Job boost comes with 10% of sales now being made online
By Patrick Thibodeau
June 10, 2009 06:01 PM ET
Computerworld - As the automobile industry sheds jobs, it comes as good news that over the last decade or so the Internet has created 1.2 million jobs, many paying higher salaries than average, a new study finds.
Internet business contributes 2.1%, or $300 billion, to the total GDP (gross domestic product) of the U.S. And IT and related online business may be faring better in this recession than they did in the dotcom bubble of 2000-2002, still growing revenue but at slower pace.
Consumers are now making 10% of their retail purchases online, with the exception of groceries, on the Internet, and Internet-based advertising has increased four-fold since 2002 to more than $20 billion, said John Deighton, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, and one of the authors of the study along with Hamilton Consultants Inc.
The study, considered independent, attempts to measure the so-called Internet economy. It was prepared for the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) in New York, which represents a variety of Internet and media companies.
It does not raise policy implications, but IAB officials said the data will help them make the case for self-regulation on issues such as privacy. Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of IAB, said the report is the "first rigorous, comprehensive look at the size scope and impact of the interactive advertising ecosystem."
Deighton said the finding could help make the case for a move away from employer-based health care, which he called something out of the Middle Ages, to a system that makes it easier for people to start new businesses without having to provide health coverage.
The study's job estimate is based on people who work directly in building or maintaining the Internet's infrastructure, conduct advertising and commerce over it, and other direct uses. The number of indirect jobs supported by Internet-related activities may raise the total number of jobs by 1.54 million, or to slightly more than 3 million supported jobs.
E-commerce companies, as well as those that deliver the physical goods, were the major employers, with more than 500,000 of the 1.2 million jobs. Internet service providers followed at 181,000. Content-related employment was estimated at nearly 60,000, and software as a service, 31,500.
John Yaglenski, who runs the independent Walt Disney World travel information site Intercot.com, along with 35 volunteers, was at the announcement today and said that that regulation that imposes new requirements and restricts information collection could have a serious impact.
Yaglenski said he has privacy policies clearly outlined on his site and believes the industry is capable of regulating itself. "If the government steps in and regulates the industry to the degree that it has done in some other areas it could really affect our livelihood," he said.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
U.S. Sheds Fewest Jobs in 6 Months
By Lucia Mutikani, May 8, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest since October, according to government data on Friday that signaled the economy's steep decline might be easing and gave the stock market a boost.
The unemployment rate, however, soared to 8.9 percent, the highest since September 1983, from 8.5 percent in March and job losses in March and February were a combined 66,000 steeper than previously estimated, the Labor Department said.
A 72,000 jump in government payrolls tempered the overall job-loss figure. Government employment was bolstered by the hiring of about 60,000 temporary workers in preparation for the 2010 Census and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said this figure would fluctuate in the months ahead.
Private sector employment fell by 611,000 in April after a 693,000 decline in March, the department said, which curbed some of the optimism over the report.
Still, the data was not as bleak as financial markets had expected and offered the freshest sign that the intensity of the recession, now in its 17th month, was starting to fade.
"The labor report added to the growing list of data points that imply that the steepest part of the economic contraction is now past," said Brian Fabbri, chief North America economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
The payrolls reading, which beat market expectations for a 590,000 drop, and results of the government's tests on the health of the 19 biggest domestic banks lifted U.S. stocks. The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.7 percent in afternoon trade.
Government bond prices rose as investors focused on the fact that unemployment would continue to rise well into 2010. President Barack Obama, whose government has rolled out a record $787 billion rescue package of spending and tax cuts, said April's payrolls number was somewhat encouraging, but that the job losses were still a sobering toll.
"It underscores the point we're still in the midst of a recession that was years in the making and that is going to be months or even years in the unmaking. We should expect further job losses in the months to come," Obama said.
Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the U.S. economy has lost 5.7 million jobs, the Labor Department said.
In neighboring Canada, a surprise 35,900 jobs were added to payrolls in April, confounding analysts who had expected the economy to extend its pattern of heavy job losses.
GLIMMERS OF HOPE
In a hopeful glimmer for the U.S. economy, the rise in the unemployment rate reflected a surge in people joining the labor force, as opposed to a collapse in employment. The report showed job losses across almost all sectors, although at a less steep pace than in previous months.
The manufacturing sector lost 149,000 jobs in April after shedding 167,000 in March. Economists were encouraged by a slight increase in hours worked in manufacturing, where the average work week inched up to 39.6 hours from 39.4 in March.
"The are some glimmers of improvement here," said Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist at Swiss Re in New York.
"The very good news is that the hours in the manufacturing sector were up, which implies that we are going to have some production increases soon, if not in April for industrial production, perhaps in June at the latest."
Government data last week showed a record $103.7 billion drawdown in inventories in the first quarter. Analysts reckon this created a platform for a recovery in manufacturing. Construction, among the sectors hit hardest by the housing-led recession, shed 110,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said, after losing 135,000 the previous month. The service-providing industry slashed 269,000 positions after eliminating 381,000 in March, while in education and health services they rose 15,000 after rising 10,000 in March.
Despite the slowdown in the pace of job losses, the unemployment rate will continue to rise until at least the first quarter of 2010, peaking anywhere between 9.5 and 10.5 percent, according to economists.
"It does look as if we are falling more slowly and we are likely to hit bottom reasonably soon, at least when it comes to economic growth," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania, but added: "We are looking at rising unemployment rates for quite some time even as job losses moderate."
The length of the average work week was unchanged at 33.2 hours in April. Average hourly earnings edged up to $18.51 from $18.50 in March, which analysts said was a reminder that incomes remained under pressure.
"The figures gave a cautionary warning about consumer incomes," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
"(The modest rise in) hourly earnings, which combined with the heavy loss of jobs signals a continuing decline in overall wage and salary incomes, is bad news for purchasing power."
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed wholesale inventories dropped 1.6 percent to $411.7 billion, the lowest since November 2007, after falling a record 1.7 percent in February.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest since October, according to government data on Friday that signaled the economy's steep decline might be easing and gave the stock market a boost.
The unemployment rate, however, soared to 8.9 percent, the highest since September 1983, from 8.5 percent in March and job losses in March and February were a combined 66,000 steeper than previously estimated, the Labor Department said.
A 72,000 jump in government payrolls tempered the overall job-loss figure. Government employment was bolstered by the hiring of about 60,000 temporary workers in preparation for the 2010 Census and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said this figure would fluctuate in the months ahead.
Private sector employment fell by 611,000 in April after a 693,000 decline in March, the department said, which curbed some of the optimism over the report.
Still, the data was not as bleak as financial markets had expected and offered the freshest sign that the intensity of the recession, now in its 17th month, was starting to fade.
"The labor report added to the growing list of data points that imply that the steepest part of the economic contraction is now past," said Brian Fabbri, chief North America economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
The payrolls reading, which beat market expectations for a 590,000 drop, and results of the government's tests on the health of the 19 biggest domestic banks lifted U.S. stocks. The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.7 percent in afternoon trade.
Government bond prices rose as investors focused on the fact that unemployment would continue to rise well into 2010. President Barack Obama, whose government has rolled out a record $787 billion rescue package of spending and tax cuts, said April's payrolls number was somewhat encouraging, but that the job losses were still a sobering toll.
"It underscores the point we're still in the midst of a recession that was years in the making and that is going to be months or even years in the unmaking. We should expect further job losses in the months to come," Obama said.
Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the U.S. economy has lost 5.7 million jobs, the Labor Department said.
In neighboring Canada, a surprise 35,900 jobs were added to payrolls in April, confounding analysts who had expected the economy to extend its pattern of heavy job losses.
GLIMMERS OF HOPE
In a hopeful glimmer for the U.S. economy, the rise in the unemployment rate reflected a surge in people joining the labor force, as opposed to a collapse in employment. The report showed job losses across almost all sectors, although at a less steep pace than in previous months.
The manufacturing sector lost 149,000 jobs in April after shedding 167,000 in March. Economists were encouraged by a slight increase in hours worked in manufacturing, where the average work week inched up to 39.6 hours from 39.4 in March.
"The are some glimmers of improvement here," said Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist at Swiss Re in New York.
"The very good news is that the hours in the manufacturing sector were up, which implies that we are going to have some production increases soon, if not in April for industrial production, perhaps in June at the latest."
Government data last week showed a record $103.7 billion drawdown in inventories in the first quarter. Analysts reckon this created a platform for a recovery in manufacturing. Construction, among the sectors hit hardest by the housing-led recession, shed 110,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said, after losing 135,000 the previous month. The service-providing industry slashed 269,000 positions after eliminating 381,000 in March, while in education and health services they rose 15,000 after rising 10,000 in March.
Despite the slowdown in the pace of job losses, the unemployment rate will continue to rise until at least the first quarter of 2010, peaking anywhere between 9.5 and 10.5 percent, according to economists.
"It does look as if we are falling more slowly and we are likely to hit bottom reasonably soon, at least when it comes to economic growth," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania, but added: "We are looking at rising unemployment rates for quite some time even as job losses moderate."
The length of the average work week was unchanged at 33.2 hours in April. Average hourly earnings edged up to $18.51 from $18.50 in March, which analysts said was a reminder that incomes remained under pressure.
"The figures gave a cautionary warning about consumer incomes," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
"(The modest rise in) hourly earnings, which combined with the heavy loss of jobs signals a continuing decline in overall wage and salary incomes, is bad news for purchasing power."
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed wholesale inventories dropped 1.6 percent to $411.7 billion, the lowest since November 2007, after falling a record 1.7 percent in February.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Twitter Tips: How to Use Twitter to Job Hunt
CIO.com— Though LinkedIn tops the list of professionally-oriented social networks for job seeking, you can also use Twitter to get the word out about your skills and talents to relevant people in your industry.
But you must take some steps to be a good Twitter citizen before you tweet yourself into your next gig. We spoke with some career and social media experts on how to utilize Twitter for the purpose of job seeking, and the ways in which you can promote your own interests while helping others at the same time. (As you'll find, you can't do one without the other).
If you're new to Twitter, we recommend reading our beginners' guide to Twitter, as well as our Twitter etiquette guide, to learn more about what makes this community operate. Overall, it's important to remember that Twitter is about exchanging ideas and letting people know more about you based on the content of your tweets.
Know who to follow
If you want someone to think about you when a job opening arises, you need to get on that person's Twitter radar. One way to do this: follow the key people in your industry and watch their updates closely to see what types of topics and projects interest them the most.
For starters, use Twitter's search tool to look for certain keywords of interest. After you search, the results will show people who are tweeting those terms; then you can scan their public profiles to see if you should be following them. This can also help in your content strategy (more on that in the next section).
"From all the job success stories I've heard of [on Twitter], one thing remains consistent: you have to build your follower list on Twitter before you need them," says Dan Schawbel (@danschawbel) , a personal branding expert, and author of the upcoming book Me 2.0.
This message rings true to Aaron Mentzer (@mentzdog), who found his job as director of communications at MyExpertSolution, a Web-based company in Provo, Utah that provides mental and emotional health services. Through Twitter, he met many locally based PR professionals and initiated conversations over industry topics.
"At one point I arranged to meet several of my Twitter colleagues for lunch, so we could meet in person and establish a 'real' connection," Mentzer says. "A month or so after our lunch meeting, one of the colleagues I met on Twitter recommended me to a prospective client as a possible fit for them. I met with that company the next day, where they offered me a job on the spot."
If you begin following people in your industry and you'd like them to follow you back, make thoughtful replies to their tweets by putting the "@" sign in front of their Twiter user name. Just like on Google, we all tend to look when our name gets mentioned.
"Many job seekers get jobs who have a thousand or more Twitter followers that they've built relationships with over time by supplying them with valuable content and insights," Schwabel says.
Choose Content of Your Tweets Wisely
If you're interested in getting noticed by people in your field, you must choose the content of your tweets very carefully, experts say. That means be specific and avoid the trivial at all costs.
"Talking about your lunch won't attract people who want to hire you," says Jeremiah Owyang@jowyang), a senior Forrester analyst who researches social technologies and writes a blog on Web Strategy. "Talk about the project you're working on. If you've been laid off, talk about the project you'd like to be working on." (
You should share links to content you read on blogs and media sites that are relevant to your field, too, says Phil Rosenberg (@philreCareered), president of reCareered, a career consultancy. In addition, link to other places on the Web where you've engaged with content, whether it be a blog post of your own, a comment you made to an article, or content on your LinkedIn profile.
"You can use Twitter as a megaphone to other places," Rosenberg says. "As long as you keep it around a central branding theme, you can help people get an idea of the types of things that interest you professionally."
As for the don'ts? Well, it might seem obvious (and the Twitter horror stories have been pretty well-documented at this point), but avoid bad mouthing previous (or current) employers, and watch for the tweets that, while perhaps honest, offer too much information.
"If you're looking for a job, don't tweet something you wouldn't want your mother to read," Rosenberg says. "If you're younger, don't talk about going out partying tonight or how you were partying so hard that you can't imagine getting through work. That's obviously not something a future employer would want to read."
Designing Your Twitter Profile and Integrating it Elsewhere
Be sure to use a good, recognizable head shot in your Twitter profile, says Schawbel. In terms of the profile information, you have to write a biography in 160 characters or less, so make it count and try to cram in a keyword that will be recognizable to others in your field (such as "business analyst" or "project manager").
You are also allowed a URL in your Twitter profile. For most people, unless you have your own blog where you talk shop or a personal website that lists your career highlights, use your LinkedIn profile, says Schawbel.
If you find the current profile too limiting, you can customize your Twitter background to include more pictures and links to your professional endeavors. (For more details, see this thorough how-to guide on how to customize your Twitter background from Twitip.com).
Elsewhere on the Web, you should consider integrating your Twitter feed. If you have your own website or blog, you can embed your Twitter feed on top of it fairly easily with RSS and other feed-based technologies (the way to do it changes depending on the service, but it's generally not hard).
For more generic sites, such as LinkedIn, you can add your Twitter profile URL to your list of websites, or place links to it in one of your LinkedIn applications.
Tweeting it Forward
Many recruiters watch the Twitter community, keeping an eye out for ideal candidates, says Rosenberg. One of the way you can stand out to these critical contacts: refer colleagues to them and help others before you help yourself.
"Recruiters are dealing with hundreds or thousands of candidates," Rosenberg says. "The only reason they help you above someone else is if you help them do their job. If you want to get considered for jobs in the future, help them pass information along or refer candidates to them. That's the best way to endear yourself to a recruiter's heart."
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