May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Ten months after graduating from Ohio State University with a civil-engineering degree and three internships, Matt Grant finally has a job -- as a banquet waiter at a Clarion Inn near Akron, Ohio.
“It’s discouraging right now,” said the 24-year-old, who sent out more than 100 applications for engineering positions. “It’s getting closer to the Class of 2010, their graduation date. I’m starting to worry more.”
Schools from Grant’s alma mater to Harvard University will soon begin sending a wave of more than 1.6 million men and women with bachelor’s degrees into a labor market with a 9.9 percent jobless rate, according to the Education and Labor departments. While the economy is improving, unemployment is near a 26-year high, rising last month from 9.7 percent in January-March as more Americans entered the workforce.
The graduates’ plight has been the subject of high-level discussions within President Barack Obama’s administration, which so far has concluded the best response is to focus on reviving overall employment and bolstering assistance for higher education, said Peter Orszag, the White House budget director.
“What’s clear is that there is harm to those who graduate at the wrong time through no fault of their own, which is one reason why it is so important to improve the jobs market,” Orszag said. “That is the bottom line here.”
The scramble for jobs may depress earnings of new and recent college graduates for years to come and handicap their future career opportunities, according to Lisa Kahn, an assistant professor of economics at Yale University’s School of Management in New Haven, Connecticut. It also might hurt Democrats in the November Congressional elections, as the young voters who helped propel the party to power in 2008 grow disenchanted with their economic prospects.
Wage Losses
Students who graduated in the early 1980s -- when two recessions drove unemployment to a peak of 10.8 percent -- suffered wage losses of more than $100,000 in the next 15 years compared with those who came into the job market during the decade’s boom years, according to Kahn’s research.
“They get shifted down into a lower level and lower pay scale,” she said. “They are working for worse firms, they’re not learning as many skills and they’re not moving up the career pyramid as quickly.”
The average salary offered to bachelor’s degree candidates this year is $47,673, 1.7 percent less than 2009, when the economy already was in recession, according to data compiled from campus job-placement offices by the National Association of Colleges and Employers in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Increasing Competition
“More so in the last year to 18 months than at any time, we have seen applicants from prior graduating classes looking for the kind of entry-level jobs we’re recruiting for,” said Dan Black, director of campus recruiting for Ernst & Young LLP, a professional-services firm headquartered in New York. “There are a lot more cohorts competing with each other: ‘09 with ‘10, probably ‘10 with ‘11.”
Unemployment among people under 25 years old was 19.6 percent in April, the highest level since the Labor Department began tracking the data in 1948. Their economic travails may haunt Democrats in the November midterm elections. The youthful voters who helped propel the party to victory in the 2006 Congressional elections and gave the 2008 Obama campaign much of its vibrancy are showing signs of waning enthusiasm.
Democrats held a 62 percent to 30 percent advantage over Republicans in 2008 among “millennials,” born after 1980, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press in Washington D.C. Their 32-point margin shrank to 18 points this year, with 55 percent leaning Democratic and 37 percent Republican, based on polls taken from January through April.
Less Excitement
“It’s definitely tamped down the energy and the excitement and activism that the Obama campaign had sparked among that entry-level age group,” said Democratic strategist Joe Trippi, who advised Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign and is working with candidates in several midterm races.
Even graduates of elite and graduate universities feel the impact. A new listserv of “Hot Opportunities” Harvard’s career-services office began compiling in March garnered 1,000 student subscribers in its first two days.
“This is the first year we have seen such a demand for our services this close to graduation,” said Robin Mount, director of the office in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Thirty-three percent of Harvard’s graduating seniors had accepted a job as of commencement last year, down from 51 percent the year before. The survey results for this year’s class haven’t been released.
On-campus recruiting at schools of business declined 65 percent during the fall job-interview season, according to the MBA Career Services Council in Tampa, Florida. Peter Giulioni, assistant dean and executive director of MBA Career Services at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles, said he is encouraging this year’s graduates to be more flexible in the jobs they seek.
“Whereas in the past maybe 10 percent of my students had to go with their Plan B, about 30 percent are now,” he said.
--Editors: Melinda Grenier, Christopher Wellisz
What Pop Music Can Teach Us About Personal Finance By Joshua Ritchie
With so many personal finance books and columns spouting the same tired clichés, perhaps it’s time for a fresh perspective. Just for today, put down the Wall Street Journal and pop in your favorite Beatles album. While it might seem silly to extract personal finance lessons from pop music, it turns out that the genre has much to teach us. Some of the timeless axioms of pop run parallel to intelligent money management and help illuminate the advice that so many of us know, but so few of us follow.
The First Deal Isn’t Always The Best Deal
Young, unproven musical acts often rush to sign a record deal as soon as possible. Uncertain of their futures and anxious to silence their critics, musicians frequently prioritize “getting signed” over the specifics of the deals they are offered. Predictably, this tends to result in meager royalties, demanding tour schedules and a sinking feeling that the record label bent you over a barrel.
An all too similar scenario confronts most consumers early in their adult lives. Once you turn sixteen, you will begin to be bombarded with pre-approved credit card offers in the mail. Like a shrewd record executive, each offer touts itself as being the best deal you could hope to find – and pressures you to accept immediately. And like overzealous musicians, consumers often sign on the dotted line for the first offer they receive.
Sadly, the outcome tends to be the credit-card equivalent of a bad record deal: high interest rates, lots of fees and shoddy customer service. But unlike a record deal, you can sever ties with an poorly chosen credit card right away. Pay off the outstanding balance (if any), tuck the card away and select a new one using more stringent criteria. Ideally, you want a card with no annual fees, rewards you will use, the lowest possible interest rate and reasonable, clearly stated fees.
Life On The Road Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be
The undying dream of a young act paying its dues in garages or dive bars is to get out on the road. It sure seems glamorous from afar: a new city every night, fresh faces and adoring fans. Countless movies, such as Almost Famous, depict the crazy thrill-ride of an up and coming group getting its first taste of the open road. But in real life (and in the movie), life on the road eventually leads to problems of its own. Living out of suitcases and eating a a steady diet of fast food gets old after the first few exciting months.
The same applies to runaway debt spending. Sure, the day you take home your new entertainment center or Armani suit is a blast. But if all you did was mindlessly charge it all to a credit card, your own “road blues” will soon kick in. Eventually, it dawns on you that you will need to repay these impulse purchases over the course of many months or years. Worst of all, by the time you’re halfway through the payments, the items you purchased will have lost a lot of their luster. Unfortunately, like a pop group that must wearily perform its last five shows, you will need to keep paying whether you want to or not.
Get a Good Manager (or Become Your Own)
Recording contracts, album royalties and cuts of ticket sales are thorny, contentious issues that lie beyond the expertise of most musicians. Rather than attempting to master these key subjects, most groups “outsource” their handling to astute managers. It’s a classic example of the division of labor: the group makes the hits, and the manager makes the business decisions. Given the chance, a manager can make or break a group’s entire career. In a recent interview, ex-Van Halen bass player Michael Anthony revealed that despite several multi-platinum albums, the band did not make any “real money” until Sammy Hagar took over vocals – and brought in his manager.
The personal finance equivalent to a band manager is a financial planner. If you are not financially savvy (and don’t care to be), a financial planner can lay out a coherent plan that encompasses savings, spending, investing and retirement. Of course, not every band or consumer needs a “manager.” The alternative is to educate yourself on the mechanics of personal finance and make choices in line with what you learn.
Personal Finance Sound Bites
If that’s not convincing enough, let’s look at some specific lyrics. To be sure, they weren’t written with money management in mind. But listen carefully, and you’ll take away messages that you can apply to your finances:
* “Showin’ how funky and strong is your fight, it doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right!”
This line from Michael Jackson’s Beat It could easily be applied to the situation of someone struggling to repay credit card debt. Far too many people get caught up in blame the credit card companies for their woes. But it really doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right. The fact is that you owe a debt and life will not get much easier until it is repaid.
* “I went down, down, down and the flames went higher. And it burns, burns, burns the ring of fire.”
Without intending to, Johnny Cash described the downward spiral of financial ruin in his hit Ring of Fire. Whether it’s credit card debt, unpaid bills or minuscule savings, those in dire financial straits have difficulty taking the painful but needed steps that lead to true recovery.
* “We’ll get higher and higher, straight up we’ll fly!”
With an open mind, Van Halen’s pop hit Dreams can easily be interpreted as a call to set ambitious financial goals. Saving and budgeting will feel less like chores if they are aimed at a passionately sought purpose, like your dream home or starting a business.
* “Everyone’s got to face down the demons, maybe today we can put the past away.”
What Third Eye Blind really wanted to get across was that no financial situation is so bad that it cannot be overcome.
*
“I will not make the same mistakes that you did, I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery.”
Could Kelly Clarkson have been talking about learning from other people’s financial mistakes? Probably not – but you should. Strive to emulate other people’s successful financial behaviors (and avoid their mistakes) whenever possible.
The First Deal Isn’t Always The Best Deal
Young, unproven musical acts often rush to sign a record deal as soon as possible. Uncertain of their futures and anxious to silence their critics, musicians frequently prioritize “getting signed” over the specifics of the deals they are offered. Predictably, this tends to result in meager royalties, demanding tour schedules and a sinking feeling that the record label bent you over a barrel.
An all too similar scenario confronts most consumers early in their adult lives. Once you turn sixteen, you will begin to be bombarded with pre-approved credit card offers in the mail. Like a shrewd record executive, each offer touts itself as being the best deal you could hope to find – and pressures you to accept immediately. And like overzealous musicians, consumers often sign on the dotted line for the first offer they receive.
Sadly, the outcome tends to be the credit-card equivalent of a bad record deal: high interest rates, lots of fees and shoddy customer service. But unlike a record deal, you can sever ties with an poorly chosen credit card right away. Pay off the outstanding balance (if any), tuck the card away and select a new one using more stringent criteria. Ideally, you want a card with no annual fees, rewards you will use, the lowest possible interest rate and reasonable, clearly stated fees.
Life On The Road Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be
The undying dream of a young act paying its dues in garages or dive bars is to get out on the road. It sure seems glamorous from afar: a new city every night, fresh faces and adoring fans. Countless movies, such as Almost Famous, depict the crazy thrill-ride of an up and coming group getting its first taste of the open road. But in real life (and in the movie), life on the road eventually leads to problems of its own. Living out of suitcases and eating a a steady diet of fast food gets old after the first few exciting months.
The same applies to runaway debt spending. Sure, the day you take home your new entertainment center or Armani suit is a blast. But if all you did was mindlessly charge it all to a credit card, your own “road blues” will soon kick in. Eventually, it dawns on you that you will need to repay these impulse purchases over the course of many months or years. Worst of all, by the time you’re halfway through the payments, the items you purchased will have lost a lot of their luster. Unfortunately, like a pop group that must wearily perform its last five shows, you will need to keep paying whether you want to or not.
Get a Good Manager (or Become Your Own)
Recording contracts, album royalties and cuts of ticket sales are thorny, contentious issues that lie beyond the expertise of most musicians. Rather than attempting to master these key subjects, most groups “outsource” their handling to astute managers. It’s a classic example of the division of labor: the group makes the hits, and the manager makes the business decisions. Given the chance, a manager can make or break a group’s entire career. In a recent interview, ex-Van Halen bass player Michael Anthony revealed that despite several multi-platinum albums, the band did not make any “real money” until Sammy Hagar took over vocals – and brought in his manager.
The personal finance equivalent to a band manager is a financial planner. If you are not financially savvy (and don’t care to be), a financial planner can lay out a coherent plan that encompasses savings, spending, investing and retirement. Of course, not every band or consumer needs a “manager.” The alternative is to educate yourself on the mechanics of personal finance and make choices in line with what you learn.
Personal Finance Sound Bites
If that’s not convincing enough, let’s look at some specific lyrics. To be sure, they weren’t written with money management in mind. But listen carefully, and you’ll take away messages that you can apply to your finances:
* “Showin’ how funky and strong is your fight, it doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right!”
This line from Michael Jackson’s Beat It could easily be applied to the situation of someone struggling to repay credit card debt. Far too many people get caught up in blame the credit card companies for their woes. But it really doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right. The fact is that you owe a debt and life will not get much easier until it is repaid.
* “I went down, down, down and the flames went higher. And it burns, burns, burns the ring of fire.”
Without intending to, Johnny Cash described the downward spiral of financial ruin in his hit Ring of Fire. Whether it’s credit card debt, unpaid bills or minuscule savings, those in dire financial straits have difficulty taking the painful but needed steps that lead to true recovery.
* “We’ll get higher and higher, straight up we’ll fly!”
With an open mind, Van Halen’s pop hit Dreams can easily be interpreted as a call to set ambitious financial goals. Saving and budgeting will feel less like chores if they are aimed at a passionately sought purpose, like your dream home or starting a business.
* “Everyone’s got to face down the demons, maybe today we can put the past away.”
What Third Eye Blind really wanted to get across was that no financial situation is so bad that it cannot be overcome.
*
“I will not make the same mistakes that you did, I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery.”
Could Kelly Clarkson have been talking about learning from other people’s financial mistakes? Probably not – but you should. Strive to emulate other people’s successful financial behaviors (and avoid their mistakes) whenever possible.
Americans wary of China's economic juggernaut
(Reuters) - As the United States, engine of the global economy for a century, struggles out of recession, Americans are looking with some resentment at China but accept that tough competition with the Asian giant is here to stay.
China
Opinion polls show most Americans see China as a challenge but not an enemy as the country of 1.3 billion people looms as an economic rival, spreads its tentacles into far-flung markets and taps natural resources around the world.
The mood among Americans is wary as more than a dozen members of President Barack Obama's administration go to Beijing next week for a session of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue begun last year between the two major powers.
The talks will touch on issues ranging from the gaping U.S. trade deficit to financial reforms and the contentious pegging of the yuan currency.
They could have a long-term impact for Americans worried about disappearing jobs and an increasingly hard slog to make a living, many of whom are preparing to vent their frustrations in critical congressional elections in November.
The majority of Americans "see China as a potential threat, and a growing number see it as more powerful economically, but at the same time ... the majority view is China is a problem but not an adversary," said pollster Michael Dimock.
"It's not like China is seen in an inherently negative light by the American public," said Dimock who works with the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
China is viewed favorably by 50 percent of Americans against 38 percent who view it unfavorably. Unlike in past recessions, protectionist sentiment is muted, Dimock said.
But for Americans under pressure from the worst downturn in over six decades, the nuances of trade barriers and currency manipulation are secondary to the feeling that China's economy is growing at the expense of America's.
"I'm not angry, but at the same time it is very frustrating to find that so many of these jobs have gone overseas ... to countries like China and southeastern Asian countries and Mexico where they pay them a couple of dollars a day," said Barry Wentzel, 55 and unemployed, at a Phoenix job center.
CHINESE WAGES
Wages paid Chinese workers have climbed, but China's 113 million manufacturing workers in 2006 earned an average of 81 cents an hour, 3 percent of their 14 million U.S. counterparts' pay, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Detroit-area auto parts worker Bob Teno, 48, who recently got another job after being laid off, goes out of his way to avoid the "made in China" label.
"We've lost so many jobs along the way because people buy cheaper stuff from China. I'd rather pay a little more to buy something made in the U.S. It's good for jobs," Teno said.
The U.S. trade deficit with China -- $227 billion in 2009 -- is certain to be discussed in Beijing talks next Monday and Tuesday.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who will join Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the U.S. team, has suggested it was in China's interest to allow more flexibility in its currency.
The stubborn trade deficit with China has been a sore point for several U.S. administrations, and movement by China could be of political benefit ahead of the November elections.
Liberal-leaning U.S. think tanks said even before the recession began in 2007, one in four U.S. families was at high risk of slipping out of the middle class.
For Lynn Wiley, the fall was sudden and severe. The 47-year-old security guard became homeless last year after he lost his job and his girlfriend. He insists his son not make the same mistakes and demanded he stay in college and earn a degree.
"A high school diploma won't do it," Wiley said as he waited for a free lunch at a Washington homeless shelter. "That was the entry level 20, 30 years ago. Four years of college is a must. We're competing with China now."
PROTECTIONISM
"I don't think we need protectionism but we have to draw the line somewhere," said Carlo Vennettilli, 57, who has worked in the declining Detroit auto industry for 22 years. "Nobody in government is watching out for us anymore."
He worried an America without factories would be unprepared for war, while not suggesting China would be the foe.
One in 10 Americans view China as the greatest "danger" to the United States, ranking it behind Iran, al Qaeda and other threats, Dimock said. Prior to the 2001 terror attacks, China ranked first as a threat according to one-third of Americans.
Asked whether China was to blame for America's economic struggles, Milwaukee student Aron Moberg, 33, faulted U.S. businesses and government and suggested Americans get over it.
"Between their population, the size of their country, and their centralized authoritarian government, they are going to be a juggernaut that we can't afford to not pay attention to," said Moberg, who is studying architecture and Chinese.
"I think further off-shoring of manufacturing jobs has run its course," countered John Torinus, head of an auto parts company in West Bend, Wisconsin. "Most of what is going to move has already moved ... some stuff is even coming back."
George Fleming, an employment counselor in Phoenix, said China's growth was undeniable, and he wondered whether it can be persuaded to be a "good global citizen" on such issues as intellectual property rights and the environment.
"How do we get them to take a global level of responsibility without hindering their growth?" he said. "We're dealing with a player who I think is likely to say, 'let's talk in 30 years.'"
(Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit, Emily Kaiser in Washington, Tim Gaynor in Phoenix, and John Rondy in Milwaukee; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and David Storey)
China
Opinion polls show most Americans see China as a challenge but not an enemy as the country of 1.3 billion people looms as an economic rival, spreads its tentacles into far-flung markets and taps natural resources around the world.
The mood among Americans is wary as more than a dozen members of President Barack Obama's administration go to Beijing next week for a session of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue begun last year between the two major powers.
The talks will touch on issues ranging from the gaping U.S. trade deficit to financial reforms and the contentious pegging of the yuan currency.
They could have a long-term impact for Americans worried about disappearing jobs and an increasingly hard slog to make a living, many of whom are preparing to vent their frustrations in critical congressional elections in November.
The majority of Americans "see China as a potential threat, and a growing number see it as more powerful economically, but at the same time ... the majority view is China is a problem but not an adversary," said pollster Michael Dimock.
"It's not like China is seen in an inherently negative light by the American public," said Dimock who works with the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
China is viewed favorably by 50 percent of Americans against 38 percent who view it unfavorably. Unlike in past recessions, protectionist sentiment is muted, Dimock said.
But for Americans under pressure from the worst downturn in over six decades, the nuances of trade barriers and currency manipulation are secondary to the feeling that China's economy is growing at the expense of America's.
"I'm not angry, but at the same time it is very frustrating to find that so many of these jobs have gone overseas ... to countries like China and southeastern Asian countries and Mexico where they pay them a couple of dollars a day," said Barry Wentzel, 55 and unemployed, at a Phoenix job center.
CHINESE WAGES
Wages paid Chinese workers have climbed, but China's 113 million manufacturing workers in 2006 earned an average of 81 cents an hour, 3 percent of their 14 million U.S. counterparts' pay, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Detroit-area auto parts worker Bob Teno, 48, who recently got another job after being laid off, goes out of his way to avoid the "made in China" label.
"We've lost so many jobs along the way because people buy cheaper stuff from China. I'd rather pay a little more to buy something made in the U.S. It's good for jobs," Teno said.
The U.S. trade deficit with China -- $227 billion in 2009 -- is certain to be discussed in Beijing talks next Monday and Tuesday.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who will join Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the U.S. team, has suggested it was in China's interest to allow more flexibility in its currency.
The stubborn trade deficit with China has been a sore point for several U.S. administrations, and movement by China could be of political benefit ahead of the November elections.
Liberal-leaning U.S. think tanks said even before the recession began in 2007, one in four U.S. families was at high risk of slipping out of the middle class.
For Lynn Wiley, the fall was sudden and severe. The 47-year-old security guard became homeless last year after he lost his job and his girlfriend. He insists his son not make the same mistakes and demanded he stay in college and earn a degree.
"A high school diploma won't do it," Wiley said as he waited for a free lunch at a Washington homeless shelter. "That was the entry level 20, 30 years ago. Four years of college is a must. We're competing with China now."
PROTECTIONISM
"I don't think we need protectionism but we have to draw the line somewhere," said Carlo Vennettilli, 57, who has worked in the declining Detroit auto industry for 22 years. "Nobody in government is watching out for us anymore."
He worried an America without factories would be unprepared for war, while not suggesting China would be the foe.
One in 10 Americans view China as the greatest "danger" to the United States, ranking it behind Iran, al Qaeda and other threats, Dimock said. Prior to the 2001 terror attacks, China ranked first as a threat according to one-third of Americans.
Asked whether China was to blame for America's economic struggles, Milwaukee student Aron Moberg, 33, faulted U.S. businesses and government and suggested Americans get over it.
"Between their population, the size of their country, and their centralized authoritarian government, they are going to be a juggernaut that we can't afford to not pay attention to," said Moberg, who is studying architecture and Chinese.
"I think further off-shoring of manufacturing jobs has run its course," countered John Torinus, head of an auto parts company in West Bend, Wisconsin. "Most of what is going to move has already moved ... some stuff is even coming back."
George Fleming, an employment counselor in Phoenix, said China's growth was undeniable, and he wondered whether it can be persuaded to be a "good global citizen" on such issues as intellectual property rights and the environment.
"How do we get them to take a global level of responsibility without hindering their growth?" he said. "We're dealing with a player who I think is likely to say, 'let's talk in 30 years.'"
(Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit, Emily Kaiser in Washington, Tim Gaynor in Phoenix, and John Rondy in Milwaukee; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and David Storey)
Chrysler, Ford among automakers hiring again - USA TODAY
By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
DETROIT — After years of shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs, the auto industry is showing signs it may have hit bottom and is ready to hire again.
Several automakers announced "help wanted" this week at the big annual auto show here, though the numbers wouldn't begin to replace the jobs lost.
Among them: Chrysler, fresh from bankruptcy court, and Ford, hiring in Michigan. Toyota is hiring in Texas; Volkswagen is staffing a new plant in Tennessee; and Kia is hiring in Georgia.
Driving the hiring: optimism for a mild recovery in new car sales this year. U.S. new vehicle sales in 2009 were 10.4 million, the lowest since 1982. But the year finished up, and the Center for Automotive Studies predicts 2010 sales will rise to 12.4 million.
The hiring "is encouraging," said Harley Shaiken, an auto labor expert at the University of California-Berkeley. "But it also reflects how far jobs sank in the industry."
Still, he says, auto hiring could add the "psychological boost" the U.S. needs to climb out of recession.
Automaking and parts jobs fell from 1.1 million in 1999 to 561,900 in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
Just halting the job-loss slide is a small victory, said CEO Ed Whitacre of GM, which isn't hiring, yet.
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler and of Italy's Fiat, talked here of a shortage of staff to develop future products: "We need to have engineers. We just don't have enough."
Also hiring:
•Ford Motor. Even as it continues a buyout offer for veteran union workers, Ford announced that it will add 1,000 jobs in hard-hit Michigan as new plants open to make battery packs and other parts for hybrid and electric cars.
•Toyota. Its San Antonio plant is hiring 850 as a second shift returns next month and they prep for a new Tacoma pickup, said Mike Goss, external affairs manager for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing.
JOBS OUTLOOK: Latest data for all states, 384 metros
•Volkswagen. VW is sifting through a flood of applications for 1,700 jobs at the plant it's building in Chattanooga, Tenn., to make a replacement for the Passat, spokesman Peik Von Bestenbostel said.
•Kia. The South Korean maker is adding a shift — doubling jobs to 2,500 — at its plant in West Point, Ga., which just started making Sorento crossovers, spokeswoman Joanne Mabrey said.
SOURCE: USA TODAY. ORIGINAL ARTICLE>>>
DETROIT — After years of shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs, the auto industry is showing signs it may have hit bottom and is ready to hire again.
Several automakers announced "help wanted" this week at the big annual auto show here, though the numbers wouldn't begin to replace the jobs lost.
Among them: Chrysler, fresh from bankruptcy court, and Ford, hiring in Michigan. Toyota is hiring in Texas; Volkswagen is staffing a new plant in Tennessee; and Kia is hiring in Georgia.
Driving the hiring: optimism for a mild recovery in new car sales this year. U.S. new vehicle sales in 2009 were 10.4 million, the lowest since 1982. But the year finished up, and the Center for Automotive Studies predicts 2010 sales will rise to 12.4 million.
The hiring "is encouraging," said Harley Shaiken, an auto labor expert at the University of California-Berkeley. "But it also reflects how far jobs sank in the industry."
Still, he says, auto hiring could add the "psychological boost" the U.S. needs to climb out of recession.
Automaking and parts jobs fell from 1.1 million in 1999 to 561,900 in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
Just halting the job-loss slide is a small victory, said CEO Ed Whitacre of GM, which isn't hiring, yet.
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler and of Italy's Fiat, talked here of a shortage of staff to develop future products: "We need to have engineers. We just don't have enough."
Also hiring:
•Ford Motor. Even as it continues a buyout offer for veteran union workers, Ford announced that it will add 1,000 jobs in hard-hit Michigan as new plants open to make battery packs and other parts for hybrid and electric cars.
•Toyota. Its San Antonio plant is hiring 850 as a second shift returns next month and they prep for a new Tacoma pickup, said Mike Goss, external affairs manager for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing.
JOBS OUTLOOK: Latest data for all states, 384 metros
•Volkswagen. VW is sifting through a flood of applications for 1,700 jobs at the plant it's building in Chattanooga, Tenn., to make a replacement for the Passat, spokesman Peik Von Bestenbostel said.
•Kia. The South Korean maker is adding a shift — doubling jobs to 2,500 — at its plant in West Point, Ga., which just started making Sorento crossovers, spokeswoman Joanne Mabrey said.
SOURCE: USA TODAY. ORIGINAL ARTICLE>>>
With 3,000 job applications a day, Google can be picky
Even in a normal job market, and more so in these tough times, competition is brutal to get a cubicle at coveted companies such as Google.
The tech giant, which just nabbed the "ideal employer" slot in a Universum Group survey of undergraduates, gets more than 3,000 applications a day. No wonder: It's financially stable; it offers tuition reimbursement of up to $12,000 a year; it provides free breakfast, lunch and dinner; it offers health coverage from the first day of employment; and the folks in its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters have access to an on-campus gym, car wash, bike-repair shop and Laundromat, as well as subsidized haircuts.
The benefits definitely help to ease "transition into adulthood," says Sean Harvey, a Google business product manager. "It's a good way to get started."
After a hiring lull, the Internet giant has recently ramped up recruitment. It's "hiring aggressively right now," says spokesman Jordan Newman. "We're focusing on sales and engineers, but we're hiring across the board and across the world."
Google posts entry-level jobs at google.com/jobs/students/ — and reviews each application. "All résumés for open positions are looked at by a human person," Newman says. "It's not like there's a black hole."
The company pre-screens candidates by phone. Those who earn an onsite interview typically meet with five Googlers.
While grades matter, it takes more than an exceptional GPA. Here's what hiring managers are looking for:
•Extracurricular activity junkies. "We don't want someone who just studied the whole time" at college, says Yolanda Mangolini, director of talent and outreach programs.
•Candidates who stretch beyond comfort. "What we're looking for primarily is someone who can do more than what they know," Harvey says. "Somebody who is flexible and can roll with the punches, not someone who can do just one job and puts his head down."
•Unique personalities. "Come prepared to discuss what makes you a unique candidate," Mangolini says. "We value distinct perspectives."
Contributing: Laura Petrecca
SOURCE: USA TODAY. ORIGINAL ARTICLE>>>>
The tech giant, which just nabbed the "ideal employer" slot in a Universum Group survey of undergraduates, gets more than 3,000 applications a day. No wonder: It's financially stable; it offers tuition reimbursement of up to $12,000 a year; it provides free breakfast, lunch and dinner; it offers health coverage from the first day of employment; and the folks in its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters have access to an on-campus gym, car wash, bike-repair shop and Laundromat, as well as subsidized haircuts.
The benefits definitely help to ease "transition into adulthood," says Sean Harvey, a Google business product manager. "It's a good way to get started."
After a hiring lull, the Internet giant has recently ramped up recruitment. It's "hiring aggressively right now," says spokesman Jordan Newman. "We're focusing on sales and engineers, but we're hiring across the board and across the world."
Google posts entry-level jobs at google.com/jobs/students/ — and reviews each application. "All résumés for open positions are looked at by a human person," Newman says. "It's not like there's a black hole."
The company pre-screens candidates by phone. Those who earn an onsite interview typically meet with five Googlers.
While grades matter, it takes more than an exceptional GPA. Here's what hiring managers are looking for:
•Extracurricular activity junkies. "We don't want someone who just studied the whole time" at college, says Yolanda Mangolini, director of talent and outreach programs.
•Candidates who stretch beyond comfort. "What we're looking for primarily is someone who can do more than what they know," Harvey says. "Somebody who is flexible and can roll with the punches, not someone who can do just one job and puts his head down."
•Unique personalities. "Come prepared to discuss what makes you a unique candidate," Mangolini says. "We value distinct perspectives."
Contributing: Laura Petrecca
SOURCE: USA TODAY. ORIGINAL ARTICLE>>>>
Is College for Everyone? By JACQUES STEINBERG
In a piece for the Sunday Week in Review section of The Times, which has just been posted online, I examine a third-rail question within the education world: whether some of those students struggling in college might be better served in other settings, academic or otherwise.
Yes, Federal labor statistics make clear that, in general, the more education one attains after high school, the higher one’s wages and the lower the risk of unemployment. Even a few years of college can be better than none, in terms of one’s lifetime wages.
But another set of Federal data projects that no more than 50 percent of those who begin a four-year bachelor’s program in the fall of 2006 will get that degree within six years.
A small but influential group of economists and educators argue that it is time to develop credible alternatives for some high school graduates that would steer them away from college and toward intensive, short-term vocational and career training.
Yes, Federal labor statistics make clear that, in general, the more education one attains after high school, the higher one’s wages and the lower the risk of unemployment. Even a few years of college can be better than none, in terms of one’s lifetime wages.
But another set of Federal data projects that no more than 50 percent of those who begin a four-year bachelor’s program in the fall of 2006 will get that degree within six years.
A small but influential group of economists and educators argue that it is time to develop credible alternatives for some high school graduates that would steer them away from college and toward intensive, short-term vocational and career training.
'Success does not depend on an MBA degree'
BANGALORE: In an age when the name of the business school you attended is more important than what you may be capable of without it, Rashmi Bansal, author of Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, on Saturday released her new book 'Connect the Dots,' which stresses otherwise.
At the book launch, she said her book concentrated on why success is not completely reliant on an MBA degree alone.Sharing snippets from her book, Rashmi said entrepreneurship was a larger concept and not restricted merely to the few Bschool graduates. She said the book featured 20 successful entrepreneurs who made it big without a degree from prestigious institutes. Adding that passion was the key, she said success cannot be measured only with the amount of money one makes. She added that the meaning of the book must not be constricted to the thought that all entrepreneurial activity refers to starting a new business. Professionals could pursue their ambitions and dreams within their own job or while working for any organisation, she said. The book that is divided into three parts, Jugaad, Junoon and Zubaan, is based on different kinds of people who have chosen not to follow the mainstream but do things they are passionate about.
At the book launch, she said her book concentrated on why success is not completely reliant on an MBA degree alone.Sharing snippets from her book, Rashmi said entrepreneurship was a larger concept and not restricted merely to the few Bschool graduates. She said the book featured 20 successful entrepreneurs who made it big without a degree from prestigious institutes. Adding that passion was the key, she said success cannot be measured only with the amount of money one makes. She added that the meaning of the book must not be constricted to the thought that all entrepreneurial activity refers to starting a new business. Professionals could pursue their ambitions and dreams within their own job or while working for any organisation, she said. The book that is divided into three parts, Jugaad, Junoon and Zubaan, is based on different kinds of people who have chosen not to follow the mainstream but do things they are passionate about.
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