Jobing.com buys Canjobs.com
Jobing.com, a specialist in regional jobsites across the US, has just announced that it is buying CanJobs.com a Canadian network engulfing over 140 regional jobsites across Canada. This acquisition is the ninth for Jobing.com and marks it's expansion beyond the United States. It's strategy: to group local jobsites with the ability to adapt to the particular needs of that region. Canjobs.com had attempted this strategy for 10 years now but with limited success compared to it's American counterpart. Nevertheless Canjobs.com possesses an important number of domain names in all provinces: www.ontariojobs.comwww.manitobajobs.comwww.saskjobs.comwww.edmontonjobs.comwww.vancouverjobs.comwww.victoriajobs.com,… Canjobs.com will retain independent operations and will continue to be based in Ontario with the expansion of several affiliates to serve several local needs.
Alberta brings down Canadian unemployment rate
Jobs in Alberta continue to post remarkable performances: 14,000 new job created in July 2007. According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate in Alberta decreased by 0.5% to reach 3.3%, considered full employment. This dynamic situation decreased the Canadian unemployment rate by 0.1%, bringing it to 6% in July.
Labour surplus in Asia to keep an eye on
China will have 200 million more workers by 2015. This number, revealed by the International Labour Office (ILO) in Peking August 13, during the presentation of its latest report, worries experts. Asia already has 1.8 billion workers and could find itself unable to create enough jobs to decrease poverty and the massively wide-spread informal economy in the region. This is true even if Asia experiences unprecedented progress in terms of growth and development. ILO forecasts that the rural exodus will intensify, and that the urban population will increase by 350 million. 67.9% of the labour force in the region, more than one billion people, still work on the black market without any social protection. ILO is also concerned about decreasing natural resources, climate change and the aging population—three aggravating factors. The only hope is that if the economic boom continues, this worker surplus would be a decisive competitive advantage.
Monster.com attacked by hackers
On August 17, Monster.com job site servers were the victims of a vast phishing attack. The hackers, nicknamed “car group,” used servers from a Web-hosting company in Ukraine and a group of personal computers that they controlled after infecting them with a virus. The personal information of more than one million members was stolen, with most victims being from the U.S.; only 5,000 were from other countries. The hackers stole candidate contact information: names, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers—even more worrisome, they also got logins and passwords, which would give them access to candidate accounts. According to Internet security company Symantec, the hackers will try to use the stolen information to obtain credit card or social insurance numbers from candidates by pretending to be job recruiters. The information from personal accounts would make their efforts more credible. Monster’s technical experts are carefully monitoring searches in their database to detect any suspicious activity, not an easy job in light of the large number of queries per day.
Cultural sector jobs booming in Canada
A recent Statistics Canada study looked at employment in the cultural sector in a North American context between 1981 and 2001. Canada stood out, with employment in this sector increasing at a faster pace than in the U.S. In 2001, the proportion of the active population in Canada working in a cultural job had exceeded that of the U.S.:1.92 % in Canada vs. 1.86% in the U.S. In 1981, the U.S. led with a rate of 1.48% vs. 1.39% in Canada. Canada has a greater proportion of its cultural sector workface in performing arts, while the U.S. has a greater proportion in the field of literature. Both countries have one characteristic in common, however: most cultural jobs are concentrated in cities. Rural areas have a lot fewer positions in this field than cities, and growth over the past 20 years has also been weaker.
Launch of a student campaign against military recruiting
The Canadian Forces are currently carrying out massive recruiting campaigns, with very significant communication budgets. They are especially targeting students, with recruiters increasingly visible on campus. In response to these actions, the Centre de ressources sur la non-violence, in partnership with many college student associations, as just set up a national campaign opposing military recruiting in schools. This campaign aims to inform students about the constraints of a military career and denounce the presence of the Armed Forces in schools. Information material is being distributed in CEGEPS and universities across Quebec. Actions have also been taken to limit the presence of army recruiting ads on campus. Stay tuned…
Combining work and humour a good idea
According to a new survey by Robert Half International, 97% of professionals polled think it’s important for bosses to have a sense of humour. Companies have gotten this message, with 87% of employees stating that their supervisors know how to laugh. These numbers come from a poll of 492 full- or part-time office workers aged 18 or older. According to Max Messmer of Robert Half International, “Bosses who can laugh at themselves or difficult situations are often seen as more approachable and in touch with the challenges their teams face. Levity also can be used to build rapport among staff and ease stressful situations.” Be careful not to overdo it, though—too much laughter can have the opposite effect. Supervisors should find the proper balance between their desire to keep the mood light and the need to achieve business objectives.
82% of Canadians don’t work in their dream job
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Workopolis, the Canadian job site, surveyed 206 children between the ages of five and nine, 250 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19, and 206 parents. Not surprisingly, more than 80% of adults are not doing what they dreamt of when they were younger. While jobs as fairy princesses, superheros or formula 1 pilots are hard to find, many who had more realistic jobs in mind like doctors and lawyers are not working in these fields today. 41% cited education/training as a reason, while the availability of the job was a factor for another 30%. As for dream jobs, they remain amazingly constant regardless of the age of the person polled—teachers, doctors and veterinarians ranked in the top five for all groups. Some children were more original, however—one little girl wanted to be Barbie and a little boy wanted to have his own video rental club.