2002-08-01

2002-08-01
_Dice_
Dice Report: 30,368 job ads

2002-08-02

2002-08-02
Margaret Quan _CommsDesign_/_EE Times_
Congress won't debate H-1B visas until next session
 

2002-08-03

2002-08-04

2002-08-05

2002-08-05 05:42PDT (08:42EDT) (12:42GMT)
Declan McCullagh _ZD Net_
Is privacy taking another beating?
"The most recent issue of the Los Angeles Weekly reports that an FBI agent has accused the agency of shutting down his 1998 criminal probe into alleged terrorist-training camps inside the United States.   If that agent, Robert Wright, is telling the truth, the real problem at the FBI may be lack of common sense -- not lack of surveillance authority."

2002-08-05 06:29PDT (09:29EDT) (13:29GMT)
Margaret Quan _EE Times_
Congress won't debate H-1B visas until next session

2002-08-05
Rex Nutting _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Challenger: Job cuts down 15% in July
"Corporate lay-offs [dropped] to a 14-month low of 80,966...   So far in 2002, corporations have announced 816,493 job cuts"

2002-08-05
_USA Today_/_Reuters_
Job cut announcements drop in July
"US companies announced 80,966 lay-offs in July, down 15% from 94,766 in June, employment research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said."

2002-08-05
Adamson Rust _Inquirer_
Larry Ellison: "privacy is an illusion"
"PLAYBOY MAG is running an interview with our very own Larry Ellison, the man who once said to us in Amsterdam: "Your data is safer with me than with you, believe me".   Couple years after that, we saw Larry in Paris.   He was seated on a dais & our eyes were level with his shoes.   We couldn't help reflecting that his shoes alone were worth more than our entire wardrobe 5 times over."

2002-08-05
Adam Geller _AP_
Going into over-time

2002-08-05 10:10PDT (13:10EDT) (17:10GMT)
Keith Regan _eCommerce Times_/_Tech News World_
Dot-Com Lay-Offs Rose in July
"Since 2002 January, 9,357 people have lost Web-related jobs, compared with more than 80K during the first 7 months of last year.   Dot-com lay-offs more than [doubled] in July to 1,750 lost jobs, according to a Challenger, Gray and Christmas report.   That makes July the third-worst month so far this year for Internet-related lay-offs, behind May, which had 2,078 cuts, and January, when 1,802 were fired.   Lay-offs dipped to as low as 670 in March...   overall job cuts fell in July to just under 81K, their lowest level in 14 months, Challenger found in a separate survey...   The 1,750 lay-offs in July amounted to a 156% increase over June, when 684 workers were given their walking papers.   In comparison, it was more than 80% below 2001 July levels, when 8,697 jobs were shed by the industry."

2002-08-05 18:22:30MST
_Los Angeles Daily News_
Legislature squanders federal job-creation funds on unemployment benefits increase

2002-08-05
Denise Dubie _Network World_
Resumes pile up, yet key jobs open (graphs)
"Out-placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports that the 243,200 technology jobs lost from January to June this year represent 33% of all lay-offs nationwide.   Another study, by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), shows that the overall IT work-force lost more than a half-million workers in a 12-month period bridging 2001 & 2002."

2002-08-05
Ben Elgin, Jim Kerstetter, Cliff Edwards & Faith Keenan _Business Week_
Up-turn? What Up-turn?: Tech execs expect their customers to keep a lid on spending until next year
"Domestic production of such high-tech gear as computers, chips, and electronic components has surged 12% since the start of the year.   Excess information-technology inventories have been whittled down 4.5% since then too.   And corporate profits are again rising in some sectors of the economy, meaning companies should have the cash to upgrade their systems...   More than half of chief information officers who took part in a June Morgan Stanley survey don't see the economy improving until 2003.   Only 4 months before, only 16% of CIOs felt that way.   Moreover, more than half of corporate IT buyers say they will conserve their tech budgets for the rest of '02, according to a survey released July 11 by Goldman, Sachs & Co.   And on July 23, Merrill Lynch & Co. down-graded the stocks of 11 chip companies because it felt they had been too bullish about potential orders...   Indeed, to cut costs and complexity, companies... are consolidating the number of servers and software applications they run."
 

2002-08-06

2002-08-06 09:31:01PDT (12:31:01EDT) (16:31:01GMT)
_CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Tech Recession Continues
"'Double dip?   What double dip?...   We're in a very clear tech recession without any triggers to get us out.', said [Pip] Coburn [of UBS Warburg].   Last year, tech earnings, based on the tech companies in the S&P500 tech universe, fell 65% from 2000.   This year, technology companies saw earnings fall 27% on average & for the second quarter, they're currently up 1%."
NBER says recession that troughed in 2001 April ended 2001 November.   The stock market crashed 2000-03-10.   The STEM job markets were already diving by 2000 September, and general job markets in mid-2001.   STEM product sales were tanking all through 2001 and 2002.   Job markets still had not fully recovered by the end of 2016.

2002-08-06 10:39PDT (13:39EDT) (17:39GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Calls are growing for Fed rate cuts: Lehman sees easing by year's end
"But consumers' wallets are already loose.   The problem the U.S. economy faces today is not lack of demand, but lack of investment by companies & a lack of confidence by investors in the stock market...   With the global economy awash in excess high-technology capacity, a new cycle of investment spending on information technology equipment could be months or years away." ---

2002-08-06
The NBER's Recession Dating Procedure
NBER says recession that troughed in 2001 April ended 2001 November.   The stock market crashed 2000-03-10.   The STEM job markets were already diving by 2000 September, and general job markets in mid-2001.   STEM product sales were tanking all through 2001 and 2002.   Job markets still had not fully recovered by the end of 2016.

2002-08-06
_ETS_
Paper-Based GRE General Test Returning to Parts of Asia
Paper-Based General Test Center List for Asia
"In response to security breaches, Educational Testing Service (ETS) announced it will temporarily suspend the computer-based Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test and reintroduce paper-based versions in [Red China], including Hong Kong; Taiwan, China; and Korea, beginning 2002-10-01."

2002-08-06
_NUA_/_Jupiter Media_
Dotcom job losses soared 156% in July to 1,750, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas
"This compares to 684 Internet-related job cuts in June.   The total number of dotcom job losses for the first seven months of 2002 stands at 9,357.   However, this is 89% lower than the same period last year, when 82,896 job cuts were announced.   The July total is also significantly lower than July 2001 when 8,697 job losses were recorded.   Dotcom firms offering consumer services announced 770 job cuts in July, while technology firms that provide basic Internet infrastructure products announced 498 job cuts.   Since Challenger, Gray & Christmas began tracking dotcom job losses in December 1999; the firm has counted 151,797 job cuts in total, 55% of which were announced in the first seven months of 2001."
 

2002-08-07

2002-08-07
Sharon Gaudin _Internet News_
Dot-Coms And Telecoms Suffer in July
CyberAtlas
"Although July showed the lowest number of job cuts in 14 months in the U.S., the dot-com sector suffered yet another blow, with lay-off figures jumping 156% from the month before...   Dot-coms laid off about 1,750 employees last month, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.   That's up from 684 in June.   This marked the third time that the monthly job-cut figure increased significantly following a month with low lay-off figures.   March, May and July showed an average increase of 146% over their previous months.   Challenger points out that the dot-coms offering consumer services suffered the most in July, letting go of about 770 workers.   That sector was followed by networking companies, which announced 498 cuts...   Even though 80,966 American workers were laid off last month, that's 15% lower than the month before when 94,766 workers were let go.   And it's 61% lower than 2001 July when 205,975 people were laid off.   So far this year, the job-cut total is 816,493, 17% lower than the 983,337 jobs that had been lost last year at this time."
 

2002-08-08

2002-08-08
Russell Contreras _AP_
_UCSD_ Inquiry uncovers possible cheating on GRE in Asia
_Macon Telegraph_ GRE test fraud uncovered in Asia
"A probe into possible cheating on the Graduate Record Examination has uncovered Chinese and Korean-language web sites with answers to the test, officials at the Educational Testing Service said.   The web sites, based in [Red China] and South Korea, included current and past questions from the graduate admissions exam that were illegally obtained by test takers, Princeton-based ETS, which administers the test, said Wednesday.   The year-long investigation also found that verbal scores in 4 countries -- [Red China], Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea -- shot up as much as 100 points on average.   Test officials attribute the rise to the web sites, which were written in Chinese and Korean.   'We looked at score changes in 40 countries and noticed a significant rise in only these countries.', said Carole A. Beere, the chair-woman for the GRE board and associate provost for graduate studies and outreach at Northern Kentucky University...   'Every year we'd get someone from [Red China] who had high verbal scores on the GRE then had little or no knowledge of English when he got to the class-room.', added Howard Lijestrand, graduate adviser at the University of Texas."

2002-08-08
Christine Winter & Doreen Hemlock _Sun-Sentinel_
Answer Group struggles after losing call-center contract with Compaq
 

2002-08-09

2002-08-10

2002-08-10 09:16:48 (12:16:48EDT) (16:48GMT)
Helen Levy _BBC_
Republic of China rallies back Chen comments
"Demonstrations have been taking place in Taipei to show support for President Chen Shui-bian's recent comments that Taiwan and Red China are separate countries.   With Red China expressing fury at his words & his backing of a referendum on formal independence, the president & his government later toned down his comments."
 

2002-08-11

2002-08-11 04:28PDT (07:28EDT) (11:28GMT)
_BBC_
Republic of China defiant over Red Chinese threats
"President Chen Shui-bian... infuriated Beijing by backing the idea of a Taiwanese vote on formal independence...   'Facing Red China's military threat & its suppression of our space on the international stage, we must unite &... stop fighting among ourselves.', the president said."
 

2002-08-12

2002-08-12
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Tech slow-down hits H-1B visa grants
"A study by the INS of H-1B occupations in 1999 & 2000 found that about 54% of H-1B visa holders were working in computer-related occupations."
 

2002-08-13

2002-08-13 08:55PDT (11:55EDT) (15:55GMT)
Rick Sherlund _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Outlook for software sector remains grim
"We believe there is less urgency for IT spending than there was in the 90s..."

2002-08-13 10:11PDT (13:11EDT) (17:11GMT)
Jennifer Waters _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
AMR CFO: More restructuring ahead: Move cost 7K jobs, as much as $500M in charges

2002-08-13
Drew Robb _Datamation_
Russia Becoming IT Power-House

2002-08-13
John Soat _Information Week_
Between The Lines: An embarrassment of riches for IT hiring
"Whatever happened to the IT talent shortage?   It reversed course.   John Halamka, senior VP and CIO at CareGroup Healthcare System... says it's still difficult to hire IT people, not because there aren't suitable candidates, but because 'there's so much great talent to choose from'.   CareGroup is spot-hiring for positions it needs to fill now, but it isn't stock-piling talent because Halamka says the company 'isn't going crazy with spending', and he's confident about finding talent as it's needed in the near future.   A year or so ago, Halamka says, CareGroup might have received 10 resumes for an open IT job.   Now he gets 100 resumes for a job posting, 'and out of those 100, 50 will be world-class talent'."

2002-08-13
Doreen Hemlock & Christine Winter _Sun-Sentinel_
Call centers thriving worldwide
"While call centers in South Florida generally pay employees $7 to $12 an hour, with rates up to $19 an hour for computer engineers, wages can be less than half that in India, & perhaps 20% less in Canada.   A study by The Boyd Co. Inc. shows that New York City is more than twice as expensive as an English-speaking Caribbean island to operate a 250-employee customer service-center spanning 30K square feet, even though telecom costs are higher in the Caribbean.   Sites in Canada can run about a third less: under $10M a year, compared with about $12.5M a year in New York."

2002-08-13

Top 10 On-line Advertisers Ranked by Impressions 2002

Company
1. Amazon.com, Inc.
2. Classmates.com
3. eDiets.com, Inc.
4. USA Interactive
5. Columbia House Company
6. Bank One Corp.
7. Dell Computer Corp.
8. Sabre Inc.
9. Warner Time AOL
10. Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Impressions exclude ads run on advertiser's own site. Source: www.eMarketer.com and Nielsen/NetRatings AdRelevance.

Interactive Advertising Bureau
 

2002-08-14

2002-08-14 08:20PDT (11:20EDT) (15:20GMT)
Chris Pummer _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Regrowing a spine: Commentary: Wake-up call sounds for U.S. workers
"The stock market's bull run since 1982 enriched some of us, but the last 20 years has been one of the worst periods for workers overall in the nation's history."

2002-08-14 08:20PDT (11:20EDT) (15:20GMT)
Chris Pummer _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Regrowing a spine: Commentary: Wake-up call sounds for U.S. workers (quoting Heather Boushey _The State of Working America_)
"Most dental plans haven't raised their $1K to $1,500 annual coverage cap for 25 years, even though dental costs have risen more than 400K over that period.   And Americans are losing ground even on the scant time off we get -- we receive one less vacation day a year on average than in 1979...   'Americans work more hours than people in any other developed country.'"

2002-08-14 08:20PDT (11:20EDT) (15:20GMT)
Chris Pummer _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Regrowing a spine: Wake-up call sounds for U.S. workers (quoting Heather Boushey _The State of Working America_)
"Women entering the labor force en masse in the last 2 decades have succeeded in boosting their earnings at a far faster pace than men - up 23% in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1979, compared to 1.3% for men."

2002-08-14
Jonathan Turley _LA Times_
Camps for Citizens: Ashcroft's Hellish Vision: Attorney general shows himself as a menace to liberty.
"[John] Ashcroft's plan, disclosed last week but little publicized, would allow him to order the indefinite incarceration of U.S. citizens & summarily strip them of their constitutional rights & access to the courts by declaring them enemy combatants.   The proposed camp plan should trigger immediate congressional hearings & reconsideration of Ashcroft's fitness for this important office.   Whereas Al Qaeda is a threat to the lives of our citizens, Ashcroft has become a clear & present threat to our liberties."
 

2002-08-15

2002-08-14 18:36PDT (21:36EDT) (2002-08-15 01:36GMT)
Jim Hopkins _USA Today_
Hiring for tech jobs fails to pick up, slowing recovery
"More than 243K jobs have been cut this year in telecom, computers & e-commerce, says out-placement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas...   The pain is greatest in Santa Clara County, CA.   ' the heart of Silicon Valley' where the jobless rate hit 7.6% last month.   That's down from a record 7.8% in June, but it remains the highest annual increase among U.S. metros."

2002-08-15 02:00PDT (05:00EDT) (09:00GMT)
Kendra Mayfield _Wired_
A D-Minus for Computer Exams
"Prompted by a sudden rise in GRE verbal scores from [Red China], the Educational Testing Service launched an investigation on behalf of the GRE board that uncovered Asian-language websites offering questions from live versions of the computer-based GRE general test...   'This is just the latest snafu in a string of problems since the ETS began the introduction of the computer-based GRE in the early 1990s.', said Bob Schaeffer, public education director of FairTest.   'This is a technology that is not ready for prime time that has been forced on test takers because of corporate greed.'   The ETS investigation, which covered more than 40 countries, showed security breaches occurring only in [Red China], Taiwan and Korea."
 

2002-08-16

2002-08-17

2002-08-18

2002-08-18
Myriam Marquez
U.S. a police state in the making -- Orlando Sentinel 2002-08-18
"In this nation of laws, based on the separation of powers, on the checks & balances of each branch of government, we have a police state in the making.   To say that this war is so unique as to demand the dismantling of basic constitutional protections, as Attorney General John Ashcroft maintains, goes against everything our young people in military service risk their lives for.   It goes against the very core of what it means to be an American, & it clearly goes against the Constitution.   We have the right to know what the government's charges are against us.   We have a right to an attorney.   We are innocent until proved guilty.   We are protected from illegal searches & seizures.   Or so we thought."
 

2002-08-19

2002-08-19
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Congress May Bear Brunt of H-1B Anger
"Using federal Freedom of Information Act requests, [Rob] Sanchez has built an on-line data-base of approximately 1.1M 'labor condition applications' that list the firms using H-1B employees, the number of those employees, their job types & their pay...   IEEE-USA, a unit of the Institute of Electronics & Electrical Engineers Inc. in Washington, maintains that the H-1B program is responsible for the fates of some of the 180K computer scientists & electrical engineers it says are unemployed.   At that level, 'it seems difficult to make the case that the higher cap needs to be extended', said IEEE Vice President John Steadman."

2002-08-19
Steve Schultze _Journal Sentinel_
Sensenbrenner wants answers on act: He threatens to sub poena Ashcroft to get details on anti-terror measure
"U.S. representative F. James Sensenbrenner said Monday he'll play hard-ball with Attorney General John Ashcroft over a congressional demand for detailed information about the Patriot Act, the post-September 11 law giving the government broad powers to investigate terrorism.   Sensenbrenner (R-WI) said he would 'start blowing a fuse' unless Ashcroft's Justice Department gives answers by Labor Day week to 50 written questions about the act raised by the House Judiciary Committee in June.   If the committee still doesn't have the answers by then, Sensenbrenner said, he may take the unusual step of issuing a subpoena to Ashcroft to force him to testify before the Judiciary Committee, which Sensenbrenner heads.   He noted that the department already has missed 2 deadlines issued earlier by Congress for answering the questions."
 

2002-08-20

2002-08-20
Ann E. Marimow _The San Jose Mercury News_
Financial privacy bill stalled: ASSEMBLY SPEAKER DENIES REPORTS THAT HE HAS RULED OUT A VOTE DURING THIS SESSION
"For the second year in a row, state senator Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, is pushing a financial privacy measure that would create the nation's toughest restrictions on the use of this information by financial institutions.   It has faced fierce opposition by banks & insurance companies.   The bill, which has passed the Senate & is now on the Assembly floor...   There were conflicting accounts Thursday about whether the Democratic leadership would allow a vote on the bill, putting the spotlight on Speaker Herb Wesson, D-Los Angeles."
 

2002-08-21

2002-08-20 21:01PDT (2002-08-21 00:01EDT) (04:01GMT)
Ray Martin _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Moving up, not out: Ten tips for winning a promotion when hiring resumes

2002-08-21 00:01EDT
Ray Martin _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Moving up, not out: Ten tips for winning a promotion when hiring resumes

2002-08-21
_BLS_
Worker Displacement 1999-2001
"During the 1999 January through 2001 December period, 4.0M workers were displaced from jobs they had held for at least 3 years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.   The number of displaced workers increased from 3.3M in 1997 January through 1999 December...   Displaced workers are defined as persons 20 years of age and older who lost or left jobs because their plant or company closed or moved, there was insufficient work for them to do, or their position or shift was abolished...
  Another 6.0M persons were displaced from jobs they had held for less than 3 years (referred to as short-tenured).   Combining the short- and long-tenured groups, the number of displaced workers totaled 9.9M, up from 7.6M in the prior survey.
  Results from the 2002 January survey included the following highlights: Nearly two-thirds of the long-tenured displaced were reemployed at the time of the survey.   Nearly half of the long-tenured displaced workers cited plant or company closings or moves as the reason for their displacement.   43% of displaced workers who had worked for their employer for 3 or more years had received written advance notification that their jobs would be terminated...   One-third of long-tenured displaced workers lost jobs in manufacturing.   This proportion continued to be much larger than the industry's share of long-tenured employees...
  Just over half of long-tenured workers who were displaced from full-time wage and salary jobs and who were re-employed in such jobs had earnings that were lower than those on the lost job.   Among this group of re-employed full-time workers, about 3 in 10 experienced earnings losses of 20% or more...
  In 2002 January, re-employment rates for workers ages 20 to 24 and those in the central-age group (ages 25 to 54) were roughly the same -- about 70%.   By comparison, re-employment rates were lower for older workers ages 55 to 64 (51%) and 65 years and older (20%).   Large proportions of older displaced workers were not in the labor force when surveyed [i.e. they had given up actively seeking work]...   The re-employment rate for displaced manufacturing workers was 56%, lower than the overall re-employment rate for displaced workers.   (These workers were not necessarily re-employed in the same industries from which they were displaced.)...   Of the 2.3M re-employed displaced workers who lost full-time wage and salary jobs during the 1999-2001 period, 1.9M were working again in such jobs in 2002 January.   Of these re-employed full-time workers, about 48% were earning as much or more in their new jobs as they had earned on the job they lost.   This was lower than the proportion recorded in the 2000 February survey (58%).   In 2002 January, 29% reported earnings losses of 20% or more...
  The total number of workers displaced during the 1999-2001 period (regardless of how long they had held their jobs) was 9.9M, more than the number displaced during the 1997-99 period -- 7.6M.   Nearly two-thirds of the total displaced had found new jobs when surveyed in 2002 January, while 22% were un-employed and 14% were not in the labor force."

2002-08-21
_Conference Board_
Job Satisfaction on the Decline
"Workers aged 35-44 are the least content.   Less than 48% are satisfied, down from nearly 61% in 1995.   Older workers, aged 55-64, also express a low level of satisfaction.   Only about 48% say they are satisfied.   Not surprisingly, satisfaction tends to increase as income increases.   Households earning less than $15K are the least satisfied of all income groups.   Those earning more than $50K are the most satisfied.   But in all income areas, satisfaction levels have fallen since 1995."

2002-08-21
Paul Craig Roberts _VDare_
US Invades Iraq: Cheap Labor Invades US; Economy Suffers
 

2002-08-22

2002-08-22
Rajas Kelkar & Jeetha d'Silva _The Times of India_/_Times News Network_
Job shop shuts out 55K engineers
"Currently, there are over 775 colleges awarding degrees in engineering & technology in the country, with a total intake of over 15 lakh [1.5M]."

2002-08-22
Alan Reynolds _Cato Institute_
Supply-Side Goes to Harvard
"The latest American Economic Review features a startling study about 'Fiscal Policy, Profits and Investment' in 18 large economies by Professors Alesina, Ardagna, Perotti and Schiantarelli.   For simplicity, call it the Alesina study.   Harvard economists once thought cutting government spending was contractionary, something that would shrink the private economy.   Alesina finds that big cuts in government spending are expansionary, making economies boom.   Ireland slashed government spending by more than 7% of GDP [7% of neo-Keynesian gobbledygook] in 1986-89, and economic growth from 1989 to 2001 averaged 7.2% per year.   Japan spent hundreds of billions on Keynesian public works schemes after 1991, and economic growth averaged only 1.1%.   Part of the explanation is taxes.   Ireland now has a 15% tax on corporate profits, a 20% tax on inflation-indexed capital gains and lower tax rates on labor.   Japan imposed new taxes on sales, property and capital gains, while maintaining Asia's most punitive income-tax rates."

2002-08-22
Louis Uchitelle _NY Times_ pg C9
Data Show Growing Trend Toward Permanent Lay-Offs
"Bureau of Labor Statistics reports permanent lay-offs surged from 1999 through 2001; 9.9M people who lost their jobs in 3-year period represents unusually high 7.8% of nation's work force; economy moved from boom in 1999 to recession in 2001, and half of lay-offs came in last hard year, when unmemployment rate suddenly rose; more than 800K jobs openings disappeared from 2000 May to 2001 May, decline of nearly 19 perent.   Those who managed to find full-time jobs after having been laid off from 1999 through 2001 did so at sacrifice; their median weekly wage in their new job was $571, down from $609 in lost jobs.   Permanent lay-offs surged from 1999 through 2001, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday in releasing the results of a survey that is the government's most comprehensive assessment of how frequently workers are dismissed from their jobs."

2002-08-22
_CNet_/_Reuters_
Barnes & Noble swings to second-quarter profit

2002-08-22
_CNet_/_Reuters_
Borders 2nd-qtr profit climbs on cost controls
 

2002-08-23

2002-08-23 06:24PDT (09:24EDT) (13:24GMT)
Irwin Kellner _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
The Weakest Link: Commentary: Job sector's sluggishness, worker blues a drag
Survey: Job hunts longer, pay punier since 2001-09-11
"Challenger Gray & Christmas...   It now takes an unemployed worker an average of 15 weeks to find a new position - the longest in the 17 years the firm has been collecting such information.   This is not surprising, since planned job cuts announced by U.S. firms have jumped by 23% over the past year alone.   And this is on top of a surge in permanent lay-offs from 1999 through 2001, according to a study also released this week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics...   Conference Board.   Only about half those surveyed say they are happy with their jobs - down from nearly 60% in 1995."

2002-08-23
Mike Tarsala _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Tech investors grin -- & wonder: Three-week surge eases the pain, but can it last?

2002-08-23
Shelley Curran of Consumers Union; quoted in Ann E. Marimow 2002-08-23 _The San Jose Mercury News_
Privacy legislation advances
"Consumers should have the right to decide whether their personal financial information is shared or sold."
 

2002-08-24

2002-08-24 05:21
Julie Rannazzisi _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Dow extends advance to 5 weeks
"The Dow industrials and S&P put together their fifth straight week of gains while the Nasdaq extended its winning streak to 3 weeks in a row.   With the market now up about 20% from its late July lows...   The Dow rose 1.1% on the week, the S&P 500 1.3% & the Nasdaq 1.4%."
 

2002-08-25

2002-08-25
Mackenzie Carpenter _Pittsburgh Post-Gazette_
At Seagate, just about everybody is from far away
"Consider the numbers: Out of 122 technical staffers (the company employs 140 people overall), 50 are from the United States.   Everyone else is from somewhere else: Cyprus, Ukraine, China, Wales."

2002-08-25
_Houston Chronicle_
Delaware police compile data base of future suspects

_Canada-Law_
Canadian Employment
 

2002-08-26

2002-08-25 21:01PDT (2002-08-26 00:01EDT) (2002-08-26 04:01GMT)
Deborah Adamson _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Employers remain cautious on hiring
"Nearly a fourth of the 16K employers polled said they plan to hire more in the last quarter, compared with 27% in the third quarter.   9% plan to cut staff vs. 8% in the previous quarter; 62% will keep the status quo & 5% aren't sure."

2002-08-26
J. Steven Niznik _Job Search Tech_
Over-Time
"Over-time law-suits are on the rise in the US...   Americans now work longer hours than most workers in other industrialized countries...   Hours worked in excess of 40 in 1 work-week are over-time hours.   A work-week is a fixed & regularly recurring period of 168 hours, consisting of 7, consecutive, 24-hour periods."

2002-08-26
Kevin Gonzalez
Security Breaches Force GRE Board to Cancel Computer Science Test Administrations
"An investigation revealing improper sharing of questions from the GRE Computer Science Subject Test by students in China, including Hong Kong, & India has resulted in the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Board instructing ETS to cancel administration of the test in these countries & limit administration worldwide.   The security breach is similar to one recently announced that forced the temporary suspension of the computer-based GRE General Test in parts of Asia."

2002-08-26
Alan Joch _eWeek_
Help Wanted?

2002-08-26
Ken Goldstein _Conference Board_
Help-Wanted Index Dips Three Points
more
"Job advertising stopped falling late in 2001.   But since November, ad volume has remained essentially unchanged as lay-offs moderated.   The U.S. labor market is treading water, with the economy clearly growing too slowly to open up many new jobs (only a mere 6000 new jobs in July).   With an economic recovery not yet strong enough to produce new jobs, businesses simply aren't increasing their recruit[ing] efforts."
 

2002-08-27

2002-08-27 12:00PDT (15:00EDT) (19:00GMT)
Shirleen Holt _Seattle Times_
Brick-and-mortar job not so bad: Fallen techies rediscover the security of a steady pay-check

2002-08-27
_Houston Chronicle_/_AP_
Attacks prompt changes in Americans' legally acknowledged rights

2002-08-27
Ellen McCarthy _Washington Post_
Tech Enrollments in College Decline: More S&E shortage propaganda
"The tech industry's financial problems are enough to bankrupt... dreams...   The number of under-graduates majoring in computer science fell 1% in 2001, according to a report by the Computing Research Association [CRA]...   At Virginia Tech, enrollment of under-graduates in the computer science department will drop 25% this year, to 300.   At George Washington University, the number of incoming freshmen who plan to study computer science fell by more than half this year...   In 1997, schools with PhD programs in computer science and computer engineering granted 8,063 degrees, according to the Computing Research Association.   The numbers rose through 2001, when 17,048 degrees were awarded."

2002-08-27
Shira Kantor _Star Tribune_
Federal government's bookkeeping needs fixing, too
"Concealing debt & operating costs.   Flouting court orders by shredding documents.   Failing to properly track assets & liabilities...   The financial statements of many federal agencies are in such dismal shape that the General Accounting Office (GAO) -- the investigative arm of Congress that audits federal accounts -- has been unable to provide an opinion on the government's finances for the past 5 years...   many federal agencies are unable to even prepare a financial statement to be analyzed...   The government commonly accepts liability for programs like flood insurance, but doesn't record it as a cost, further skewing its financial picture...   Additionally, many federal agencies are fraught with waste, fraud & abuse, according to a financial management report issued by the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) in May.   The report details several accounting weaknesses, including billions of dollars lost in erroneous payments, billions more lost in a sea of unaccounted transactions between departments, & a lack of clear guidelines to manage assets & liabilities."

2002-08-27 08:28PDT (11:28EDT) (15:28GMT)
_CNN_/_Money_
Consumer Confidence Fell
"The Conference Board said its closely watched index of consumer confidence fell to 93.5 in August from a revised 97.4 in July...   The number of respondents saying jobs were hard to get was unchanged at 23.9%.   Those expecting fewer jobs to become available in the next 6 months increased to 18.1% from 17%, while those expecting more jobs rose to 17.5% from 17.3%."
 

2002-08-28

2002-08-28
_M$NBC_/_Reuters_
Nortel to slash 7K jobs: Telecom-gear maker lowers revenue target

2002-08-28
Amy Baldwin _AP_/_Naples Daily News_
Stocks fall on negative report on consumer sentiment
more data
"Investors were disheartened by a report from the Conference Board that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 93.5 from a revised 97.4 in July.   Analysts had been expecting a reading of 97.0."
 

2002-08-29

2002-08-30

2002-08-30
Brian Morrissey _Internet News_
Will the "IT" Doldrums Drag On?
"In 1999 and 2000, Giga Information Group tracked 'IT' spending increasing by leaps and bounds, rising almost 20% in 1999 and 16% in 2000.   Since then, however, the story has turned bleaker.   After dipping by 6% last year, tech spending has remained flat this year.   USA government figures released at the end of July may have given the 'IT' sector a glimmer of hope that the tech recession was abating.   The Commerce Department reported that Corporate America was spending more year over year on IT equipment and services for the first time in 16 months.   Forrester Research quickly followed up on the data with a report that North American firms will spend 2.3% more on 'IT' in 2002."

2002-08-30
_USA Today_
Spending soars, but incomes stagnant
"Consumers, the mainstay of the economy, splurged in July, increasing their spending 1%, the largest advance in 9 months, the government reported Friday...   Americans' incomes, which includes wages, interest & government benefits, were flat in July, reflecting the stagnant jobs market.   Wages & salaries actually dipped by 0.2% ...   Businesses, concerned about accounting scandals & economic uncertainties, have been wary of making big commitments to hiring & capital investment, factors restraining the recovery."

2002-08-30
William L. Anderson _Lew Rockwell_
John Ashcroft and justice are mutually exclusive
 

2002-08-31

2002-08-31 02:22PDT (05:22EDT) (09:22GMT)
Julie Rannazzisi _CBS.MarketWatch.com_
Dow snaps 5-week winning streak: But S&P gets first monthly gain since March
"Checking the actual numbers, the Dow fell 2.4% on the week, the Nasdaq 4.8% and the S&P 2.6%...   The monthly employment report, due for release Friday, is important because economists are concerned the modest recovery under way is one void of job growth."
 

2002 August

2002 July-August
Terry Costlow _IEEE USA Today's Engineer_
The H-1B Debate Continues As U.S. EEs Face Uncertain Employment Future

2002 August
_Migration News_
H-1Bs, foreign students, and "prevailing wage"

2002 August
Laura Langbein _IEEE_
2002 IEEE Un-Employment Survey (pdf)
"The duration of un-employment varies widely among the respondents, from a low of 0 weeks to a high of 936 weeks (or about 18 years).   The mean is 49 weeks -- while the median is somewhat less, at 38 weeks -- reflecting a skewed distribution in which a few respondents report exceedingly long spells of un-employment (e.g., more than 300 weeks).   Some of these respondents may not be actively looking for work...   the longest duration of un-employment is among those who were employed in the aerospace industry, where the mean was 134 weeks of un-employment.   The next longest duration was in the medical industry (mean of 73 weeks), closely followed by those who report employment in petrochemicals (mean of 58 weeks).   Among other industries with more than 20 respondents, the results in descending order were: computers (mean of 51 weeks); defense (mean of 47 weeks); electrical/electronic manufacturing (mean of 46 weeks); education (mean of 43 weeks); and consulting (mean of 39 weeks).   These differences are significant at less than the conventional .05 level."

2002 August
James Bovard _Future of Freedom Foundation_
Bush's Farm Fiasco
"The House Agriculture Committee approved a bill that was supposed to cap payments at $550K per year per farm, while the Senate Agriculture Committee came in with a cold-hearted limit of $275K in handouts per farm per year.   The House and Senate conferees 'compromised' by allowing each farmer to snare up to $360K per year...   This is another in a long history of idiotic debates about federal programs that have no right to exist...   Lugar warned that the lavish new subsidies would result 'almost inevitably' in 'vast over-supply and lower prices' as well as demands for even more subsidies...   The 1996 farm act gave subsidized farmers more than 3 times as much in cash handouts in 1996 and 1997 as they would have received under the previous 5-year farm bill.   Wheat farmers got 50 times more in subsidies for their 1996 crop than they would have gotten if Congress had merely extended existing farm programs.   And when crop prices went south, Congress scrambled to appropriate more billions for farmers in 1998 and every year thereafter...   politicians do not have the right to be generous with other people's pay-checks...   In 1930, the New York Times, surveying the wreckage of agricultural markets after the federal government tried to drive up wheat prices, concluded, 'It is perhaps fortunate for the country that its fingers were so badly burned at the very first trial of the scheme.'.   Despite an unbroken string of failures, the federal government has continued disrupting agriculture ever since."

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