listings.
A group representing senior executives from BC's
largest construction firms is applauding the federal government for coming to
the table with an additional $55 million to bridge the gap between the original
2010 construction budget and the reality of construction costs that exists
today. "The federal government is acting like a true partner in
acknowledging what we have known in BC for some time," says Philip Hochstein,
Chair of the 2010 Construction Leaders Taskforce. "Annual construction inflation
hit double
digits in 2004 and has continued at that pace since. During the nineties through
to 2001, construction inflation was about 2%, so when the Olympic budget was
being drafted, no one, not even industry insiders, predicted just how
dramatically costs would rise." The 2010 Construction Leaders Taskforce,
comprising 20 industry owners and senior executives with over 400 years of
collective experience, was formed in July of 2003 to provide high level advice
on issues such as labour supply, costs and tendering. For further information: Philip Hochstein, (604) 298-7795. (Newswire)
You Should Know:
Australia: Newspaper groups rush to show digital development JUST a year after Rupert Murdoch announced the future of newspapers would be
online, executives from the leading groups spent this week talking up their
prospects as digital players. The annual Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers
Association conference on the Gold Coast in Queensland heard that most had
bought or built internet businesses during the past 12 months but were still
trying to maximise benefits for their mastheads. PANPA president Robert
Whitehead said newspapers were emerging as the core of a more dynamic publishing
model, dubbed "newspaper media". (Australian)
Canada:
Cutting staff incentives hurts company profits: study Companies that give their employees incentives can
boost profits and staff retention by 10 percent to 20 percent, according to a
new study. The study, to be published in the autumn issue of the journal
Personnel Psychology, found that companies which cut spending on human resource
programs like flextime and incentive pay can expect to see their bottom line
shrink by up to 20 percent. (Reuters)
Canada's Labour Minister Talks About Shortage Of Workers In
Alberta
Federal Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn is travelling coast to coast
talking about the federal government's effort to tackle racism in the work
place. But he is also answering questions about addressing the skilled labor
shortage in Alberta's oilfields. Blackburn says the Harper government is
spending a considerable amount of money on opening doors for trained immigrant
workers to fill vacant positions. Blackburn says Canada can use the many capable
skilled immigrants already living in the country. (CHQR)
Global: Classified Intelligence, Realty Times Partner On
Realtor Advertising Survey
According to the results of a survey conducted by Classified Intelligence, a
research publication for the classified advertising industry, and Realty Times,
the leading online real estate news and advice service, U.S. Realtors are still
buying print advertising -- but would prefer not to. Realtors are spending more
money on advertising, but they're not particularly satisfied with any
advertising options, found Jim Townsend, editor of Classified Intelligence. (Realty
Times)
Google-eBay tie-up is 'biggest yet'
Google's advertising deal with eBay, which will see both sides trial
"click-to-call" ads for the first time, is likely to be the largest of the raft
of online agreements signed in recent weeks, according to industry analysts.
The two sides refused to disclose financial details of the tie-up, through which
Google will also provide text-based adverts across eBay's websites outside the
United States. Why bring Google on board when the search engine is
targeting eBay's business with its own classified advertising offering and
Google recently launched Google Checkout, a payment system that competes with
eBay's PayPal? (TimesOnline)
Malta:
Late retirement may halt fiscal plunge
Later retirement, as proposed by the Maltese government last March, could prove
essential for the eurozone to avert a plunge in economic growth due to ageing
revealed a research paper published by European Central Bank (ECB) in the recent
days. One of the main changes put forward in the government's final proposals on
pension reforms is the increase in the statutory retirement age from 61 to 65
years of age. This change will be carried out in an incremental manner. Among
the key suggestions put forward by the ECB study to prevent the negative
economic implications are increasing the labour supply by raising the effective
retirement age as well as the average hours worked. (MaltaMedia)
New Zealand: Recruiters head over Tasman to find civil
servants
A New Zealand recruitment team is going to Canberra next week to woo Australian
civil servants to fill vacancies and fix a perceived skills shortage here.
Wellington recruitment company Talent2 will go to the Australian capital next
Friday seeking new employees on behalf of 13 New Zealand Government departments
and agencies. (NZHerald)
South Africa: Quotas likely to curb foreign recruitment
South African companies are increasingly recruiting foreigners for top jobs as
they expand abroad and seek to plug a skills gap, but pressure to meet quotas on
black staff is likely to curb this trend. Food and clothing retailer
Woolworths said this week it had appointed Andrew Jennings, a senior executive
at luxury US retailer Saks, as its head of retail. Jennings follows American
Steve Ross, who has turned around fashion retailer Edgars Consolidated Stores
since taking the helm in 1998, and Deutsche Telekom's former US head, Jeffrey
Hedberg, who was poached by Cell C to become chief executive in May. (Business
Report)
UK: Survey Shows Pharmaceutical Companies Are Facing Serious Future Recruitment
Issues
Results of a new survey, published today, into issues facing job seekers in the
pharmaceutical market has highlighted problems regarding recruitment techniques
and provision for on-the-job training. Whilst demand for experienced candidates,
with at least two to three years' experience is rising, provision for graduate
and market entry training is in decline. As a result, in the short-term the
industry is facing a candidate driven market with spiralling salaries and in the
long-term a serious skills shortage. (OnRec)
Deep Release: Worker Confidence Up
Despite Dip in Expected Hiring Hudson Employment IndexSM Climbs One
Point
The Hudson Employment IndexSM rose one point to 102.9 in August, a moderate
increase albeit the most substantial since May. Nominal improvements in workers'
perceptions of their finances and job satisfaction contributed to the increase,
yet were tempered by a decrease in hiring expectations. The latest reading is
nearly five points above last August, when the Index registered 98.2.
Specifically, the number of workers happy with
their job rose to 75 percent in August, up one point from July. The current
findings are substantially higher than one year ago when only 72 percent of
employees were happy at work. Also, only 15 percent of the work force reported
their companies would be reducing headcount this month, down one point from July
and down three points from last year at this time. While 21 percent of workers
were worried about job loss last August, only 19 percent reported that to be a
concern this year.
Personal finance situations improved slightly as
well. After five consecutive months of negative movement or insignificant
change, the number of workers who reported their finances were improving rose
two points to 40 percent in August. "This year has not been easy on employees'
wallets," said Steve Wolfe, senior vice president, Hudson. "However, workers
were given a reprieve in August, when the Fed took a break from raising interest
rates and energy prices eased."
Conversely, the number of workers expecting their
employer to hire in the coming months fell from 32 percent in July to 31 percent
this August. This still fares better than last August, when only 30 percent
expected their employers to increase headcount.
"Even a small decrease in expected hiring can be
distressing initially. However, workers seem to be seeing positive signs in
other areas," added Wolfe. "Most importantly, we are finding fewer concerns
relating to job security hinting that although hiring may be experiencing a slow
down, employees do not yet think the market has taken a significant turn for the
worse."
In addition to the tempered rise in overall
worker confidence, other demographics also reported improved sentiment. Workers
in the manufacturing and accounting & finances sectors, those between 50-64
years old, and employees in Texas all reported dramatic improvements in
confidence. Managers also were more optimistic in August.
Hudson, one of the world's leading professional
staffing, outsourcing and talent management solutions providers, publishes the
Hudson Employment Index, a monthly measure of U.S. worker confidence in the
employment market. Results are not seasonally adjusted. Next month's Hudson
Employment Index will be released on October 4.
The Hudson Employment Index
The Hudson Employment Index (Hudson-Index.com) is based on monthly telephone
surveys with approximately 9,000 U.S. workers. The Index tracks aggregate
employment trends regarding career opportunities, hiring intentions, job
satisfaction and retention. The data is compiled each month by Rasmussen
Reports, LLC, an independent research firm (www.RasmussenReports.com).
Survey results are segmented by 11 cities:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York,
Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa, and Washington, D.C. The Index surveys five
occupational sectors: accounting and finance, health care, information
technology, manufacturing and legal. The Hudson Employment Index also measures
employee confidence by age, gender, race and compensation.
Data reported in this release is based on a
national telephone survey of 9,244 working Americans during the month of August.
The margin of sampling error for a survey based on this number of interviews is
approximately +/-1 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence. The data is
not seasonally adjusted. It will be reviewed at year-end to determine if
seasonal adjustments are appropriate. The Hudson Employment Index is a service
mark owned by Hudson Highland Group, Inc.
Hudson Hudson delivers specialized professional staffing, outsourcing, and talent
management solutions worldwide. From single placements to total solutions, the
firm helps clients achieve greater organizational performance by assessing,
recruiting, developing and engaging the best and brightest people for their
businesses.
Hudson is a division of Hudson Highland Group,
Inc. one of leading professional staffing, retained executive search and talent
management solutions providers. The company employs more than 3,800
professionals serving clients and candidates in more than 20 countries through
its Hudson and Highland Partners businesses. More information is available at
www.hudson.com.
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