General Electric Co plans to not only help the economy but also provide jobs for 5,000 U.S. military veterans. The company on Monday announced plans to hire those workers over the next five years while investing $580 million to expand its aviation footprint in the United States.

The company announced the plan just ahead of a four-day meeting in Washington geared at helping the country recover from the 2007-2009 recession.

Speaking of GE’s growth and support of veterans CEO Jeff Immelt said:

“We should have the confidence to act and to restore American competitiveness.”

News of the jobs comes as unemployment in January fell to 8.3 percent, the lowest number since 2009 thanks to 50,000 jobs being added back into the manufacturing sector. While 5,000 jobs is a nice gesture on the part of GE that still leaves nearly 23.8 million Americans out of work.

In 2012 alone GE will open three new U.S. aviation plants focused in llisville, Mississippi; Auburn, Alabama, and Dayton, Ohio. The world’s largest maker of jet engines will then hire new workers to staff all three of those plants. While GE trimmed headcount following the recession since 2009 they have hired 9,000 workers while continuing to expand their product lines and production output.

It’s a nice gesture on the part of GE but I have this sneaking suspicion that targeting vets is just a good marketing ploy for the company.

Do you think GE is trying to do right by U.S. Veterans or simply attempting to provide itself with some market spin based on the gesture?

General Electric To Hire 5,000 US Military Veterans is a post from: The Inquisitr

While a degree in architecture use to be one of the most sought after options for students thanks to the ability to make things and watch them grow into thriving businesses, homes and other buildings that dream for many graduating students is just that, a dream.

According to a recent study out of Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce students earning an Architectural degree or a degree in liberal arts and humanities are among some of the worst off.

The study finds that those degrees leave many recent graduates and industry workers without jobs, often at levels close to our higher than the national unemployment rate.

Research did not in this case explore the unemployment rates for those same jobs during an up economy.

Here are the studies findings:

• Worst degrees/jobless rates: Architecture (13.9%), the arts (11.1%), and the humanities (9.4%)

On a far more positive note the Health industry, jobs in Education (even if the pay is awful) and Agricultural and Natural Resources positions are fairing much better:

• Best: Health (5.4%), education (5.4%), and agriculture and natural resources (7%)

When examining the results one of the study’s authors is cynical about the future of jobs people tend to “love” noting:

“People keep telling kids to study what they love—but some loves are worth more than others.”

While the study seems to assert that a college degree for many people is a waste of money the researchers are quick to point out that the unemployment rate for high school graduates with no college experience is far higher at 22.9%.

Do you believe that “doing what you love” is still important in today’s economy or should college bound students focus more on industries where jobs are bountiful and will allow them to pay back the mounting college debts they incur during their college years?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

Architecture Students Having Worst Time Finding Jobs, Arts and Humanities Not Much Better [Study] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit has announced plans to fire 4,500 employees in the coming quarters.

To accomplish his goal Pandit will take a charge of nearly $400 million which will be used to pay severance packages and provide for other reductions.

Speaking at a New York City based investor conference Pandit said the company currently employs nearly 267,000 people while announcing that cuts have become necessary as the European sovereign-debt crisis continues to persist and banks prepare for regulations that will affect minimum capital levels.

To control costs the company will only hire for “critical” positions in the short-term.

Since becoming CEO of Citigroup in December 2007 Pandit has eliminated more than 100,000 jobs through direct firings and through the sale of distressed assets from Citi Holdings unit such as the company’s sale of their student loan assets to Discover Financial.

Speaking about the company’s current position Pandit said that:

“Financial services faces an extremely challenging operating environment with an unprecedented combination of market uncertainty, sustained economic weakness in the developed economies and the most substantial regulatory changes we have seen in our lifetimes,” and “These trends will likely significantly affect the competitive landscape in the coming years.”

Upon news of the firings Citigroup stock fell by .3 percent to $29.75%, a 37 percent fall in 2011 to date.

Are you surprised to learn that Citigroup is continuing to gut their employee base? Given the last four years of trending it wouldn’t come as a surprise to learn of more employee firings as we head into 2012.

Citigroup To Cut 4,500 Jobs In Response To Slumping Revenue is a post from: The Inquisitr

While taking in the sun and surf of both Miami and Los Angeles might make living in those areas worth the overcrowding and high cost of living for many residents it can also be hard to etch out a decent paying job. A recent Indeed.com study has found that those two cities are the worst in America for finding work.

The job search engine compared federal unemployment records with their own job listings to determine that in Miami there is generally four job seekers for every single job listing posted. Meanwhile in Los Angeles numbers aren’t much better with 3.48 people competing for every single job posted on the website.

When you take into consideration that many of the jobs posted are from life insurance and work at home company’s that are typically avoided by many job seekers the number of positions available per person sinks even lower.

Indeed.com isn’t the first job site to perform similar analysis, SimplyHired also found Miami to be the worst destination to find a job however they found that their were eight unemployed people for each job listed on their website.

Rounding out the top five worst cities for finding a job were Riverside, California (3.25), Las Vegas, Nevada (3.1) and Detroit, Michigan (2.75).

It should be noted that the study is only based on the number of jobs posted compared to population and job seekers, for example Detroit has far less people searching for jobs and far less jobs available. In other words Miami has a more robust economy but also has far more people actually seeking employment based on what’s available.

Do any of these numbers surprise you? Which city do you think has a good job to job seeker rate?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

Worst Job Hunting Cities In American Revealed is a post from: The Inquisitr

1.5 million jobs could be created if the US government increases the recycling rate from 33% to 75% by the year 2030.

According to the Tellus Institute because waste diversion is more labor intensive than waste disposal the recycling industry would create many more jobs than the waste management industry over a shorter period of time.

Among jobs that would be created including recycle collecting, processing and composting, along with jobs in the recycled products industry where the materials are turned into actual goods.

If a strong recycling plan is enacted the United States would more than double current job recycle rates which as of 2009 were predicted at approximately 800,000 jobs.

The study also points out that the increase from 33% to 75% would also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the same that would be witnessed if 50 million cars were pulled off the road based on current emission levels.

According to USA Today Tellus Institute created the study with the support of the BlueGreen Alliance, SEIU (Service Employees International Union), the Natural Resources Defense Council, Teamsters, Recycling Works!, and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.

This seems like a good plan to me. Would you be willing to recycle more if curbside pickup and other recycling initiatives were enacted by the United States government?

Recycling Could Create 1.5 Million Jobs [Study] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Like the first few crocuses poking their little crocus-heads out of the ground after winter, it seems that there may be a few signs of a demonstrably improving economy in the United States. (Well, that analogy only really works if we’re talking about a God-forsaken ten-year long winter, but still.)

Americans are starting to up their discretionary spending, splashing out on non-necessities like Halloween candy. And today came news of a slight drop in unemployment claims, perhaps a sign of an improving jobs outlook for the US? The October jobs report from Uncle Sam is due out tomorrow, and while unemployment is expected to hold steady at a still depressing 9.1%, claims have fallen five out of the past six weeks, meaning that perhaps fewer Americans require unemployment benefits.

As expected, the sustained bump is being treated with cautious optimism- on one hand, the past few weeks have been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for job growth. On the other, Americans will have to wait and see if added jobs can keep up with population growth- a rate we’ll need 100,000 new jobs every month to sustain. The Washington Post spoke to an analyst about what the figures mean and speculated upon whether companies have cut back on cutbacks:

Should the gradual decline seen in recent weeks continue, this would mark an important sign” that the job market is improving, Peter Newland, an economist at Barclays Capital, said in a note to clients.

The four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, fell to 404,500, the fifth drop in the past six weeks. The declines indicate that companies are laying off fewer workers.

The bright spot follows bleak revisions from the Fed on the US economic outlook for 2011 and 2012. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke commented yesterday that growth is likely to be “frustratingly slow” following the “sharply” revised predictions for 2011 and 2012.

[Image: Shutterstock]

Unemployment Benefits: Fewer Claims, Improving Economy? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Apple has posted a link on its website to a video of the company’s memorial services for its employees to celebrate the life of its founder Steve Jobs.

The event, held last Wednesday in an outdoor amphitheater at Apple campus, was closed to the public. Reporters were even asked to stay away from the Apple premises during that time. The company also closed all its retail stores so that employees could view the memorial service via webcast.

The video which runs 81 minutes is Apple’s way of sharing to the public the company as they mourn the death of Jobs at the age of 56 on October 5 due to a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the past two weeks had been the saddest of his life:

“But I know Steve. Steve would have wanted this cloud to lift for Apple and our focus to return to the work that he loved so much.”

Cook also revealed that the last piece of advice that Jobs gave him was “to never ask what he would do, just do what’s right.”

Jobs’ wife Laurene Powell and former Vice President and Apple board member Al Gore were also present during the event.

Despite not being involved with Apple, how do you celebrate Steve’s life? Or is this just another passing of a great mind?

Apple Posts A Celebration of Steve’s Life Online is a post from: The Inquisitr

Occupy Wall Street protesters have a little reason to celebrate today as a new report from the New York state comptroller warns that 10,000 securities industry jobs will be shed on Wall Street before the end of 2012.

News of the layoffs shouldn’t come as a surprise with the securities industry already cutting 4,100 jobs since April while various other jobs have been announced for the chopping block.

Bank of America could be responsible for a big chunk of the expected layoffs after the company’s “New BAC” program announced plans for 30,000 layoffs although they have not directly tied a certain number of those firings to the securities industry in New York City.

Also cutting jobs are Barclays and Credit Suisse Group while Goldman Sachs plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs.

According to the head of the New York business group:

“The banks I talk to are talking about significantly reduced compensation … and layoffs and downsizing,” while adding, “There’s going to be a real impact on the New York City economy.”

Do you believe 10,000 layoffs on Wall Street will have any type of significant difference on the way things are done? Given the high bonus levels and lack of regulation I’m going to say it will have no difference at all.

10,000 Wall Street Employees To Lose Jobs In 2012 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Steve Jobs’ death certificate and made public by Apple Inc. revealed that he died of respiratory arrest caused by a pancreatic tumor.

The Apple Inc. co-founder who died at 56 last October 5 in his house in Palo Alto, California has long battled pancreatic cancer. Diagnosed in 2003, he took three leave of absences from his work before finally resigning from his post this year.

The death certificate issued by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department in San Jose listed respiratory arrest as the main cause of his death with “metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumor” as the reason for the respiratory problem. No autopsy was conducted on Jobs.

Job was buried last Friday at a non-denominational cemetery in Santa Clara County. Meanwhile, Apple employees will hold a memorial service for Jobs on October 19 at 10 a.m., according to a memo sent out by Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The company will not be holding any public service, Apple announced.

Respiratory Arrest Caused Steve Jobs’ Death is a post from: The Inquisitr

Here’s a number that the current administration would like to stay hidden, a recent study of the US Census has found that 46.2 million American’s lived below the poverty line in 2010, a number equal to 15.1% of the population. That particular poverty line number compares to 43.6 million american’s who lived below the line in 2009, equal to 14.3% of the population.

The last time the poverty line reached current levels was in 1993, while 1983 hit slightly higher at 15.2% of the population.

Under current levels anyone making less than $22,314 for a family of four or $11,139 for a single person is considered below the poverty line.

Also falling in the United States was income for middle-class families who saw their median income level fall to $49,445. The study also revealed that people living in Mississippi have the lowest median income at $37,985, while residents of New Hampshire have the highest at $66,707.

Following a typical trend the south has the highest poverty rate, while the Northeast has more workers per capita.

Because of high unemployment and poverty level earnings the number of people without health insurance has also reached a new all time high of 49.9 million.

With a perfect storm of layoffs, union busting in Wisconsin and general uncertainty about the economy these numbers don’t really come as a surprise but they do highlight the problem we are having in our country as economic uncertainty remains at dangerous levels.

What do you think are contributing  factors for the poverty levels and the lack of health insurance we are experiencing in the United States?

US Census Study: 1 In 6 Americans Lived In Poverty During 2010 is a post from: The Inquisitr

The June jobs report has just been released and the numbers are not what we’d expect to see 2 years after experts said the recession ended. Employers added the fewest numbers of jobs in June than they had all year with a net jobs total of just 18,000 according to the Labor Department.

May numbers for net jobs were also revised and pushed down to just 25,000, bringing our total unemployment rate up to 9.2% overall.

The gloomy numbers come after businesses added an average of 215,000 jobs per month in the three months preceding May and June.

According to analysts the gloomy outcome of the last several months is partly to blame on high gas prices, a weak housing market and the Japan crisis which has cut off many supply chains for businesses.

The report also finds that the average hourly was declined last month with after-tax incomes when adjusted for inflation remaining flat this year.

9.2% Unemployment As Job Hiring Nears A Standstill is a post from: The Inquisitr

How would you like it if your boss listened in on your private, off-hours phone conversations or peeked into your bedroom as you engaged in whatever it is you do in there, I ain’t judging? Is the below scenario very much different, all things considered?

Facebook is a bit of an information sieve, dripping images and details about you onto the world wide web whether friends-locked or not, but the one on one and direct stuff is generally still considered a private, mostly unleakable thing. Like the messages you might send a friend with similar medical concerns or a child as unruly as yours. Or the totally legal, above board but perhaps embarrassingly intimate flirting in which you might engage. Permissible and understandable pursuits all, but would you like your current or future employer sifting through your private Facebook interactions? Is there any question that users are entitled to keep their private information private, especially being as information only accessible with a password to the account is not generally broadcasted across the internet unless the account is breached?

Not for the first time, an employer is demanding job candidates and current employees turn over their Facebook login information so superiors can skim through the personal details of their accounts, including private transmissions with friends, significant others and spouses. Yes, you read that right- employers are beginning to feel entitled to violate not only your privacy, but that of the people who cannot consent and are exposed merely by merit of associating with folks whose bosses have such designs. So if you were considering sharing your innermost deep, dark secrets with someone employed by or contemplating employment with the Maryland Department of Corrections, you may want to rethink that decision. Imagine being in the shoes of corrections officer Robert Collins, required to turn over his login during a re-certification interview and sit there while his supervisor scrolled through his Facebook page. One wonders if it’s frowned upon to change your password shortly thereafter, or if any forewarning precedes the practice at all.

Thankfully, the ACLU is stepping up and trying to arrest this practice in its infancy. Nationwide outcry occurred when the city of Bozeman, Montana attempted to pull the same shenanigans on employees, but the town eventually backed down and stopped trying to intrude on workers’ private, online interactions. An online petition over at the ACLU’s website points out that such egregious privacy violations are illegal under the Federal Stored Communications Act, but the scary part is that it hasn’t stopped two state agencies from attempting access the info.

Would you turn over your Facebook password to your boss or a potential employer? Do you think this request will become more common in hiring and spying on employees?

[ACLU via AllFacebook]

ACLU objects to Maryland DOC request for employee Facebook logins is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you’re sworn to uphold the law or hope to be, should you have to bend over and allow hiring directors to sift through your personal communications and base personnel decisions on that content?

If a recent piece in USA Today is correct, then yes, yes you should. It’s not the first time this hiring practice has been alleged, (the city in question rapidly backed away from the practice once word got out) but it is just as shocking and upsetting each time we hear about it. One factor the USA Today piece doesn’t seem to acknowledge is the very easily made distinction between publicly made statements- whether to a friends-only list on Facebook or Twitter- and privately made ones, such as a text message or Facebook private message. If the allegation that hiring departments are demanding applicants’ personal login information is accurate, it’s a troubling one.

Would you allow a recruiter to read your love letters? Listen in on a conversation with your spouse or significant other? How is requesting carte blanche to read private Facebook messages- a functionality available with your login, as you know- any different? But USA Today says that’s the case in certain jurisdictions:

In Massachusetts, Malden Police Chief Jim Holland, whose agency has requested electronic message logs, said a recruit’s text messages revealed past threats of suicide, resulting in disqualification.

In New Jersey, Middletown Police Chief Robert Oches said a candidate was disqualified for posting racy photographs of himself with scantily clad women.

At the Florida conference, Crawford narrated a video full of officers’ inappropriate Facebook postings, from sexually explicit photographs to racially charged commentary. All of it, he said, argues for better background checks for incoming recruits.

A recent opinion published by the New York State Bar Association seems to set a reasonable boundary for information gleaned via social networking. The organization’s ethics committee approved using the networks for mining data, but disapproved of rifling around in users’ locked data, as well as “friending” individuals for the sole purpose of gathering incriminating information about them.

USA Today didn’t cite any specific instances of the request of Facebook passwords as a barrier to employment, but it seems more and more people are having difficulty understanding that just because a message is transmitted electronically, it doesn’t mean you should only send it if you’d be comfortable “seeing it in the newspaper.” This smug and grossly offensive idea is bandied around every time this practice comes under scrutiny, and it demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of technology and modern communications. Should you never have sex because an unscrupulous partner could surreptitiously photograph or film it and distribute the footage? Should you never visit the doctor because someone could find out and tell people you might be sick? Privately shared private information is just that… private. With the number of couples who meet over the internet nowadays or, for that matter, have spouses or significant others deployed for long periods, is there not a reasonable expectation of privacy in your one on one Facebook message box, for starters?

Have you ever had an employer or potential employer invade your privacy in such a manner? Did you relent to the request? Should hiring agencies be forbidden from engaging in such practices?

[Image]

Law enforcement recruits asked to hand over Facebook passwords, text messages is a post from: The Inquisitr

And you think you work hard eh. Well let me tell you that you daily grind is nothing compared to what some people have to do to bring you those daily things of enjoyment. Oh alright so it’s only an advertising campaign by Berlin based agency Scholz & Friends but you got to admit they are pretty clever.

via My Modern Metropolis

6 hilarious examples of how hard your work isn’t is a post from: The Inquisitr

The above pic has been making the rounds, and has been strangely divisive in this worker unfriendly economy.

Originally spotted on Reddit, the screengrab was posted by a co-worker of the guy who supposedly wrote it with these comments:

He believed he was in a temp-to-hire position, and after three months of extra hours and butt-kissing, turns out it’s just a temp position. He was a good worker too. I’d have recommended him. Too bad he burned his bridges… Obviously he had contemplated quitting long enough to make this thing, but still refused to speak to anyone about his feelings. Ironically, he complained about the ‘divas’ at his last job.

Veracity aside, is it that shocking that someone who was lead to believe they might be in the clear job-wise is spitting mad after realizing they’ve been mislead for months? Jumping through hoops for employers taking advantage of a terrified labor force is pretty rage-inducing. Do we really need to be grateful for the opportunity to be abused by these kinds of schmohawks? The OP seems to think so:

I’m literally in the same position he is, just one of a small team of temps, trying to survive until the next paycheck. I haven’t made over $30K in three years, last year I made $20K, year before that I made $17K, so yeah I’m a little callous when somebody walks off a decent-paying job because he’s not getting hired this time around.

[via Gizmodo]

Your design monkey has quit unexpectedly is a post from: The Inquisitr

When we think of the goods times and going on spending sprees buying things we might not really need the last thing we would think of is the Amish doing the same thing. Well think again because according to a post on the Wall Street Journal Online the Amish men of northern Indiana enjoyed the economic surpluses of the early 2000’s just as we did.

Some Amish bishops in Indiana weakened restrictions on the use of telephones. Fax machines became commonplace in Amish-owned businesses. Web sites marketing Amish furniture began to crop up. Although the sites were run by non-Amish third parties, they nevertheless intensified a feeling of competition, says Casper Hochstetler, a 70-year-old Amish bishop who lives in Shipshewana.

"People wanted bigger weddings, newer carriages," Mr. Lehman says. "They were buying things they didn’t need." Mr. Lehman spent several hundred dollars on a model-train and truck hobby, and about $4,000 on annual family vacations, he says. This year, there will be no vacation.

Source: Douglas Belkin – Wall Street Journal :: A Bank Run Teaches the ‘Plain People’ About the Risks of Modernity

Just as with us in the more ‘modern’ world it all came crashing down for the Amish as men who had earned anywhere from $50.00 to $30.00 per hour in various industries found themselves out of work. During the high times even the most treasured traditions of ‘helping thy neighbor’ seem to go by the wayside as the cash rich Amish hired outside companies to do work for them so that they wouldn’t have to repay in kind. Now that the hard times are here though there has been a slow return to their traditional values.

In Indiana, a back-to-basics movement appears to be taking root. More patches of produce have sprouted behind Amish homes this summer. Restaurants are entertaining fewer Amish customers. Mr. Lehman says neighbors "are more considerate of each other now."

Some men have started their own businesses close to home. Mr. Lehman makes mattresses in his workshop. Harlan Miller, a 34-year-old father of five who was laid off in February, started making fruit butter, which he sells at a local market. Freeman Miller (no relation), 54, who was laid off after 30 years in manufacturing, builds wooden caskets for pets.

Source: Douglas Belkin – Wall Street Journal :: A Bank Run Teaches the ‘Plain People’ About the Risks of Modernity

It’s amazing how the power of money can easily corrupt even a faith and community like the Amish.

Not even the Amish are immune to hardship is a post from: The Inquisitr

I would bet that we’ve all heard more times than we care to count the old warning about being careful about what you post on the Internet because it could come back to haunt you. Companies are making social media searches an almost required part of any hiring practice in order to see what kind of person you are away from the glare of a job interview. Our online profiles are becoming a part of our real life persona.

As much as we might like to believe that what we say and do online won’t have an impact on our jobs, current and future, this isn’t always the case. Therefore it was only a matter of time before our online personas became a integral part of any company’s interest in us as possible employees. However being made to provide our log-in information to any of the many social media service we might belong to as a part of a job application is something new.

Such is the case if you ever decide to apply for a job for the City of Bozeman, Montana, as they have made it a requirement on any job application with the city that you must provide any an all log-in information, including your passwords, for social network sites that you are a part of. This is part of a larger waiver that you have to sign giving the city permission to conduct a background investigation.

Now let’s stop for a second and think about this. Regardless of whether it is a web forum, Facebook, Twitter or some IRC chat room you are being made as part of a job interview to give up information that makes your online doings an open book. It doesn’t matter if you have made your Twitter feed a private feed, or that your Facebook account is marked as private. In this case the City of Bozeman’s rights trumps your right to privacy.

City Attorney for Bozeman defends the action this way

The City takes privacy rights very seriously, but this request balances those rights with the City’s need to ensure employees will protect the public trust, according to city attorney Greg Sullivan.

"So, we have positions ranging from fire and police, which require people of high integrity for those positions, all the way down to the lifeguards and the folks that work in city hall here. So we do those types of investigations to make sure the people that we hire have the highest moral character and are a good fit for the City," Sullivan said.

Source: Montana News Station

I can totally understand the City’s desire to protect the integrity of its employees but this kind of invasion is no different than them asking for the keys to your home and coming in whenever they feel like it. Sure it’s plausible to defend this requirement for any public social media accounts – but then they wouldn’t need  the passwords – however when it comes to any accounts that we have made private they have no business asking for this information, let alone making it a requirement for a job.

Montana city treading some dangerous ground is a post from: The Inquisitr

Jobs (no not the Steve one) are hard to find during the current recession. As more applications and resumes get either tossed into the garbage bin or disappear into the growing pile on the interviewer’s desk it may be time to get a little more creative in getting your name out there.

According to CareerBuilder.com almost a fifth of hiring managers are seeing an increase in unconventional tactics from job hunters. This is compared to only 12 percent of applicants from last year who went this route.

Some of the more interesting tactics job seekers have been employing are:

• handing out resumes at stoplights
• washing cars in a company parking lot
• staging a sit-in in the company lobby to demand a meeting with a director
• sending a cake designed as a business card with the candidate’s picture
• handing out personalized coffee cups
• going to the same barber as the company chairman to have the barber speak on the person’s behalf

"The search for employment is taking longer and is more competitive than it has been in past years," said Jason Ferrara, senior career adviser at CareerBuilder, in a statement. "To compensate, some candidates have turned to extreme tactics."

But he cautioned: "While unusual job search antics may attract the attention of hiring managers, they need to be done with care and professionalism so that candidates are remembered for the right reasons."

Source: Reuters UK

Reminds me of one trick I was taught years ago – send in your resume on colored paper (just not pink). Interestingly enough I never did get that job.

Looking for a job? Maybe it’s time to get creative is a post from: The Inquisitr