| Job Market Sees Increase in High-Paying Jobs Recovery in the US job market is not just happening in lower-wage areas, CNN Money reports. While restaurants and retailers are adding jobs at a good clip, a significant portion of the gains in the last two years are in factories, health care, and professional and technical services__a broad category that includes accountants, lawyers, architects, and computer engineers. These industries tend to pay more than the median wage of $16.57 per hour.
Manufacturing jobs requiring advanced technical training also are coming back. Manufacturing workers are not cheap__the average wage for assembly workers at automobile factories in the United States is $25 per hour.
“Since the end of the recession, we’ve had almost 500,000 jobs created in manufacturing, and almost all of those jobs have come from the durable goods sector__primarily aerospace, motor vehicles, metals, computers, and machinery,” says Chad Moutray, chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers. “Those are high-wage jobs.” Automotive Industry Lagging at GM General Motors is profitable in every part of the world except Europe, where it remains on one of the longest negative streaks in the industry, the New York Times reports. The company announced its total third-quarter earnings fell 14 percent due to losses in Europe as well as tighter profit margins in North America.
Auto sales in Europe are at their lowest levels in nearly 20 years. However, unlike many of the other carmakers in the European marketplace, GM has a long record of loss on the continent, down $16 billion in the last 12 years.
In order to cut costs, GM’s plans include shortening workweeks, performing better inventory management, reducing bottlenecks, and eliminating production when there are no dealer orders. Apple Reveals Risk Management Factors Under what scenarios might Apple go out of business? While the company has had unprecedented success, its leaders also must spend time thinking about the company itself. Those leaders have some ideas, as revealed in a required Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Business Insider reports. The risk factors that could contribute to Apple’s demise include - increasing instability in the global economy
- product design failure
- getting out of touch with consumer wants and needs
- higher prices from component suppliers
- losing patent lawsuits
- retail and cellular partners closing doors or becoming less collaborative
- government regulations.
Apple also reports wilder potential scenarios, such as nuclear disaster, public health crises, and attacks from hackers. Greenpeace Investigation Leads KFC to Cut Ties with Paper Manufacturer Add KFC to the growing list of businesses committed to using only sustainable paper sources. Greenbiz reports that a recent Greenpeace investigation revealed some of the chain’s UK packaging contained rainforest wood made by Indonesia-based Asia Pulp & Paper, one of the largest paper providers in the world and a company with a litany of accusations that its paper sourcing is unethical.
Now, KFC states that its paper will come only from suppliers who can “demonstrate sustainable forestry management throughout their supply chain and that are not actively involved in rain forest clearance.” The company’s goal, eventually, is to use 100 percent Forest Stewardship Council certified materials.
KFC follows the example set by other major global brands, including Disney, Mattel, Nestlé, Xerox, Kraft, Unilever, and Dannon, all of whom have announced they would cut ties with Asia Pulp & Paper. Establishing Career Guidance and Skills Supply Chain Schools, colleges, and universities should be more active in assisting students in finding work after graduation, going so far as to establish a “skills supply chain” between the schools and local businesses, writes Tessa Stone for the Guardian. Career guidance at every stage in life, in fact, is a critical factor in social mobility.
Ideally, schools, career guidance professionals, charities, and employers would work together to help students choose the right classes and study paths that serve their interests and abilities. They would also work to expose students to the actual experiences of a variety of careers and provide the skills and contacts needed to achieve them.
Collaboration and clear distribution of responsibilities is necessary to ensure true career mobility for students, Stone writes. |