AARP is broadening its online career services for 50+ workers through a new collaboration with RetirementJobs.com. This new service will provide mature workers the opportunity direct access to RetirementJobs.com's job search tools at no cost. Additionally, Bob Skladany, RetirementJobs.com's vice president of research and chief career counselor, columnist and blogger, will bring his expertise as an online career coach to AARP.org.

Spherion has recently released its Employment Confidence Index for California, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas.

SaaS.com, a provider of Software as a Service with a major push in Workforce Management Solutions, has recently partnered with CBR Management Services, Inc., professional employer organization (PEO) offering full HR outsourcing, payroll, and workers compensation for small to medium sized businesses, in efforts to advance its suite of technologically advanced product offerings, while moving toward a completely paperless environment.

Taking the Pulse: Succession Planning, a survey conducted by i4cp, in conjunction with HR.com, showes that more than two-thirds of polled organizations are not immediately prepared to fill a suddenly vacated leadership position, and just a third have identified an internal interim successor should their CEO suddenly depart. Of all respondents, less than half (45 percent) reported they have a formal succession plan in place, and only 46 percent conduct regular talent reviews to gauge the readiness of employees who may be counted on to fill leadership roles in short order.

The Bureau Report
Extended Mass Layoffs in Second Quarter 2008. In the second quarter of 2008, employers initiated 1,534 mass layoff events that resulted in the separation of 299,886 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both layoff events and separations reached their highest levels for the second quarter since 2003. The total number of layoff events was 113 higher in the second quarter of 2008 than the same period a year earlier, and the number of associated separations increased by 21,167. Second quarter 2008 layoff data are preliminary and are subject to revision.

Mass layoff activity in professional and technical services and in finance and insurance reached second quarter program highs in 2008. Layoffs in professional and technical services were due largely to seasonal job cuts in tax preparation services. Finance and insurance layoffs continued to be concentrated in credit intermediation and related activities, largely in the real estate credit industry.

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