In this week's Week in Review: Hiring in the financial services industry is rising in the U.S. and the UK; Canada turns to foreign talent to fill the dearth of experienced chartered accountants; work-share programs in the U.S. may help employers cut costs while keeping workers employed; and European "flexicurity" may face possible threats.
1. In Finance, Recent Signs of Hiring (The Wall Street Journal)
Improving financial markets and increasing investor confidence may be the catalyst to a recent rise in hiring within the financial services sector, which has eliminated 600,000 jobs since December 2006 according to the Labor Department. This upswing in financial services hiring is particularly strong in the credit, wealth management, restructuring, and refinancing fields.
2. Rise in Recruitment Shows Thaw in Financial Hiring Freeze (Daily Mail)
Similar to the U.S., the UK has seen a hiring increase in the financial services sector. Although unemployment figures are at a 13-year high, increased confidence in the financial services industry has translated into a slight uptick in overall hiring last month, and a 2% rise in the average salary of financial employees.
3. Canada's Need for Foreign Talent Remains Strong (The Globe and Mail)
Although a number of sectors are cutting workers in Canada, chartered accountants are still in high demand. Canadians have turned their attention abroad in search of experienced accountants. However, the slow turnaround time required to apply for permanent residency and the difficulty in obtaining short-term work permits in Canada have made meeting this demand a challenge.
4. Work-Sharing May Help Companies Avoid Layoffs (The New York Times)
Seventeen states in the U.S. have implemented a program known as "work-sharing". Under this program, employers can reduce their workers' weekly hours and pay, and the state makes up a portion of the lost wages from unemployment funds. Most states also require the employer to provide full-time benefits, such as health care coverage, to employees that participate in work-share. Executives and economists have hailed this program as a good way to keep workers employed and companies staffed with skilled labor.
5. The Danger of Unemployment (The Economist)
In an effort to cushion the negative impacts of the recession, European governments have implemented a number of short term programs to promote "flexicurity"-the European idea of tolerating more flexible labor markets in return for knowing that "generous social assistance" would be available. However, if the European economy does not begin recovering this year, the idea of "flexicurity" may face a number of threats, including drastic cuts in welfare, inequality in sharing the social burden, and programs that ease workers out of the labor market to alleviate unemployment.
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