| Extreme
Recruiting in South Africa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Desperate companies
in South Africa not only have a skills shortage but also have some of the most
difficult and complicated sets of hiring laws. One company apparently feels it
succeeds, in part, by enforcing a "no re-employment" rule as "a hard policy”
with few exceptions:.. “Our managers know that if they leave to test the market
outside, they cannot return."
We are convinced that Negative Reinforcement strategies are too quickly
adopted when times are tough and they seldom work without obsessive attention to
monitoring and ruthless enforcement. Positive reinforcement strategies tend to
produce much better results long term.
Workforce, 12/28: Employers are building new
recruiting processes and training programs to manage through uneven labor
markets
|
Immigration
Crackdown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last week federal
immigration officials raided ("stormed") six of the meat processing plants owned
by Swift & Company (the world’s second largest beef and pork processor).
Nearly 1,300 people - almost 10 percent of Swift’s work force - were taken away
in what the government said was one of the largest assaults on the
organization's widespread use of "identity fraud" to hire and retain
unauthorized workers. Swift continues to insist that it is a model corporate
citizen. It obeyed the rules, which require it to check workers’ identity papers
and file I-9 Forms. The company also went further by participating in the Basic
Verification Program, a system designed by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security ("DHS") to check Social Security numbers of employees to ensure that
they are authorized to work.
We agree with visaserve’s conclusion - “No organization is immune from
government investigation.” The problem is that our country’s immigration policy
has no positive support for legal immigration or a rational rule to simplify
guest worker status.
12/06: Visaserve online newsletter
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Expatriates
Given the Boot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recruiters are
scrambling in Dubai, where the Labor Ministry announced at the end of June that
companies had 18 months to replace all their expatriate HR managers and
secretaries with local nationals. No new work permits will be issued for foreign
employees to fill HR and secretarial positions; expats must be sent packing.
This isn’t new- but it is the most direct statement about the direction
multinationals must take to reorient their recruiting to the community.
Artificial talent shortages might be created short-term to ensure other local
cultural values are given priority.
Workforce, 8/06: Labor markets and business needs
determine the balance of expatriates and local nationals for global companies
until they venture into locations where hiring is highly regulated.
|
Jobster
Jobless in Seattle?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jobster, a
Seattle-based job-focused vertical search engine, is mulling a big round of
layoffs and may cut up to half of its 145-strong workforce, according to sources
familiar with the company’s plans.
This blog is one of several that set off a firestorm on various staffing
discussion boards during the last week of 2006. There appears to be no firm
basis for the rumor-mongering. Perhaps some folks just didn’t like Jobster’s
pricing.
12/26/06: GigaOM, Blog by OM Malik
|
Can’t Get
Enough of Craig
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Craigslist has added
150 cities and now has more than 450 city/regional sites. Other sites offering
free or very low cost entry city by city include Kijiji/Intoko (503
city/regions), Gumtree (60 cities), Oodle (342 cities/metro areas), MetroMojo
(13 cities), Topix (299 cities), and Backpage (60 cities).
We think Craigslist continues to be an underground value-add for many
firms.
12/14/06: Classified Intelligence Report (a private
paid subscription newsletter)
|
JobBoards
Merging with Print: Oil and Water or the Next Big Thing?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yahoo's (Hotjobs)
newspaper deal with Hearst, Scripps, Media News, Media General, Lee, Belo, Cox
and Journal Register newspaper chains is seen as a "next step" in a rapidly
evolving and competitive marketplace.
We don’t agree just yet - the proof of the pudding is whether the combo of
online and print is greater than the sum of its parts and actually delivers
measurable value. Yahoo’s real strength eventually will be how they mine their
communities.
12/14/06: Classified Intelligence Report (a private
paid subscription newsletter)
|
Next
Generation May Find the Web Too Slow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An AP-AOL survey
points out that 30% of our children access the Internet via their phone. 69%
text message and 90% use video/pictures or wish they could.
How will this change your ability to connect to those top candidates in
college -- E&Y has interns making and sharing podcasts.
12/14/06: Classified Intelligence Report (a private
paid subscription newsletter)
|
There is
Trouble in River City
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster overstated
its profits over a nine year period by more than 1/4 Billion Dollars. The
options backdating scandal has driven out hundreds of executives fearing for
their freedom.
An appropriate punishment might be to let all of us buy 1000 shares of
stock in their firms and back date both the purchase and sale price to whatever
dates we wanted. The difference could be made up out of their pockets. If anyone
whines that they “didn’t know,” they should be forced to give up their MBA.
Wall Street Journal, various dates & articles
|
I’m Old and
Doing It My Way From Now On
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ YourEncore, a new
type of 3rd party placement caters to retired workers primarily from the Pharma
industry.
We love the concept that this firm represents. Started by P&G with
Lilly and others several years ago, it offers a new way of keeping boomers
engaged.
10/06, Businessweek: Still Working and Loving It
|
And The
Pendulum Swings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like divorce papers
filed by an obviously unhappy couple, the recent announcement by Hewitt
Associates CEO Russ Fradin that legacy client BP was not going to renew its HR
outsourcing contract caught no one by surprise.
Concern about outsourcing vendors growing too rapidly and not being able
to meet commitments is only one of several critical issues we have with
complete, rather than partial, outsourcing of staffing. (Contributed by Ed
Struzik of Beks Data Services.)
12/29/06, Workforce: Hewitt-BP Split May Signal End
of ‘Lift and Shift’ Deals
|
CareerXroads - Your Staffing Strategy Connection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone: 732-821-6652
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
