ManpowerGroup has released its latest Employment Outlook Survey findings, which suggest that employers worldwide are seeking signs of a robust global economy before labor markets are likely to achieve sustainable traction.
Despite the recent stock market gains, thought by some to be a barometer of a healthier U.S. economy, more than enough uncertainty remains to keep many employers from hiring. And it doesn’t appear that these concerns will be assuaged anytime soon. (more...)
Dear President Obama:
Congratulations on your reelection. Although I did not vote for you, I sincerely wish you the best of luck and fervently hope that you are able to work with our gridlocked Congress to enact measures that will help our economy. Frankly, I am discouraged by the past four years, and I don’t believe our country can take four more years of the same.
Today, nbcnews.com ran a post-election piece entitled “Now that he’s won, the six splitting headaches waiting for Obama”: Automatic spending cuts; taxes going up, by a significant amount—and not just on the rich; debt limit; confirmation of pivotal Cabinet members (replacements for Tim Geithner and Hillary Clinton) and regulatory chiefs; implementing the Affordable Care Act and appointing the members of the Independent Payment Advisory Board; and chaos in Syria, WMD—and don’t forget Iran.
And then there’s the small matter of the economy, supposedly the No. 1 concern among voters in this election. (more...)
The workweek is winding down, and the Labor Day Weekend is upon us. As I thought about what my family might do to “celebrate,” it occurred to me that I don’t really feel all that inclined to celebrate. Yes, I’m grateful to have the day off to relax and maybe catch up on some much-needed yard work, but I’m mindful of the millions of Americans whose Labor Day will be, at best, like any other jobless day, and perhaps worse as they watch the employed among them fire up the grills and participate in other festivities, such as parades featuring smoke-blowing politicians.
It’s difficult to put an exact number on just how many of our citizens are out of work. We have the “official” unemployment numbers that don’t take into account the number of workers who’ve given up looking. And we have the underemployed—those who are working at jobs that are below their skill levels and don’t pay enough, let alone provide benefits.
According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics report for the month of July, both the number of unemployed persons (12.8 million) and the unemployment rate (8.3 percent) were essentially unchanged, and both measures have shown little movement thus far in 2012. I’m not an economist, but personal observation and news reports I’ve read lead me to believe that August won’t fare much better. (more...)
News website headlines, such as those on msnbc.com today, battle each other for my attention. While I'm fascinated by the six-year-old spelling prodigy Lori Ann Madison, the youngest speller ever in the National Spelling Bee, reading her story had to wait until I read the one under the headline "China slowdown threatens US factory revival." The article by Economics Reporter John W. Schoen describes a catch 22—what looks like it could be a panacea for U.S. manufacturing job loss may actually exacerbate our economic woes. (more...)
Last week's post, Metal stampers' take on unions: Part I, revealed findings from a "Stamping News Brief" (SNB) survey about unions. It also featured comments from survey respondents—both those who believe unions are still necessary and those who don’t. Those who believe unions are to blame for lost jobs in the U.S., and those who think they are not—that corporate greediness and the government are the true culprits. As promised, here are some more comments from SNB readers about unions. (more...)
Labor unions continue to make news. Today, sfgate.com published the article Twinkie-Maker Hostess Files for Bankruptcy Citing Pensions, which said that the baker's latest bankruptcy filing is being blamed on the weak economy and costs tied to pension- and medical-benefit obligations resulting from union agreements.
Also in the news, Oklahoma union workers are testifying against Indiana's "right to work" initiative.
Labor unions have been cited by some as major contributors toward U.S. automakers' woes and the outsourcing of jobs. Perhaps no industrial sector has suffered more from the automakers' travails than U.S. metal stampers. Last month, "Stamping News Brief" asked its subscribers—stamping industry professionals—to take a survey about unions. Some of the results may surprise you. (more...)
If you're like me, you're interested in people's stories. We all have them, and typically they are more interesting than we might think.
FMA Communications' editorial department—the department in which I work—got together last month to brainstorm all things related to our print and electronic publications. At the beginning of the meeting, each of us in attendance told the story of how we came to be editors with our publications. The stories of how we arrived at this same place bore both similarities and differences—not unlike the readers who responded to last month's "Welding Wire" with accounts of how they became welders. (more...)
President Obama visited E.J. Ajax and Sons in Fridley, Minn., last week to tout his job training initiatives. The metal stamper and fabricator works closely with Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Park, Minn., to take unskilled students and turn them into skilled employees for manufacturing companies. Obviously, in an economy with an unemployment rate that doesn't seem to improve from one month to the next, the current presidential administration wants to promote any program that may aid in retraining for jobs that are available and unfilled.
According to one article, the U.S. still has about 3 million job openings. Most pundits are pointing to a lack of training funds for expensive vocational programs and a general educational system that doesn't seem able to produce a new generation of workers with the math and reading skills needed to contribute immediately after being hired. Those pundits may be right, but waiting for the government to solve those problems is like waiting for the bus that just had its service route cut; it's not showing up.
Since the news of Osama Bin Laden's death at the hands of U.S. Navy Seals broke, I’ve shied away from writing about the event. It's been covered thoroughly by media and trumpeted at every opportunity as a major coup by the current administration—which you have to admit it is, no matter which side of the political fence you're on.
So this post is not about Bin Laden and his long-time-coming demise, but rather about the U.S. military involved for years in waging the tough battle against terrorism. To be more exact, it's about the futures of these brave men and women. What happens when they come home? How and where will they find jobs in this tough economy? (more...)
I was in the thick of writing about the federal gas tax and how mayors from metropolitan cities are in favor of increasing the taxes if more funds are spent on improving the infrastructure in these cities and less on highways, when a far more interesting topic caught my eye.
Perhaps you don't think much about infrastructure spending, unless you damage your car when you hit a pothole, or happen to be in a traffic jam caused by road or bridge construction. But chances are you think a great deal about how to navigate emotional potholes that threaten to derail you, particularly at work. (more...)
