For many people not involved in the manufacturing industry, our current ecomomic state is somewhat of a shock. I’ve been asked, “How can we suddenly be in a recession?”. The following statistics from Statistics Canada will provide a better perspective on where our economy has been heading for the past nine years. The last time we saw any growth in […]
Layoffs Irresponsible?
As a former police officer, I have to agree with councilman D. Michael Collins of Toledo, who is also a former police officer and says, “This is absolutely irresponsible, and the mayor has no idea what the consequences will be to the city”. Mr. Collins is referring to the proposed layoff of 75 police officers! […]
Recession-Proof Your Career
Smart Money provides some good advice from Aleksandra Todorova in 7 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career. Included are unemployment statistics for the U.S. since 1967 and although they are not nearly as high as they were in 1983, economists are predicting they could be close by 2010. Details are offered for the following 7 ways to recession-proof you career: […]
How are you finding your job?
If you are new to finding a job, you may be a little overwhelmed by the increased number of job search tools available today, especially online. According to a recent survey, Monster is listed as one of the elite in the online employment industry. Another study to determine where 15,600 respondents found their last job reported that 13.3% […]
Employers, 50 of the best in Canada
50 of the best employers in Canada have been published in the Globe & Mail ReportonBusiness.com Magazine for the 10th year. Hewitt Associates, a global HR outsourcing and consulting firm designed and conducted the study, involving over 100,000 employees, 1200 leaders and 200 organizations. Strict guidelines are followed to produce results including a concept called employee engagement, researched and developed […]
Employment Forecasts and the Countdown to 2009
The countdown to 2009 was fraught with a barrage of forecasts, especially those related to future employment. Unfortunately, much of what we are hearing is bleak. Whether you work in Canada, the United States, Dubai or China, layoffs are the top news stories. Challenger, Gray & Christmas published their Work Place Trends Outlook for 2009 and predict an increase in unemployment throughout 2009 […]
Gen Y and Networking
Randstad, a job placement agency, surveyed 6,600 employers and found 53% of managers feel that the search for employees is more difficult than it was in 2007. According to Statistics Canada, this trend will reach a turning point in 2016 when the number of people leaving the job market will be greater than the number of […]
Manage the Effects of Financial Stress with Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep and Happiness
It’s no surprise that most people agree the major cause of stress in Canada is financial pressure and it is unlikely that these results would be any different in the United States. What is surprising, even shocking, is the financial cost of stress on the Canadian industry. According to Dr. Kenford Nedd, it is approximately […]
President of Sales, VP of Sales, Sales Manager, Sales Associate
In today’s economic crisis, the number one job available is in SALES! These positions are currently the most sought after as an increase in sales could potentially be the key factor in the survival of many companies caught up in today’s economic turmoil. Increasing sales is one of the few definitive options available to the decision makers of many companies and organizations at […]
Steady Employment Growth for Skilled Trades
Plumbers, carpenters, masons, electricians, machinists, mechanics and crane operators have provided work for about one million people in 2007, as reported by Statistics Canada. Other than a brief decline in the mid-1990’s, skilled trades have seen a steady employment growth to date. The proportion of trades employment varied by province, with an increase from 9% in 1987 to […]
Relieving Stress with Laughter
Whether you are in a high profile executive position or career transition, it is likely you are experiencing some amount of stress. You may also be aware that those stressful situations will diminish or disappear entirely in the event of laughter. Laughing your way to organizational health, by David Granirer for About.com reports that a recent study found managers who facilitated the […]
Your Online Profile – Will it get you hired or fired?
CareerBuilder has a great article by Selena Dehne on the impact your social networking profile could have on getting hired or fired. She suggests that many people have no idea, or maintain an, “it won’t happen to me” attitude when it comes to posting derogatory statements or lewd photos that may cost them the job of their dreams. Also […]
Global Employment Outlook
According to Manpower’s Global Employment Outlook, hiring across the globe is down significantly, as reported in Forbes magazine article, World’s Worst Places To Get A Job. Hiring in the U.S. grew at 18% in the fourth quarter last year and is expected to drop to 9% for the same period this year. Even China will see a […]
Working While On Vacation….
….Planning vacations while working! According to a new online survey of visitors to Monster.ca, only 43% of 1439 Canadians said they “do not work at all” during vacation. “Many Canadians seem to be missing the point when it comes to taking holidays”, said Monster Canada vice-president of sales and general manager Peter Gilfillan, noting that […]
Future Trends in the Workplace
Emerging Technology, globalization and demographic changes continue to have a significant impact on our workplace. In a recent article in the Baltimore Sun, John A. Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago outplacement firm identifies some workplace trends of the future that could transform office culture. He begins by saying, “Teleconferencing could end business travel.” Audio, video and Web […]
Work and Family
Managing the work-family conflict by Judith Maxwell, and published in the Globe and Mail adds to the thousands of blogs and articles verifying the ever increasing acknowledgement of the importance of a healthy balance between work and family. And I continue to follow up further to previous blogs, “Employee’s looking for work life balance” and “Bummed out at work?” Barack […]
Women in IT Careers
A recent ariticle, Why women quit technology careers, by Kathleen Melymuka relays some startling research from this month’s Harvard Business Review. Women, between the ages of 25 and 30 are excelling in the science, engineering and technology fields making up 41% of the young talent with related credentials. Unfortunately, 52% of this talent drops out, most significantly […]
Employee Productivity
In a survey found in Trans-Logic Executive Search Group’s May Issue, 100 senior executives were asked, “In your opinion, on which day of the week are employees generally most productive?” If their opinions are correct, everyone might as well take Friday off as it was listed as the least productive at 2%! Thursday was close at 3% and Monday […]
The “Talent Shortage”?
“Talent Shortage Emerges as No. 1 Employer Concern” “Our population will begin to shrink and our workforce will dry up.” “Schools in peril across Ontario” “Census Points to shrinking households” “Retirement of baby boomers may reverberate in workplace”, “Enrollment Shrinking, says education minister”, “The Talent Shortage Myth”, The Immigration Squeeze” These are only a few of […]
Employees Looking for Work/Life Balance
According to a recent Survey published by Monster, 89% of respondents look for work/life balance programs when evaluating a new job. Only half of the HR professionals agreed on the importance, which is probably why only 29% of employees who participated in the online survey rated their company’s work/life balance programs as good or excellent. The 2008 Executive Job Market Intelligence […]