[eXpat]

Global unemployment has reached dangerous levels, ILO report shows
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')LO data provides an alarming picture of joblessness, especially among the young, that surely threatens more political instability
A jobless recovery. Entrenched levels of high unemployment among the young. More than 1.5 billion people – half the global working population – in vulnerable or insecure jobs.

Those are the key findings of the latest health check on employment trends across the world released by the International Labour Organisation last night.

The ILO report makes depressing reading. Despite a relatively robust pick-up in growth during 2010, economic recovery made virtually no dent in the unemployment caused by the worst recession in the global economy since world war two. The official jobless figure stood at 205 million in 2010, but that is almost certainly an underestimate since many of those who would like a job have given up hope of finding one, while millions more are working part-time when they would prefer full-time employment.

At 6.2%, the global unemployment rate doesn't sound that alarming, but the overall figure conceals some worrying trends. Although the developed economies of the west account for only 15% of the earth's working population, they accounted for 55% of the increase in unemployment between 2007 and 2010. Sir Richard Lambert, the outgoing director-general of the CBI, made a timely intervention on Sunday when he urged the UK government to come up with a more comprehensive strategy for jobs.

Equally unsettling is the outlook for youth unemployment, which the ILO categorises as the number of people aged between 15 and 24 who are actively seeking working but unable to find it. There was a slight reduction in youth unemployment last year from 79.6 million to 77.7 million but the jobless rate for the young still stands at 12.6%.

In some countries, the outlook is even worse. Spain has youth unemployment of 40%, while young people in south-east Asia and the Pacific are 4.7 times more likely to be unemployed as adults. One of the root causes of the revolution in Tunisia was the unrest caused by having a growing number of young people without jobs: the ILO estimates that in north Africa as a whole "an alarming" 23.6% of economically active young people were unemployed in 2010.

Some countries recognise the threat to political stability created by this enforced worklessness. China's ruling elite fears the impact of large-scale joblessness among the young workers attracted into the cities by rapid industrialisation, and has pursued an aggressively expansionary economic policy to ensure that the labour market remains buoyant. In the US, the Federal Reserve has been acting less like a central bank and more like a continent-wide labour exchange, pumping billions of dollars into the US economy through the money creation process known as quantitative easing.

Other countries have yet to face up to the scale of the challenge represented by the ILO's data. Even in normal times, high levels of unemployment – especially among the young – are a headache for policymakers. But these are not normal times.

[jdmartin]

Goodyear to lay off 1,900 workers.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110211/BUSINESS01/102110331/Goodyear-shutdown-TN-will-cost-1-900-jobs?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

[Fishman]

All to be expected with peak oil. Remember all those prep threads from two years ago? Got garden?

[digging]

Of course jobs lost as a part of the machine will keep going up, the machine is running out of energy. All the people moved to the cities over the last 100 years that where most of the unemployment is also. The exodus will begin we need to slow down and spread out plain and simple.

Digging

[eXpat]

Calif city worker facing layoff jumps to his death
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')OSTA MESA, Calif. – Crisis counselors have been brought in to help stunned co-workers of a Costa Mesa maintenance worker who jumped to his death from the roof of City Hall an hour after he was called in to get his layoff notice.

Huy Pham, 29, jumped off the building at 3:20 p.m. Thursday and was pronounced dead at the scene, Costa Mesa police Lt. Bryan Glass said.

Pham was on a list of more than 200 people — nearly half of the city's workforce — targeted for layoffs in a drastic move to plug a $15 million budget hole. Those who received notices would see their jobs outsourced in six months.

Pham had worked for the city for 4 1/2 years, according to the Orange County Register. He had been at home with a broken ankle and was not supposed to work Thursday but was called in at about 2:30 p.m. to receive his layoff notice, the newspaper said.

"This is a tragic event for the city and all of its employees," Glass told the Register. "The city is concerned for their well-being and making efforts to help them through this."

Costa Mesa is about 40 miles south of Los Angeles

Huy Pham's brother, John Pham, said it was not evident that his brother was in distress.

"When the layoffs were coming, he thought he was probably going to be rehired" by the new contractor, John Pham told the Register. There was no indication Huy Pham was despairing, he said.

[lowem]

abcnews.go.com :

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')isco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, said that it's set to eliminate thousands of jobs as part of cost-cutting moves to get profits growing again. Cisco's sales rebounded from the recession, but then started stalling in the middle of last year ... on Wednesday, it gave a financial forecast for the current quarter that was well below analyst expectations.

[CEO] Chambers now wants to cut annual expenses by $1 billion, or about 6 percent. He didn't say how many jobs he's aiming to eliminate, mainly through an early retirement program. If the percentage is similar to the cut in expenses, it could amount to 4,000 to 5,000 of the company's 73,400 employees.

[lowem]

newenterprise.allthingsd.com

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nother day, another memo leaks out from the tech giant Hewlett-Packard ... two memos sent to the heads of Hewlett-Packard’s PC business units in Europe and Asia, ordering them to freeze hiring and to restrict travel in order to keep costs under control ... we now know who that person was: CEO Léo Apotheker ... Apotheker warns key lieutenants including Executive VP Todd Bradley and CFO Cathie Lesjack, saying Q3 will be a “tough quarter,” and says, “We have absolutely no room for profitless revenue or any discretionary expenditures.” ... Apotheker describes HP’s current headcount plans as “unaffordable given the pressures on our business.” HP is also in the midst of a “a full headcount re-planning process,” led by Lesjack and Tracy Keogh, the VP for human resources, the memo says, meant to bring the company’s headcount, now at 324,600, in line with “the new realities of the market and our position.” That sounds like a round of layoffs is coming. First Cisco, now HP.

[Serial_Worrier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eXpat', '[')b]Calif city worker facing layoff jumps to his death

[jdmartin]

Not really sure how the worldwide layoffs and people jumping off buildings corresponds to Obama, or any other president for that matter, but whatever.

Thanks for the consistent updates lowem - it's easy to forget the layoffs are still going on. A lot of them are hidden now because they've filtered into the local government realm, and it's 20 policemen here, 15 firefighters there. Collectively it's impressive.

[lowem]

bloomberg.com :

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')loyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY), Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, will cut 15,000 jobs and reduce costs by an additional 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) as it withdraws from overseas units and increases its U.K. focus. The shares soared the most in more than a year.

Most of the job losses will come in the U.K. as a result of cuts to management functions and by centralizing some roles, the London-based bank said in a statement. The bank also plans to withdraw from more than 15 of its 30 overseas units.

[lowem]

channelnewsasia.com :

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')anadian transportation giant Bombardier axed over 1,400 jobs at Britain's only train factory on Tuesday, blaming the move on the British government's decision to award a contract to German rival Siemens.

Bombardier said it would cut 446 permanent staff and 983 temporary workers at the plant in Derby, central England, sparking calls from unions and the main opposition Labour party for the coalition government to reverse the decision.

[Armageddon]

Phase 2 of the collapse is under way

[Shaved Monkey]

http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/wa- ... 6089075767

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')HE State Government and representatives from various business groups will head to the UK and Ireland to recruit much-needed workers for WA.

Training and Workforce Development Minister Peter Collier today revealed the overseas trip as part of a plan to poach workers for WA, which is facing a 150,000-worker shortfall by 2017.

Much of that demand is being driven by the resources sector, which Mr Collier said will in turn place pressure on the state’s other sectors such as hospitality.

“While the Government’s top priority is to ensure that jobs are filled from within WA, this alone will not be enough and targeted migration will be essential to boost our skilled labour needs,” Mr Collier said.

“Our goal is to explore all options for not just increasing the participation of our local population, but also adding to the labour pool by attracting skilled workers from overseas and other parts of Australia.”

[lowem]

In other news, HSBC has been looking for 2000 new hires in Singapore and Hong Kong area. If you have some of the specific skillsets the banks are looking for (Java/J2EE, transaction handling, trading systems, IT security etc.), pay raises of 20% or sometimes even better can be found in the financial sector. Of course it's a hire-and-fire industry, which I have got an issue with myself, so I'm not exactly looking to go in. I probably could, if I wanted to, as IT security is a pretty hot area at the moment.

Of course there are other aspects to this industry but I'd best keep my opinions on these off the boards though I do know of quite a number of ex-colleagues who have gone and joined the banks and are doing ok so far. Sorry to say, but in this age there is still some colonial thinking around if you know what I mean, westerners are very much welcome. Something to think about if you are looking for a job / better job.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lowem', '[')url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-30/lloyds-banking-plans-to-eliminate-15-000-jobs-to-save-2-4-billion-by-2014.html]bloomberg.com[/url] :

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')loyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY), Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, will cut 15,000 jobs and reduce costs by an additional 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) as it withdraws from overseas units and increases its U.K. focus. The shares soared the most in more than a year.

Most of the job losses will come in the U.K. as a result of cuts to management functions and by centralizing some roles, the London-based bank said in a statement. The bank also plans to withdraw from more than 15 of its 30 overseas units.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lowem', 'I')n other news, HSBC has been looking for 2000 new hires in Singapore and Hong Kong area. If you have some of the specific skillsets the banks are looking for (Java/J2EE, transaction handling, trading systems, IT security etc.), pay raises of 20% or sometimes even better can be found in the financial sector. Of course it's a hire-and-fire industry, which I have got an issue with myself, so I'm not exactly looking to go in. I probably could, if I wanted to, as IT security is a pretty hot area at the moment.

Of course there are other aspects to this industry but I'd best keep my opinions on these off the boards though I do know of quite a number of ex-colleagues who have gone and joined the banks and are doing ok so far. Sorry to say, but in this age there is still some colonial thinking around if you know what I mean, westerners are very much welcome. Something to think about if you are looking for a job / better job.

[lowem]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', 'H')ow much does it cost to rent and maintain a 3000 sq ft house with a decent yard overthere?

[lowem]

bloomberg.com :

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')isco Systems, the largest networking-equipment company, may cut as many as 10,000 jobs, or about 14 percent of its workforce, to revive profit growth, according to two people familiar with the plans. The cuts include as many as 7,000 jobs that would be eliminated by the end of August, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t final. Cisco is also providing early-retirement packages to about 3,000 workers who accepted buyouts, the people said.

[dohboi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Population_density.png